Waterloo, Iowa
The Reiver men's and women's bowling teams continued their seasons at the Cedar Valley Invitational over the weekend. The event featured two days of action with one event per day leading into the finals. For the first time this season, the events concluded with a match-play bracket that determined the tournament champion.
On the women's side, the Reivers' were not at their best, but still qualified for match play as the 4th seed where they matched up with Mt. Mercy's women's team, the number one seed. The field's dominant team swept the Reivers 3-0, with the deciding game coming down to just a single pin, 193-192.
On day one of the competition, the men were consistent, staying in 3rd place the entire day. Led by Tim Lincoln's 5th place finish, his first all-tournament team, and a school-record 'Baker' set of 851, the Reivers found themselves seeded 3rd for the match-play bracket. In the semifinals, the men faced off against Grandview University, upsetting the Vikings three games to zero, shooting an impressive 707 over the three games. In the finals, the men matched up against 10th ranked Mount Mercy.
"I told the team to stay loose, the pressure is on them," said Head Coach Chad Goodwin, "anything can happen in a short three of five baker format."
'Anything' almost happened as the Reivers took game two, but were knocked off in four games by Mt. Mercy, the eventual champions.
On day two of the weekend, IWCC saw more success with a pair of all-tournament team qualifiers and the school's first overall winner. John Hemmingsen became the first Reiver to win an individual title. Hemmingsen shot 659 for the shortened three-game block to win the title. The men qualified third for the second day in a row where they faced Clarke University in semifinal action. Due to time constraints, the bracket portion was shortened in the 'Baker' round to the best two out of three. Both IWCC and Clarke struggled on the much harder lane condition on day two, but the Reivers prevailed two games to one, setting up a finals match with fellow ICCAC member Hawkeye after the Redtails upset Mt. Mercy. Hawkeye used key breaks to sweep the best of three series and IWCC took 2nd overall.
On the women's side, Shalee Bradley notched the fourth all-tournament team of her career by finishing fourth overall.
Both the men and women are off to Rockford, Illinois for the Golden Eagle Open on Saturday. The start time is set for 10 am.
With this week's all-tournament team placements, the Reivers now have seven all-tournament placements on the season.
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