FORT WORTH, Texas – The No. 9 Louisiana Tech bowling team registered a top-five finish at the Bulldog Classic after going 3-0 in Sunday's bracket play, picking up three ranked wins to close the event.
Tech finished the weekend 11-2 overall with eight ranked wins, defeating No. 1 Jax State, No. 2 Nebraska (twice), No. 3 Vanderbilt, No. 5 Wichita State, No. 8 Sam Houston, No. 11 Sacred Heart and No. 24 Oklahoma Christian. The Bulldogs' only losses came to No. 5 Wichita State and No. 6 Arkansas State in Saturday's traditional matches.
The Bulldogs recorded a total pinfall of 13,826 across 67 games, averaging 206.4 per game. They totaled 5,057 pins in Baker play, 5,110 during traditional match play and 3,659 in bracket play.
LA Tech entered Sunday's bracket play in seventh place but opened with a 4-0 sweep over No. 8 Sam Houston before edging No. 2 Nebraska, 4.5-2.5, in a seven-game thriller to advance to the fifth-place match against No. 5 Wichita State.
The Bulldogs topped the Shockers 4-2 (203-190, 182-212, 199-218, 263-177, 254-218, 209-179) to secure a fifth-place finish.
Kylee Trexler (8th - 1,092 ) and
Juliana Kerrigan (9th - 1,090) earned top 10 finishes during Saturday's traditional matches.
QUOTEABLES
Head Coach
Matt Nantais
"We didn't go undefeated on Saturday, but we did something pretty special — we beat the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the nation on the same day. That is a huge accomplishment for this group."
"We entered bracket play at 8–2 and focused on finishing strong. The team responded in a big way, going undefeated and closing out the weekend with wins over Sam Houston, Nebraska, and Wichita State. It was a long, grueling weekend, but our resilience showed every step of the way."
"Now we will take a little time to recover and reset before heading to New Orleans for our final event of the first half. Proud of the fight, proud of the growth, and excited for what's next."
NEXT UP
The Bulldogs will have a week off before returning to the lanes Nov. 21-23, when they travel to Harahan, Louisiana, to compete in the Colonial Lanes Classic hosted by Tulane.
