Waskom leads Blazers at National Collegiate Match Games

ST. CLAIR, Ill. – The Vincennes University Bowling team was back in action over the weekend as the Trailblazers headed to St. Clair, Ill. to take part in the 2024 National Collegiate Team Match Games hosted by McKendree University.

The weekend tournament began Saturday with five traditional team games where the Blazers were paced by sophomore Dakota Waskom (Louisville, Ky.)

Waskom put together five really solid games to lead the Blazers, finishing with a total of 1,017 pins, including a team-leading game of 265 to finish 49th overall on the individual leaderboard.

Freshman Carter Martin (Breese, Ill.) was the second VU bowler on the leaderboard Saturday, finishing his five games with a total of 981 pins, including a best game of 214 to take 70th.

Freshman Colton Martin (Breese, Ill.) was the third Vincennes bowler to finish all five games, ending his day with 863 pins and finishing 107th overall.

Junior Carson McDivitt (Richmond, Ind.) closed out the first day by bowling in the fourth and fifth games to combine for a score of 362 on the day, while sophomore Nick Gregg (Salem, Ill.) took the first two games and finished with 361 pins.

Freshman Ryan Webber (Evansville, Ind.) bowled in the first and fifth games of the day, finishing his day with 340 pins, while sophomore Ethan Ennis (Kokomo, Ind.) finished with a combined score of 338 in games three and four.

Saturday was rounded out by senior Brighton Lucas (Salem, Ill.) who finished his two games with a total of 317 pins.

The Trailblazers as a team combined to post a team score of 4,579 Saturday, before heading back to the lanes Sunday for 20 baker games.

In the baker games round of the weekend tournament, the Trailblazers held firm with a total of 3,557 pins over the 20 games, giving them a weekend total of 8,136 pins.

The Trailblazers as a team placed 22nd overall in the tournament, while facing some of the best bowling programs in the country.

VU will look to regroup and improve heading into their next tournament as Vincennes closes out the 2024 portion of their schedule Saturday, Dec. 7 with the American Heartland Bowling Association tournament No. 4 hosted in Fort Wayne, Ind.

The Trailblazers will then return after the holiday break to begin 2025 at the Kegel-ISBPIA Midwest Classic in Addison, Ill. Saturday, Jan. 18 and Sunday, Jan. 19.

TOURNAMENT RESULTS

VU (22nd) – 985, 873, 918, 903, 900 – 4579. Baker – 3557. Total – 8136.

Dakota Waskom (49) – 232, 157, 265, 191, 172 – 1017

Carter Martin (70) – 214, 169, 201, 190, 207 – 981

Colton Martin (107) – 191, 188, 157, 167, 160 – 863

Carson McDivitt (188) – x, x, x, 183, 179 – 362

Nick Gregg (190) – 190, 171, x, x, x – 361

Ryan Webber (195) – 158, x, x, x, 182 – 340

Ethan Ennis (196) – x, x, 166, 172, x – 338

Brighton Lucas (202) – x, 188, 129, x, x – 317