FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 12, 2016

CONTACT:
Gordon Vadakin
Phone (316) 978-7655
Fax (316) 978-6056
email - shocker.bowling@wichita.edu
www.wichita.edu/bowling

WICHITA, Kan. – For another year, Team USA and Junior Team USA is full of Shockers, as five current and former Shockers are named to Team USA 2016 and Junior Team USA 2016 at Team USA Trials in Las Vegas, Nev.

Athletes who competed in the Team USA Trials bowled six games each day on a different pattern for five days. Ranking points were given based on where the player finished each day. At the end of the week, the athlete with the least amount of ranking points was named the Team USA Trials Champion. The top four players in ranking points were automatically named to Team USA, the US Amateur Champion earned a spot on Team USA and the National Selection committee added seven more athletes.

The U.S. Amateur Championship consisted of the top three amateurs in ranking points bowling in a stepladder finals. The winner of the stepladder would be named the US Amateur Championship and earn a spot on Team USA.

Incoming Shocker Kamron Doyle (Brentwood, Tenn.) led the way for the Shockers as he finished second in ranking points, earning a spot on Team USA for the second straight year. Senior AJ Chapman (Manchester, Iowa) was next as he finished fifth and qualified for the US Amateur stepladder. Because Doyle and amateur Chris Via already qualified for Team USA, Chapman earned his spot on Team USA 2016 for the second straight year as well.

Based on his performance at Team Trials and his resume, the National Selection Committee added Wichita State alum Chris Barnes (’89-‘92) to Team USA 2016 for the thirteenth time. The selection committee added two more Shocker alumni based on their resumes, Sean Rash (’99-’03) and John Szczerbinski (’06-’10).

In the finals for the US Amateur Championship, Chapman bowled Chris Via in round one on the Stockholm pattern and came up short, as Via fired 279 to Chapman’s 246. As the number one seed, Doyle bowled Via in the finals on the Melbourne pattern and made it interesting. Doyle opened two times in the first five frames, before starting a string of strikes. Via opened in the eighth frame, making it a close game. Via needed to double in the tenth frame to lock Doyle out, and he did just that. Doyle earned second place, 219-212.

“There is nothing more gratifying than setting goals and achieving them,” Chapman said. “It feels great to be back on Team USA. Being able to go out there and bowl well on that stage is just proof that if you work hard enough, good things do come to you.”

Junior Team USA is dominated with Shockers as well. Over the summer, freshman Brandon Biondo (Carpentersville, Ill.), sophomore Sydney Brummett (Fort Wayne, Ind.), Doyle, sophomores Hollyann Johansen (Wichita, Kan.) and Sierra Kanemoto (Dayton, Ohio) and sophomore Thomas Peters (Belleville, Ill.) earned their spots on Junior Team USA 2016. Based on his performance at Team Trials, freshman Wesley Low (Palmdale, Calif.) earned his spot on Junior Team USA 2016.

“Team Trials definitely felt like a redemption after Junior Gold. I was in the top five all week at Junior Gold and it all crumbled the last five games. It was a huge wake up call to work harder to make sure I earned a spot back on Junior Team USA,” Low said. “It was a solid week in Las Vegas. Before coming I worked extremely hard on spare shooting and setting realistic goals. I made sure to get to the pocket and make my spares, and it looks like it worked out well for me.”

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The Rhatigan Student Center has been the major financial and administrative supporter of the Wichita State University bowling program since 1959.