FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 11, 2017

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

One Last Hooray: The Hoosier Classic marks the final tournament of the regular season. Western Bowl in Indianapolis is the host this weekend.

Biggest Field: With 78 men’s teams and 66 women’s teams, the Hoosier Classic is the largest event the Shockers compete in.

Rankings: This is the final event for the Shockers to receive power rankings. As on February 5th, the Lady Shocks are in second and the men are in sixth. In the most recent NCBCA Coaches Poll, the Lady Shocks are ranked number one and the men are ranked number two.

Schedule & Format: The Shocker men begin competition at 7:15 a.m. Saturday with six team games. The Lady Shocks will take the lanes at 3:45 p.m. for their six team games. On Sunday, the men bowl 15 Baker games at 7:15 a.m. and the women bowl 15 Baker games at 12:15 p.m. After qualifying if over, the field is cut to the top eight men’s and women’s team for a best two-of-three, single elimination, Baker bracket. The championship match is best three-of-five. The men’s bracket begins at 12:30 p.m. and the women’s at 4:00 p.m.

Keeping Up With the Shocks: Follow the Shockers’ scores on their Facebook (/shockerbowling) and Twitter (@shockerbowling) for periodic score updates when available. Additionally, the Hoosier Classic Facebook page will post scores and USBC is live-streaming the event at www.youtube.com/bowltv. The men will be featured on the pair during game five on Saturday and the women begin on the live pair game one on Saturday.

Hoosier Bound Shockers: Traveling this weekend to their final regular season event are senior men Packy Hanrahan, Mitch Hupé and Justin Zwaschka. They are joined by junior Doug Wagner, sophomores Brandon Biondo and Wesley Low and freshmen Kamron Doyle and Jerod Hromek. On the women’s side, seniors Ashlyn Herzberg, Kristie López and Laura Plazas are making their final Hoosier Classic appearance. Juniors Sydney Brummett and Hollyann Johansen join them along with sophomores Fania Cobo and Kayla Ovesny.

Hoosier History: The women come into the Hoosier Classic as the three-time defending champions. The men are looking to return to match play after missing the match play portion last year.

Post Season: Following the Hoosier Classic, the men’s and women’s teams will be assigned to one of four sectional tournaments (Stratford, N.J., Smyrna, Tenn., Addison, Ill. or Dallas, Texas). They will compete in the sectional tournament March 11-12 in hopes of placing in the top four. The top four teams at each sectional advance to the Intercollegiate Team Championships in Baton Rouge, La.

Shocker Speak: Seniors Mitch Hupé and Kristie López
As the regular season and your final collegiate bowling season is winding down, how do you feel?

  • KL: The Hoosier is one of my favorite tournaments so I am excited to compete in it one last time. We are in a really good spot as a team right now entering post season and we have been practicing a lot, so I’m excited to see what lies ahead for us.
  • MH: Going into the final tournament, I feel good. The team is really starting to come together and the time we’ve been putting in is beginning to show.

What will your practices be like heading into post season?

  • KL: Our practices won't really change. What we have been practicing seems to be working so we will keep doing what we are doing. Our practices have been consisting of a lot of spare shooting, Baker matches against the men’s team and playing different parts on the lane.
  • MH: Our focus will remain the same for post season, which is just making good shots. We will probably bowl some extra Baker games in practice and continue to shoot spares.

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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.