Shocker Bowling Team History

Team History

The Wichita State Shocker bowling program has a history worthy of recognition and pride. It’s filled with victories and success stories on an individual and team level. These accomplishments have contributed to each participant’s personal and athletic growth during and beyond the college level.

The WSU lady Shocker’s team has been a national powerhouse in collegiate bowling for more than five decades. This domination continues to be proven at the Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC). The ITC is a tournament in which teams must qualify in order to participate. Teams qualify by bowling in “sectionals” which are held at designated locations throughout the country; the top 16 women’s and top 16 men’s teams in the country advance to the ITC where they will have a chance to win a national title. Thus far, the women’s team has qualified for the ITC a record number 48 out of 49 times since the tournament’s inception in 1975. The women have won eleven national titles with the latest win in April 2024 in Louisville, KY; this number has yet to be surpassed by any other women’s bowling team. The women’s team is the only team in intercollegiate bowling history the International Bowling Media Association (IBMA) has ranked in the top 10 of every poll since the poll’s inception in 1978.

As of July 1, 2024, women's bowling at Wichita State became an NCAA program under Shocker Athletics. They will compete as an affiliate member of Conference USA. Current women's head caoch Holly Harris will serve as the program's first NCAA Division I women's head coach. The Wichita State men's bowling program will remain a sport sponsored by the Rhatigan Student Center as the NCAA doesn't sponsor men's bowling.

The WSU men’s team has joined the women’s team as the most dominant force in the intercollegiate bowling field. The men continue to stand their ground at the ITC, claiming the No. 1 spot a record number 13 times, with the latest being in 2023. The next nearest men’s team to the Shockers has just four titles. As national champions in 1993, 1994, and 1995, the Shocker men attained history as the first college bowling team to ever accomplish a “three-peat”; they rewrote history again when they won the national title in 2008, 2009, and 2010 for a second “three-peat.” Along with the women, the men have also dominated the BWAA poll. Since the poll’s inception in 1978, the men’s team has cornered the No. 1 position 52 out of 140 times. To illustrate how dominate this is, no other men’s team has been ranked No. 1 more than 15 times.