Waldorf captures Stout State Open title

By Matt Oliver

MENOMONIE, Wis. – The Waldorf College men’s bowling team made school history, winning the first-ever tournament championship since the program’s inception by capturing first place in the Stout State Open on Sunday.

Racking up a team score of 8,160, the Warriors averaged 181.33 through 45 games in the two-day tournament.

“The men shot really well and came together to make our spares and take advantage of our breaks,” Waldorf coach Joe Squires said.

Tony Manna led the way for the Warriors as he claimed fifth place with a nine-game total of 1,681. The junior from Omaha, Neb. garnered All-Tournament Team honors as he rolled a 186.78 average.

Waldorf junior Nicholas Heimerman secured seventh behind a 1,664-pin finish and a 184.89 average.

Darrick Marcks took 13th with a score of 1,578 to lead Waldorf’s junior varsity team to victory. The senior averaged 175.33 while helping the Warriors to a 7,529 team total to best the University of Wisconsin-Stout (6,765) by 764 pins in the JV competition.

Freshman Tyler Doss bowled for the Waldorf JV squad and grabbed 15th behind a 1,547-pin total and a 171.89 average.

Contributing to the varsity score for the Warriors, freshman Roger Harford earned 17th with a 1,528 score while averaging 191 through eight games.

Freshman Tanner Schmitz and senior Matthew Truman provided in Waldorf’s JV victory. Schmitz came in 19th with 1,490 (165.56 average) and Truman placed 22nd with 1,468 (163.11 average).

Senior Caleb Bain locked up 24th, turning in 1,464 and a 183 average through eight games in the varsity lineup for the Warriors.

Freshman Damon Helgevold was the final Waldorf JV bowler and took 25th, shooting 1,446 (160.67 average).

Rounding out the varsity lineup for the Warriors was freshman Kyle Swiderski and sophomore Michael Templin. Swiderski put together a 33rd-place performance behind a 1,011-pin total (168.5 average) in six games while Templin finished 41st with 812 (162.4 average) in five games.

After qualifying, Waldorf (8,160) was well ahead of the pack. The Warriors topped the University of Wisconsin-Madison (8,000) by 160 pins in the six-team tournament. UW-Stout (7,954) closed out qualifying in third ahead of Viterbo University (7,720), the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (7,434) and Winona State University (6,967).

Waldorf and UW-Madison advanced to the championship round, which utilized a stepladder format.  The Warriors won 3-2 in the five-game series. UW-Madison escaped with a 193-191 win in the opening game, but Waldorf battled to the lead by winning 202-182 and 205-178 in the second and third games, respectively. The fourth game saw UW-Madison come out on top, 189-177. The Warriors prevailed in the final game with a 178-159 victory.

Winning the tournament championship is a big confidence boost for a young Waldorf team that has made significant strides through the first two tournaments of the season. The Warriors return to action in the Jayhawk Collegiate Challenge on Nov. 7-8 at Lawrence, Kan.