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Led by all-tournament selections Megan Allensworth (SO/Plainfield, Ill.) and Abby Ragsdale (SR/Aurora, Ill.), the nationally-ranked University of St. Francis women’s bowling team advanced as far as the semifinal round of the 2019 Ebonite Warhawk Open hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater over the weekend (Dec. 7-8).
Allensworth claimed the individual title at the tournament after averaging a 217.7 over her six rounds Saturday, five of which were 200-plus rounds, including a 266 to close out singles play. Ragsdale also hit the 200-pin mark in five of her six rounds to finish fifth overall with her 207.3 average.
By placing in the top five, both individuals secured spots on the all-tournament squad. For Ragsdale, it marked her fourth straight selection.
Also placing in the Top 30 was Dana Ackerson (JR/Crest Hill, Ill.), who finished 29th with a 190.8 average.
Those efforts, along with the team’s four sets of Baker games on Sunday, landed the Saints the top spot entering championship bracket play with a total 8,993 pin count. USF defeated Saint Xavier University in the first round of bracket play, two games to one in the best-of-three series, before eventual champion Wisconsin-Whitewater took the Saints down in the minimum two games in the semifinal round.
A total of 210 bowlers comprising 25 varsity and 10 junior varsity teams made up the tournament field.
On the junior varsity level, USF placed sixth.
Next up for head coach Tony Talley’s squad the Saints head out west when they compete in both the Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 18-19) and the Collegiate Shootout (Dec. 20-21) in Las Vegas, Nev.
• Needing a strike in the final frame to claim the 2019 Ebonite University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawk Open, Michael Kicmal (SR/La Grange, Ill.) delivered for the University of St. Francis men’s bowling team Dec. 8 afternoon enabling the Saints to rally for the victory in the best-of-three title match.
Talley’s club dropped a 236-201 decision in the first game before responding with 242-210 and 245-221 wins to gain its first-ever title at the event. USF had entered championship bracket play as the No. 3 seed after totaling a 9,417 pin count between individual play on Saturday and four sets of Baker games on Sunday.
The Saints defeated No. 6 seed St. Ambrose University in the minimum two games and No. 2 Calumet College of St. Joseph two-games-to-one in the first two rounds of bracket play before knocking off top-seeded Wisconsin-Whitewater in the championship match.
Kicmal also performed well on Saturday, where he placed fourth out of 281 total bowlers in individual play to earn all-tournament accolades. The senior opened the first of six games with a 279 and followed with three other 200-plus contests to finish with a 229.3 average.
Other Top 50 finishers for the Saints included Daniel Duplessis (SR/Lockport, Ill.) (14th place/216.5 avg.), Robert Kicmal (SO/La Grange, Ill.) (22nd/211.0), Eric Kramer (SR/Bolingbrook, Ill.) (26th/208.3), Matt Pesavento (SR/Lockport, Ill.) (46th/197.3) and Christopher Kelley (SO/La Grange, Ill.) (50th/194.7). Duplessis bowled three rounds of no less than 236 to secure his spot, while Kicmal closed out a solid tournament with his 268.
A total of 28 varsity teams and 14 junior varsity squads competed in the two-day tournament with USF’s junior varsity team earning the No. 3 seed in its bracket before falling in the opening round to St. Ambrose University in two games.
The Saints make their annual trek out to Las Vegas in ten days when they compete in both the Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational (Dec. 18-19) and the Collegiate Shootout (Dec. 20-21).
BASKETBALL
A go-ahead basket in the closing seconds lifted Judson to a 67-65 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) victory over the the University of St. Francis men’s basketball team this Saturday (Dec. 7) inside JU’s Lindner Center.
JU’s DeMarcus Williams’ layup with four seconds to play snapped a 65-all tie to give the host Eagles the lead and a potential game-winning three by forward Mitch Kwasigroch (SR/Manhattan, Ill.) as time expired didn’t fall as Judson was able to pull out the climatic conference victory.
With the loss, the Saints even their overall record to 4-4 on the season and are now 2-3 in league play while Judson improves to 2-9 overall and 1-4 in the CCAC.
Judson started out with the game’s first two baskets and grabbed an early 12-5 lead before the Saints scored eight straight to go ahead 13-12. Five more USF points followed as the visitors lead 18-12 at the 13-minute mark. The Eagles stormed back over a three-minute span to draw within a point (18-17) only to have USF counter with five unanswered points to lead 23-17 with 8:11 to go before the half. Judson managed to erase its deficit and pull into a 25-all deadlock with the Saints at the 4:11 mark. USF managed to regain the lead albeit a slim one but the Eagles knotted the game at 28 apiece with just under a minute left on the scoreboard. A Mitch Kwasigroch jumper with 41 ticks remaining put USF back in front as the Saints led 30-28 at the break.
The second half went back and forth with three ties in the first six minutes. A trey by Mitch Kwasigroch gave USF a 45-42 lead near the midway point which the Saints held until the 7:38 mark when a Judson three-pointer put the Eagles back in front 53-51. A little over a minute later, USF sliced a five-point JU lead down to two (58-56) with 6:19 to go. The Eagles maintained its advantage through the lead swung from two to five points over the next four minutes. A JU basket made it 65-60 and a minute elasped before guard Malik Bailey (SR/Tutwiler, Miss.) drained a three ball to cut the Saints’ deficit to three points (65-63) with 1:10 left to be played. USF then missed twice on shots from beyond the three-point arc before making good on the third attempt as guard Cole Micek (SR/Los Angeles, Calif.) buried a three-pointer with 21 seconds left to tie the contest all up at 65.
USF finished the afternoon shooting 40 percent (24-60) from the field and connected on 8-of-31 (25.8%) triples. The Saints made nine-of-12 (75%) from the free throw line.
The Saints were led by guard Jorden Thornton (SR/Hoffman Estates, Ill.), whose 15 points enabled him to reach the 1,000-point mark for his USF career. He was joined in double-figure scoring by Kwasigroch and Cole Micek. Kwasigroch tallied 13 points and had six rebounds in 17 minutes while Micek supplied 11 points.
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