Huskers Begin Season at Brunswick Bearcat Open

#2 Nebraska Cornhuskers at Brunswick Bearcat Open

Friday-Sunday, Oct. 27-29, 9:40 a.m., 9:30 a.m., 8:30 a.m. (CT) – Fairview Heights, Ill. (St. Clair Bowl)

Huskers Begin Season at Brunswick Bearcat Open

The top-ranked Nebraska bowling team opens its season this Friday through Sunday at the Brunswick Bearcat Open at St. Clair Bowl in Fairview Heights, Illinois. The tournament is hosted by top-ranked and defending national champion McKendree.

Twenty-four teams will compete this weekend in Illinois, including 17 ranked teams and one other team receiving votes in the National Tenpin Coaches Association 2017-18 Preseason Poll. The top-five teams in the nation and nine of the top-10 teams in the preseason poll will bowl at the loaded tournament.

The list of teams joining the Huskers in Illinois this weekend includes McKendree, No. 3 Arkansas State, No. 4 Vanderbilt and No. 5 Sam Houston State. No. 6 Stephen F. Austin, No. 7 Maryland Eastern Shore, No. 8 Fairleigh Dickinson and No. 10 Central Missouri will also compete at the Brunswick Bearcat Open this weekend. No. 11 Wisconsin-Whitewater, No. 13 Monmouth, No. 18 North Carolina A&T, No. 19 Alabama Birmingham, No. 20 Prairie View A&M, No. 21 Saint Francis Brooklyn and No. 24 Youngstown State will also be in attendance. Lincoln Memorial also received votes in the preseason poll, while St. Francis, Maryville, Drury, Aurora, Valparaiso, North Central College and Lincoln University round out the list of teams at the tournament.

The Huskers will be led by the trio of Julia Bond, Kelly Belzeski, and Meghan Straub, who each received All-America honors in 2017-18. Bond led the team last season with a season average of 212. As a returning All-American and a co-captain this season, Bond is a force to be reckoned with in the Nebraska lineup. Honorable-mention All-American Belzeski was second on the team last season with an average of 203.8. Straub ended her sophomore season with an average of 198.7 and an honorable-mention All-American award. Sophomore Raquel Orozco returns as a strong contender for one of the spots on the five-player rotation after her 2016-17 season average of 202.3.

Action this weekend gets started at 9:40 a.m. (CT) Friday morning with five sets of five-game Baker matches, followed by five team matches Saturday morning, beginning at 9:30 a.m. The combined results from Friday and Saturday will determine the seeding for Sunday’s best-of-seven Baker format championship tournament, which begins at 8:30 a.m.

Huskers Voted Preseason No.2 

Nebraska begins the season second overall in the National Tenpin Coaches Association Preseason Poll, released on October 4. The Huskers received one first-place vote and 1,212 total points, just 148 points behind defending national champion McKendree, which received 1,360 total points. Arkansas State ranked 3rd, followed by Vanderbilt and Sam Houston State. 

Brunswick Bearcat Open-Teams Competing

No. 2 Nebraska
No. 1 McKendree
No. 3 Arkansas State
No. 4 Vanderbilt
No. 5 Sam Houston State
No. 6 Stephen F. Austin
No. 7 Maryland Eastern Shore
No. 8 Fairleigh Dickinson
No. 10 Central Missouri
No. 11 Wisconsin-Whitewater
No. 13 Monmouth
No. 18 North Carolina A&T
No. 19 Alabama Birmingham
No. 20 Prairie View A&M
No. 21 Saint Francis Brooklyn
No. 24 Youngstown State
Lincoln Memorial (RV)
St. Francis
Maryville
Drury
Aurora
Valparaiso
North Central College
Lincoln University