Huskers Set for Crusader Classic

Friday-Sunday, February 9-11, 9:30 a.m., 9:30 a.m. 8:00 a.m. (CT) Richton Park IL. (Lakewood Bowling Center) The top-ranked Nebraska bowling team heads to Illinois for the Crusader Classic this Friday through Sunday. The tournament is hosted by No. 25 Valparaiso at Lakewood Bowling Center in Richton Park, Ill..

 

The competition includes six of the top 25 teams in the February NTCA poll, including No. 15 Central Missouri, No. 20 Wisconsin Whitewater, No. 22 Maryville, No. 24 Lincoln Memorial and the hosts Valparaiso. The list of teams competing also includes Youngstown State and Monmouth who received votes in the February poll, while Drury, Alabama A&M. Lincoln University, Ausgustana University, Elmhurst College, Aurora, and North Central College round out the list of teams at the tournament.

 

Seniors Kelly Belzeski and Julia Bond will be making the trip along with teammates Michelle Guarro, Amanda Morgan, Allison Morris, Raquel Orozco and Meghan Straub.

 

The Huskers are coming off of a seventh-place finish at the Prairie View A&M Classic where they went 8-5 for the weekend. The Cornhuskers swept Farleigh Dickenson 4-0 in the seventh-place match. Kelly Belzeski led the way for the Huskers, finishing in eighth place overall in the individual standings with a strong average of 220.2. Junior Meghan Straub finished 20th overall with her average of 212.5.

 

Competition begins Friday morning at 9:30 a.m. with five sets of five-game Baker matches, followed by five traditional matches on Saturday morning, beginning at 9:30 a.m. Combined results from Friday and Saturday will determine the seeding for Sunday’s bracket-play championship tournament, in which each team will play three rounds of best-of-seven Baker matches beginning at 8:00 a.m.

 

Crusader Classic Notes  The 2018 Crusader Classic marks the eighth season in a row that Nebraska will compete at the tournament hosted by Valparaiso. The Huskers won the title in the 2017 and have finished in the top three at each of the last six editions of the Crusader Classic, also winning in 2010 and 2014. In the 2017 edition, the Huskers went 12-0 to beat Arkansas State in the championship final of the Baker-style championship tournament. Julia Bond finished first in the individual standings and was named Most Valuable Player of the tournament with an average of 220. Kelly Belzeski earned the first top-10 finish of her career with a 212.5 average to finish sixth overall, while Briana Zabierek, finished ninth with an average of 205.

 

Four Huskers Selected to National Teams at the USBC Team USA Trials Current Huskers Julia Bond and Amanda Morgan and former Husker greats Liz Kuhlkin and Shannon Pluhowsky earned spots on various national teams at the 2018 United States Bowling Congress Team USA Trials, held Tuesday through Sunday at The Orleans Bowling Center in Las Vegas, Nev.  Bond, Kuhlkin and Pluhowsky qualified for Team USA for the 2018 season, while Morgan will represent the United States on Junior Team USA in 2018. Both Bond and Kuhlkin earned spots on the 2018 Team USA after being selected by the National Selection Committee based on their performances at the trials. Bond also finished second overall in the U.S. Amateur Stepladder Finals on Sunday. Shannon Pluhowsky, who was a member of the Nebraska bowling team from 2000-05, was also offered a spot due to her overall performance at The Orleans. Morgan earned a spot on the Junior Team USA based on her performance in Las Vegas. Gazmine Mason, who competed from 2013-17, and current Husker senior Kelly Belzeski also competed at the trials. 

 

Crusader Classic- Teams Competing

No. 1 Nebraska

No. 15 Central Missouri

No. 20 Wisconsin Whitewater

No. 22 Maryville

No. 24 Lincoln Memorial

No. 25 Valparaiso 

Monmouth (RV)

Youngstown State (RV)

Drury

Alabama A&M

Lincoln University

Augustana University

Elmhurst College

Aurora

North Central College