We Are National Champions!

Cassidy Ray

We are national champions! I've always wanted to say it out loud.

How crazy is that?

After all was said and done, I just stood there fighting back the tears.

The athletic department deserves this. The bowling team deserves it. The coaches deserve it.

We all deserve it.

Six years ago, I watched the Husker bowling team win the NCAA title on live television. Now, I get to have my own moment.

To stand on that stage and accomplish a lifelong goal, oh man, I'm at a loss for words.

Good morning & good vibes from your NATIONAL CHAMPION @NEBowling TEAM 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 pic.twitter.com/lhPw2HkrON

— Nebraska Huskers (@Huskers) April 12, 2021

The Unlikely Prediction

But doing so almost never happened.

Not only because of how we started at the NCAA tournament but because the entire season was up in the air before it even began.

Our entire season was pushed back into spring, and we all thought this might be 2020 all over again. And let me tell you, that was a super frustrating thought. Honestly, even scary.

But once the season was underway, the excitement was at an all-time high. 

We may not have competed as well as we had hoped for early on, but in the grand scheme of things, we were just stoked to get the ball rolling again - no pun intended.

And funny enough, we fell a few times to Arkansas State in those regular season events. After one particular tournament, Coach Klempa said:

"It's okay to lose to Arkansas State now, but we will beat them at the NCAA tournament."

Who would have guessed he was right?!

The Huskers will face Medaille tomorrow at 9:00 a.m.https://t.co/hqwlYxSq7O

— Nebraska Bowling (@NEBowling) April 8, 2021

Not Going Home

However, as expected, nothing about that journey came easy.

We lost our first match at the NCAAs. I wasn't happy after that one, not going to lie. I was kind of in a funk after that performance and didn't know what to think. Did we really just lose and perform like this? 

Eventually, I had to accept it, though, and move on.

Then, in match two, we had a huge Aha moment.

Our coaches pulled us to the side halfway through and reiterated what was at stake here – our entire season. 

Of course, we already knew it was win-or-go-home, but hearing it from them, I don't know, it really hit home.

I wasn't ready to go home yet, you know? And neither were my teammates.

That mindset stuck with us throughout the tournament.

We were able to turn that second match around and got on a roll. Coming back and winning was really big for us. After overcoming that early adversity, we found our game and started firing on all cylinders - all the way to the championship final against our old friends, Arkansas State.

Especially our back-to-back wins against Vanderbilt really manifested our confidence and belief. After those matches, we knew we could go all the way here.

The Redemption Series

Once we qualified for the finals, nerves started to kick in.

Being on live television, especially, was quite nerve-wracking. 

We lost the first game against Arkansas State, but it was close enough to stay confident. Frankly, we were never afraid of losing. And that was important for us.

That mentality motivated us to win our next game and keep it going from there. We kept our foot on the gas pedal and won the next four games in the series. 

And that's all she wrote. 

National champions!

Still surreal to say it out loud.

Many of our parents came to watch and support us. They weren't allowed inside the facility but were rooting for us from the parking lot.

Seeing those familiar faces and celebrating with them after we earned that trophy - it was an unbelievable moment. I think that's when it really began to sink in.

You see, the recognition surrounding bowling is pretty minimal in comparison to other sports like football, basketball, and baseball, obviously.

But we accomplished something really special together this season, whether we're the talk of the town or not. Nothing and no one can ever take this season away from us. 

It's a moment I'll remember for the rest of my life.

Now, I'm ready to go home.

Michelle Guarro

I traveled a long way to get to this point.

Just a few years ago, I was leaving my home in Mexico to come to the United States and join the Huskers.

I remember watching the national championships as a kid and thinking I wanted to be there and hold that trophy one day. I wanted to experience that moment, you know?

And now, it actually happened. Still hard to wrap my head around it. 

Being in front of the cameras and holding the trophy after beating Arkansas State in the NCAA Bowling Championship Finals is something I’ll never forget. It was a moment when I realized everything my family sacrificed was worth it.

All of the hard work, tears, and time apart—everything was for this moment.

A Leap of Faith

I’ll be honest, I didn’t even want to come to the United States at first.

I didn’t want to leave my family in Mexico, and I was also worried about being alone in a country where I didn’t know anyone. I’d never lived outside of my country before, and I knew only a couple of people in the U.S.

But my father insisted I’d regret it if I didn’t take the opportunity. He was more excited about it than I was. 

And I’m so glad I listened.

Standing here now as a senior and national champion, that all seems like a lifetime ago. But it was definitely one of the first thoughts that hit me when I held up that trophy. I overcame my fears and chased my dreams for this championship.

All or Nothing

We all have our stories and reasons for being here, and every single one of them made us stronger as a team. Even when we lost our first match in the NCAA tournament, we never stopped believing we could win it all.

That thought never left us.

We knew we had to take it one match at a time, one game at a time, and one shot at a time. There was no giving up. We worked too hard to get this far.

In a strange way, I even believe we needed that first loss. 

It was beneficial because it helped us make the adjustments that pushed us to the finals against Arkansas State.

It was either change or go home. We knew our season was on the line if we didn’t get it together, and we needed to give more than 100 percent to even have a shot at accomplishing our goal of winning a national title. 

One Shot at a Time

Just playing for a championship was unreal to me.

Being on live television and playing for a national title, I still get nervous thinking about it. And I know I wasn't the only one my team feeling this way.

Before we rolled our first ball, I was so caught up in trying to find a television provider so that my family back home could watch. 

You see, this was a really big deal. After all, it's because of them that I was in this position.

But once I did and competition started, it was heads down and tunnel vision.

To stay out of my own head, I tried to treat it as any ordinary match. My goal was to keep everything simple.

Easier said than done, I can tell you that.

I just focused on taking everything one shot at a time. Even after we lost the first game in the series, I stuck by that mindset the rest of the way. I knew I’d be okay if I kept my thoughts in place and focused on making my shots.

The moment Coach Pluhowsky came over to me and told me it was over was when everything came bursting out. 

“We’re national champions.”

I don’t even know how to describe that feeling. I wouldn’t know where to start, seriously. I still get goosebumps just thinking about. And I have a feeling it’ll continue to be like this for a very long time.

I don’t think I could have bowled with just anyone and accomplished something like this, either. This group of girls is special in ways I could have never imagined. 

We did it—all of us.

And best of all, we did it together.