Shocker bowling teams loaded for national championships

Right on schedule, Wichita State’s men’s bowling team had its worst performance in the final tournament of the regular season.

The Shockers have played in Indianapolis’ Hoosier Classic for three straight years, never finishing in the top 12. This year, WSU finished in the top three of 9 of 11 tournaments but placed 15th in Indiana.

It would be a greater concern if WSU hadn’t already shown a knack for quickly eliminating the bad vibes. The Shockers placed 17th in the Hoosier Classic in February 2015 but won the national title two months later.

Last year, WSU followed a 13th-place finish in Indianapolis, its worst of the year, with a third-place national finish. The Shockers try for another quick recovery in the Intercollegiate Team Championships starting Wednesday in Baton Rouge, La.

WSU’s women and both Newman teams also qualified for the national tournament. WSU’s teams qualified by placing first in last month’s sectional tournaments.

“We have not played well in that tournament for three years,” WSU coach Gordon Vadakin said of the Hoosier Classic. “It’s always kind of a wake-up call when we come out of there: What are we going to do boys, we’re better than this.

So they got with the program and worked like they have the past three years very hard between the Indianapolis tournament and the sectionals. They got their act together and played real well at the sectionals.”

It takes a lot to find adversity for either WSU team in any season, as they’ve combined for 20 national titles. Even the Indianapolis tournament finishes come with the addendum that they are the largest tournament the Shockers face each season, with 77 men’s teams this year.

Still, it’s difficult to pinpoint a reason for the Shockers’ relative struggles, which aren’t matched by the women’s team in Indiana. They can easily be brushed off since they’ve always been a minor setback on the way to high finishes at the national tournament.

“It’s very demanding, there are three different lane conditions that you play on that are really difficult,” Vadakin said. “We have not been up for the challenge in that and have not played at a high level in that for a while.

“Maybe it’s one of those things that are just meant to be. One of the ones that we bowled (poorly) in was 2015, the first of these three, and we went ahead and won the national championship. Maybe it’s meant to be in the sense that it’s a wake-up call and you’ve got to put it together.”

WSU’s women’s team is primed for a high national finish after replacing one bowler, Dasha Kovalova, and winning 8 of 11 tournaments with two other top-three finishes.

The men’s team didn’t have as much preseason certainty. The Shockers replaced their top three scorers, including All-American A.J. Chapman, and had three returners with a 200 average or better.

WSU has turned that into nine players with 200 averages, getting increased contributions from returners and finding reliance among freshmen. Sophomore Wesley Low, at 212, is one of five players averaging 206 or better.

Brandon Biondo reached the singles championship bracket along with WSU women’s players Sydney Brummett, Hollyann Johansen and Estefania Cobo.

“It’s like any other elite-level sports program, you’ve got to fill those voids from people leaving,” Vadakin said. “We had a very good player in A.J. Chapman last year, and well, A.J.’s gone. The guys had to step up and fill those shoes, and they have. I suppose some years that wouldn’t happen, but it tends to happen not by accident, but by plain, old-fashioned work ethic.”

This story was originally published April 17, 2017 at 1:02 PM with the headline "Shocker bowling teams loaded for national championships."