The Bowling Bombers rolled in the Cardinal Classic on Sunday, January 18th. The tournament has the teams rolling 2 individuals and 6 baker games before cutting the field to the top 8 for a best 2 of 3 baker game bracket finish. The Bombers had rolled in the tournament 6 previous times, with their best finish coming on January 22nd, 2023, and January 24th, 2024, with consecutive second-place finishes. The Bombers finished 10th in 2025.
In game one, Bradley Giuffre paced the Bombers with a 216, and Joseph Geers shot a 202. Luke Stigall put up a 189 with Jack Kaiser rolling a 168, while Mason Carota and Ian McConnell combined for a 156. After 1, the Bombers sat 9th with a 931. Beavercreek led the field with an 1101, and Northwest sat in 8th at 939.
A change of lanes and line-up for game 2 was beneficial for the Bombers. Joseph Geers pushed the Bombers with a 255 for a 457 series, and Nolan Namaky rolled his first varsity game with a 254. Bradley Giuffre ended the day with a 400 series and a 184 game. Luke Stigall shot a 193 for a 382 series, and Ian McConnell rolled a 167. With a 1053 for game 2, the Bombers ended individuals with 1984. The Bombers 1053 was the third-best team game in the round and pushed the Bombers to fifth, 53 pins over the cut. Beavercreek sat first, followed by Lebanon, Oak Hills, and La Salle.
The Bombers locked in their fifth-place finish in qualifying with games of 190, 190, 223, 140, 190, and 181 for a total of 3198.
The Bombers rolled 4th seed La Salle in round one. The Lancers fell 191 to 160 in game one and 197 to 180 in game 2. Setting up a match-up between the number 1 seed, Beavercrek.
In game one, the Bombers struggled with 3 opens to fall 158 to 177. In game 2, the Bombers squeezed out a victory, 194 to 191. In a decisive game 3, the Bombers trailed after 5 frames before striking 4 of the final 5 frames for a 235 to 226 victory.
The Bombers met the 7-seed Harrison Wildcats in the finals. The Wildcats won a 3 game set against the Highlanders in the semi-finals. In game one, the Bombers closed 8 of 10 frames to roll a 202 to 177 victory. In the tournament-winning game, the Bombers rolled 9 strikes to win 257 to 204.
The Bombers win their first Cardinal Classic in 7 attempts. The Bombers averaged 201.4 across 23 games.
Bomber Strength:
This is the Bombers' first tournament win since February 4th, 2024 at the Lincoln Lions Tournament in Columbus. This is only the Bowling Bombers' fifth regular-season tournament win in school history, and the 4th tournament win with Coach Hott since 2016. Coach Alan Runkel has the most tournament wins in school history with 4 GCL end-of-season victories and 1 in-season win at the Big Blue Challenge.
Joseph Geers moved into 22nd spot with 15,741 career pins and Luke Stigall sits 38th with 11,002 career pins.
Record Performances
The Bombers inked themselves into the history books at the Cardinal Classic. The 1053 in game 2 was the 89th best team game in school history, with their 257 baker game being the 19th best. Their 240 and 235 were 99th and 137th, respectively.
On the individual side, Joseph Geers' 255 individual game and 457 two-game series sits 128th in both categories. Nolan Namaky's 254 puts him in at 140th.
Upcoming Schedule:
The Bombers roll in the King's Classic on the 19th. The Bombers finish up individual GCL matches with Moeller on the 23rd and travel to La Salle on the 28th.
Around the GCL:
La Salle picked up a GCL win over Moeller, 2836 to 2201, and a Fairfield victory 2813 to 2638.
Elder has a 3-game lead in the GCL, sitting 7-0, followed by La Salle at 4 and 3, the Bombers at 3-4, and Moeller at 0 - 7.
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