VU Blazer Bowlers get season rolling with 16th place at Midwest Collegiate Classic

MILWAUKEE, Wis. - The Vincennes University Blazer Bowling Team's Kyle Guertsen just missed making the all-tournament team with a sixth place individual finish, but the Trailblazers - as a team - weren't able to shake off a sluggish start and notched a 16th place showing at the Hammer Midwest Collegeiate Classic over the weekend in Milwaukee, WI.
William Penn (IA) University won the 42-team event at AMF Bowlero Lanes in Milwaukee. William Penn tallied 11,579 total pins. VU had 10,698 for the tournament, which was the Trailblazers' season-opening event.
Guertsen, a sophomore from Oak Creek, WI, missed the five-bowler All-Tournament team by 31 pins as he knocked down 1,971 total pins in nine games for a 219 tournament average. Other individual performances for the Trailblazers were:

James Fielder (sophomore; Murray, KY) 1,792 total pins; nine games; 199 average,
Jalen Scott-Jones (freshman; Riverside, RI) 1,435 total pins; eight games; 179 average,
Collin Howe (sophomore; Salem, IL) 1,130 total pins; six games; 188 average,
Daniel Healy (freshman; Cedar Rapids, IA) 881 total pins; five games; 176 average,
Brett Golabek (sophomore; South Elgin, IL) 748 total pins; four games; 187 average, and,
Alex Clark (sophomore; Taylorville, IL) 728 total pins; four games; 182 average.

Fielder also logged the high series for VU with a 701 score. Golabek had the Trailblazers' high game at 267.
VU Coach Gary Sparks said Guertsen and Fielder provided a good deal of veteran leadership, even by example in the two-day season-opener.
"Our two returning bowlers really led us and Kyle bowled really well for the weekend," Sparks said. "I look for him to have an outstanding season if he keeps working hard and putting time into being at the top level. "What we need is to find some other players who will jump in and give us a supporting cast to help Kyle and James out.
"Our Saturday start was typical, a little inconsistency with some good points and some areas where we need work," he added. "The scoring pace for the tournament was up a little bit this year and we just never did get over the hump to put a few really good games together as a unit and get ourselves in contention. On Sunday, I was very disappointed with how we came out... very sluggish and dead and really not ready to get back into competition. That was disappointing, especially after we have talked about this several times heading up to the start of the season - how critical it is to for the team to be ready to bowl early morning on Sundays for the second day."
Up next for VU is a trip to the Western Shootout on Saturday and Sunday in Indianapolis.