Bulldogs try to handle the cold!

This past weekend the Bulldogs traveled to Indianapolis for the 56th Annual Hoosier Classic, the biggest Tier 1 collegiate tournament in the country.

The tournament format is 5 regular team games day 1 with 15 Baker team games on day 2, with each day being played on a different oil pattern. At the completion of the qualifying games, the top 8 Men’s teams qualify for the elimination bracket to determine the Tournament Champion.

Day 1's games were competed on a 41-foot pattern with 35.6 mils of oil and a ratio of 1.44-1. After a solid start the first 3 games, the Bulldogs found themselves in 23rd place. Game 4 was a struggle as we hit a tough pair during transition. After a strong start to game 5, we struggled to finish the game and ended up middle of the pack.

Day 2 was competed on a 52-foot pattern with 28.0 mils of oil and a ratio of 1.22-1. In practice, we found a solid look on this pattern from the outside portion of the lane. Unfortunately, we struggled mightily with spares the opening 5 games and ended up shooting an 862 for the 5 games.

Block 2 we once again attacked the pattern from the out and this time we covered our spares. The end result was a solid 1017 set. For the last block, we shifted 36 lanes to the right. The teams competing on the pair we were moving to were playing the lanes vastly different than how we were able to play them the previous 10 games. The boys sold into the move and made a very successful transition to the middle of the lane and finished the day with a 1092 block.

After the baker games were complete and the dust settled, the Bulldogs found themselves in 28th place for the tournament. While not the finish we were looking for this weekend, this is our best finish in the Hoosier in 10 years. And, with four freshman in play, we like the chances of improving on this finish in the near future.

For the weekend, the Bulldogs were led by graduate student, Spencer Norvell who shot a 5-game total of 1044 (208 average) for 55th individually and Junior Neil Weinstein who had a 5-game total of 1000 (200 average, 106th).

Equipment in play at the Hoosier:

Spencer Norvell – Brunswick’s Mesmerize, Hammer Effect Tour and Purple Hammer Urethane

Neil Weinstein- Brunswick Mesmerize, Hammer Effect Tour and Black Hammer 78 Urethane

Big appreciation to Steven Norvell for making the trek to Indiana to support our boys in person and watch his son compete in his final Hoosier Classic. Also, in a shocking surprise, Dana and Averee Preble were seen cheering for our boys this weekend!

Even though most of our parents couldn’t be there in person, we still greatly appreciate the support from our Parents from afar. Special thanks to the Weinstein family for once again picking up the tab for Team Dinner Saturday night.

As always, we couldn’t do this without the support from our sponsors, The Brunswick Corporation, Genesis and Vise, Inc.

This puts a bow on the regular season. Next up Sectionals in Fort Worth March 8-9th!

Go Bulldogs!

Coach Preble