Red Wolves Bowling Claims Holiday City Classic Championship

Courtesy Arkansas State University Athletics Department

The Arkansas State women’s bowling team claimed its first tournament title of the season by defeating No. 8 Sam Houston State to win the Holiday City Classic in Bessemer, Ala.

A-State dominated the Bearkats in the championship match. The Red Wolves won the first game 209-154 and took game two by a count of 191-177. ASU took game three 214-165 and the Red Wolves clinched the tournament title by winning a close game four by a score of 193-182.

“I kind of had an idea we’d do well against Sam Houston,” ASU bowling coach Justin Kostick said. “We were able to play the inside part of the lane and that worked to our advantage. We made really good shots against them and I’m proud of how well we performed under pressure.”

The Red Wolves began the bracket play portion with a 4-2 victory over No. 5 Vanderbilt which gave ASU a bye to the championship match. In its second match of the day, Arkansas State bowled against Alabama State and defeated the Hornets before facing off against Sam Houston State in the championship match.

Juniors Amanda Labossiere and Ashley Rucker both made the all-tournament team. This was Rucker’s third selection and Labossiere’s second selection to all-tournament teams this season. The Red Wolves finished the tournament with an 11-2 record to improve to 66-22 on the season.

“This got us to 66-22, which puts us in good shape for the NCAA tournament,” Kostick said. “It feels really good to get off the schneid and get our first tournament championship this season.”

A-State will be back in action March 1-3 at the Greater Ozarks Invitational hosted by Central Missouri in Kansas City, Mo.