The Spartan bowlers had a decent season but failed to qualify for sectionals.
EAST LANSING, Mich.- The Michigan State bowling team had hoped to qualify for the sectional playoffs. They had a decent season, with some of their top bowlers making top-10 finishes. However, the Spartans fell short and must look to improve next year.
Junior Travis Holpuch said this season was about rebuilding and growing.
“Unfortunately, we lost our top three bowlers from the 2017-18 season to graduation,” Holpuch said. “So this season was a lot about forming chemistry and getting some new bowlers involved.”
Holpuch had a good year, with four top-10 finishes, including first place at the Adrian College Open. Senior Patrick Mahoney added with two individual top-10 finishes in his fourth year as a starter for MSU.
The 2017-18 team set a high bar, as it reached the Big Ten Championships at the Hoosier Classic, but ended up losing to Purdue.
“Our goal for the season was to qualify for sectionals, so falling short was a little disappointing but understandable,” Holpuch said. “We didn’t have four of our seven regular rotation players from last season, so in general I was proud of how we all performed. But it’s something we’ll definitely use as motivation this offseason.”
After losing their top four players to graduation last season, the team continued to find others to step up in their place. After holding tryouts, they had a new look to their team.
The team brought on players who have never played past the high school level and helped them adjust to the style of collegiate play.
“This year was really about getting the experience on the people that have not yet bowled in college,” Mahoney said. “So, the one thing that would be nice to see improved on would probably be consistency. We had some really good and some really bad tournaments this year.”
Mahoney, who is graduating, will miss the consistency of bowling throughout his academic career.
“I have been bowling since I was a very little kid. May be around the age of 6 or 7,” Mahoney said. “So, when I was a senior in high school, I was looking at schools that had the program that I wanted and MSU was the first choice.
“I have been bowing on a team since my freshman year in high school and now as I am finishing up my senior year of college it’s going to be weird to not be bowling.”