Barton Bowling delivers strong performances at Hammer Lions Classic; Leeper rolls to individual crown #GoBarton

Participating in its' second tier-I tournament on the season, the Barton Community College bowling teams delivered strong performances this past weekend at the 12^th Annual Hammer Lions Classic held in St. Charles, MO. The women's team rolled to a seventh place showing while the Cougar men brought home a 10th place finish.

Women's Recap
Freshman Angelina Leeper rolled to an individual crown on Saturday topping the 80-participant field with a three game score of 607. The freshman from Garden City, KS rolled games of 202, 210 and 195. She closed the three-game set with an average best score of 202.

Leeper's resilient outing had the Cougars sitting in second place just 112 pins back of leader Wichita State at the conclusion of three team games. Unfortunately, Barton would slide five spots back in 16-baker games concluding day one action with a seventh place finish of 5013 pins just 67 pins back of sixth place Missouri Baptist University.

Securing the seventh seed in Sunday's bracket play the Cougars knocked off sixth seeded Missouri Baptist University in straight games 157-148 and 195-188 locking a matchup against top seeded Wichita State. Dropping the opener 205-168 the Cougars went toe-to-toe with the Shockers in game two falling just four pins shy of forcing a winner take all third game. Dropping to the consolation side of the bracket matching up against Missouri Baptist once more it would be the Spartans advancing in straight games 127-124 and 184-177.  

Sophomore Erin Mayfield made the most of her two games rolled, logging a 169 before tossing a team high 211 in her second game. Alexandria Newell and Alexis Leon finished 31st and 35th respectively.

Men's Recap
Competing against a stacked field, the Barton men demolished 5328 pins in Saturday's six-team games locking the tenth seed for Sunday's double elimination bracket format. Falling 113 pins shy of ninth place Saint Xavier University and 47 pins ahead of 11th place Drury University, the Cougars drew seventh seed McKendree University in bracket play.

In Sunday's opening round of tournament play, the Cougars fired on all cylinders in the opening game earning a 205-148 victory gaining the early 1-0 lead in the match. A setback in the second contest 195-152 forced a decisive third game with the Cougars topping their opening game score by 40 pins, 245-177 scoring the upset triumph over McKendree. Facing the second seed of Wichita State in the second round, the Cougars put the Shockers on upset alert topping ten more pins in the opener 175-165 taking the 1-0 series lead. With their backs up against the wall, the Shockers awoke eluding the Barton upset bid taking game two 224-128 before claiming the match in game three 194-156.

Shifting the Cougars to the consolation side of the bracket, McKendree would get the final say avenging the Barton first round loss eliminating the Cougars in two straight games 211-188 and 180-163.

Sophomore Jacob Holden led the Cougar men individually with a 27th place finish totaling 1082 pin for an average team high of 180. Creyton Nisly checked two spots behind Holden tallying 1069 pins for an average mark of 178.

Freshman Grayson Graham rolled a team high game of 245 in his second of five games tossed.

Barton's next match will be closer to home as the Cougars will attack the Ottawa 1 Day Tournament from the Fusion Lanes in Ottawa, KS.