Story And Photo Courtesy Of GCU. Pictured Is The GCU Bowling Team.
19th-ranked Lopes seek 2nd USBC Nationals berth in last 3 years
Phoenix - - - "Big D" isn't too big for them anymore.
After finishing fourth there in 2019, but not getting a chance to best that for the past two years thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Grand Canyon University Men's Bowling team will return to the United States Bowling Congress (USBC) ITC Sectionals in Dallas, Texas, seeded No. 6 in the field of 18. The Lopes will make the 1100-mile trip to the sectional tournament March 12 and 13. Another fourth-place finish or better at the USA Bowl in Dallas will send the Lopes to their second ITC National Championships in late April in Addison, Illinois.
"We're so excited to have the chance to compete in the postseason for the first time since 2019," said Lopes' Head Bowling Coach Ben Canfield. "We're deeper than then, since we took just six bowlers. This year, we're taking eight, and there were some very tough decisions to figure out who was among that eight.'"
The Lopes are aware how tough the field in Dallas is, since their No. 19 USBC national ranking (the highest in their six-year history) is only 6th-best among the field. In fact, the No. 1 team in the country, the Shockers of Wichita State University, head the Texas contingent, which is one of four sectional qualifiers across the country that will determine the field for nationals. No. 4 ranked Webber International University from Florida, is a powerhouse that the Lopes will see for the first time ever. After that, the Lopes will have to climb past No. 14 Oklahoma Christian University, No. 16 Newman University (Kansas) and No. 18 Midland University (Nebraska) to reach nationals.
"We have all the tools we need to get the job done in Dallas," said Canfield. "It's on the guys to work hard the next couple of weeks to give us a shot to make it back to nationals.'"
GCU is making its fifth appearance in this prestigious tournament, and their fifth trip to the Lone Star State for it (the other sectional qualifiers this year are held in Addison, Illinois, Dayton, Ohio and Smyrna, Tennessee). The Lopes haven't finished lower than 9th in any of their previous three appearances. The Lopes also have plenty of nearby company making the trek to Dallas, since California State-Fresno, California-Davis, University of Nevada-Las Vegas, San Jose State University and even archrival Arizona State University (Canfield's alma mater) are part of the field.
The tournament format is the 'baker' format, which puts the highest emphasis of any format on the team score, and will feature 64 "baker" games, bowled in four 16-game blocks over the duration of the two-day event.