DEPTFORD, N.J. – The 23rd-ranked Kutztown University women's bowling team picked up three wins across both baker and baker best-of-seven play on Sunday, finishing the 2026 Griffin Baker Classic in fifth place at Bowlero Deptford.
The Golden Bears (29-16 overall) added three more wins on the second day of competition, pulling off victories over Felician, Wilmington (Del.) and Adelphi, but the total pinfall ranking method that helped them sit in fourth after the opening day ended up pushing them out of the winners bracket after the sixth pool match of the tournament, an 865-825 win in the first contest of the day.
That set KU up in the second of three brackets, facing off against Wilmington (Del.) in the first round of baker best-of-seven play. After putting up a pair of 200-pin games to go up 2-0, the Wildcats went 2-1, to force a sixth game, and their 185-168 game six forced a seventh game. Kutztown cleared the Wildcats to advance to the winners' bracket, pulling a 33-pin win to advance.
The Maroon and Gold faced Adelphi in its final contest, and while neither team saw their scores clear 200 pins, the Kutztown keglers toppled enough pins to sweep the Panthers, four-games-to-none, to finish the two-day weekend in fifth place.
Head coach
Angela Reynolds sent
Sydney Snyder (Morrisville, Pa./Conwell-Egan Catholic),
Shelby Wunch (Easton, Md./Easton),
Isabella Hopper (Mifflinville, Pa./Berwick),
Kamryn Brenneman (York, Pa./Central York) and
Madilyn Bogovic (Mechanicsburg, Pa./Cedar Cliff) out to compete in baker play, and inserted sophomore southpaw
Miranda Pielhau (Waretown, N.J./Southern Regional) in place of Wunch for the final two matches.
The National Tenpin Coaches Association, which had Kutztown ranked 23rd in its top 25 teams, is set to release a Coaches Poll in the coming days with updated rankings for both nationwide teams and Division II and III opponents.
The Golden Bears will stay close to home this upcoming weekend, traveling an hour southwest of Kutztown to Clearview Lanes in Mount Joy, Pa., where it will compete in the three-day Mount Shootout, hosted by Mount St. Mary's, from Friday, Feb. 6, through Sunday, Feb. 8.
