Men’s bowling dominates the lanes
The University of Wisconsin-Whitewater club bowling team practices on a Thursday evening Oct. 7, 2021.
October 10, 2021
The Whitewater men’s club bowling team is one of the best in the nation. The Warhawks have advanced to the Intercollegiate Team Championship each of the past seven seasons. However, there was no championship in 2020 due to the pandemic. The Warhawks have also finished in the top five 20 times and finished in the top 10 a total of 35 times.
Despite not being able to give out athletic scholarships and having a full budget like other teams, the club still attracts bowlers from around the country. Junior Drake Bazzy knows that the expectations are high.
“We always have somewhat of a high expectation going into every year. We are always just trying to make every year better than the last,” says Bazzy.
Bazzy believes this could be accomplished by both hard work for each individual player and teamwork as well. That’s something unique for a sport where you are alone in the lane.
“In the past, just making sure that we’re committed to everything that we do takes practice seriously. And just trusting each other as a team. It can be an individual sport at times, but team chemistry and gel. It’s very important to be successful,” he says.
According to Bazzy, this team could also be one of the better ones compared to teams of the past.
“Well, overall we’ve always been a deep roster team, so that’s really nice. Comparing this year from the past couple of years. I believe that we have a better team – not so much in a physical aspect – it’s what we’re able to do just being able to work together as a team and just build that chemistry between each other,” says Bazzy.
Some of the key tournaments for the Warhawks this season include tier one tournaments out east in Pennsylvania. Another tournament to look out for is the Hoosier Classic where the Warhawks will see 20 other ranked teams.
“Being in that competitive environment is really cool to be a part of,” says Bazzy. “I feel like it’s at the top of what it’s been in the past couple of years.”
Still, the end goal for these Warhawks is clear, and that is to win a national championship.
