A Match Made for Champions - Intercollegiate Bowling Championships

Bowling Digest, August, 2001 by Larry Paladino

The Nebraska women and Western Illinois men--who last took national crowns in 1999--paired up as the best college bowling squads of 2001

COLLEGE BOWLING COACHES certainly don't have to worry about lurking agents whispering sweet nothings to undergrads about the millions of dollars there for the taking if they turn pro, so there's no danger of their teams' stars abandoning them early to enter an overhyped professional draft. Heck, most coaches are lucky if they are able to get their players to sell enough phone cards or Christmas wreaths, or get enough "Strike-a-thon" fund-raising pledges, to help finance road trips to tournaments. And TV exposure, even for the Final Four teams at the Intercollegiate Bowling Championships, isn't a given.

No, the world of men's and women's collegiate bowling doesn't receive attention like big-time basketball, football, or baseball--or even volleyball, wrestling, or soccer. On the national radar, it's akin to ... well, stone-skipping or Frisbee.

But those who follow bowling can't help but admire the athleticism, endurance, skill, and pure spunk of the men and women who--as in any of the higher-profile college sports--battle tough conditions, personal anxieties, physical hardships, and, often, long odds to bring honor and glory to themselves and their universities.

Don't think for a moment that the University of Nebraska women's team and the Western Illinois men's team weren't heroes on April 21 after bringing 2001 national titles from the IBC Tournament at Spectrum Lanes in Wyoming, Mich., home to their respective campuses in Lincoln, Neb., and Macomb, Ill.

Coincidentally, the last time both teams won championships was in the same year (1999). For Nebraska, the women's win was the school's seventh bowling title in 11 years. The women have five, including 1991, 1995, 1997, and 1999, and the men won titles in 1990 and 1996.

Bill Straub's Cornhuskers needed two matches in the best-of-seven Baker format to win, first losing 4-3 to Arizona State, then beating the Sun Devils 4-1. Coach Randy Widger's Western Illinois Leathernecks rallied from a 3-2 deficit to defeat Florida State, 4.3, after going undefeated in the double-elimination format.

Nebraska star Diandra Hyman--BOWLING DIGEST'S 1999-2000 Women's College Bowler of the Year and a three-season Team USA member--savored the triumph which helped bowling keep pace with the other sports in which her fellow Cornhuskers are bringing titles home to Lincoln on a regular basis. "I love it [at Nebraska]. I wouldn't choose to go anywhere else," says the junior from Dyer, Ind., who first picked up a national championship ring two years ago as a freshman. "There's no place like Nebraska. That is sort of their slogan. You think there's nothing else but corn, but this is a good university and there's a lot of pride here, not just in football, but everything. The baseball team is ranked No. 1 and the volleyball team won the nationals."

Straub has had the benefit of awarding scholarships ever since the NCAA recognized bowling as an "emerging sport" in 1995 and Nebraska gave varsity status to women's bowling. Swaub has five full athletic scholarships to dole out, as well as incremental scholarships for as many as 15 players. Hyman has a full ride, while freshman sensation Shannon Pluhowsky, who swept every major award this year and is BOWLING DIGEST'S 2000-01 Women's College Bowler of the Year, has a half-scholarship and, needless to say, has earned a full ride next season.

"[Athletic department officials] make certain we realize how important we are," Straub .says. "They make sure we're taken care of. Last time they waited until football season, and at halftime of a game brought us to midfield and presented us with our rings and the trophy from College Bowling USA."

Federal Title IX mandates that in 1972 began requiring equal access to scholarships and programs for women finally have given a boost to women's bowling. But Title IX has almost assured that men's bowling won't be promoted to a scholarship sport. Widger says he doesn't expect anything more than a club-level designation for his men's team any time soon, but he's still comfortable with the accolades and attention that come with winning championships.

"The school has given us great support and a lot of exposure," he says. "I feel lucky the way the school is supporting us. They've been putting together a banquet for us. We had a welcome-home reception, and they made sure we got in all the local newspapers."

Unlike Nebraska's across-the-board athletic dominance, national championships are few and far between for the Leathernecks. "We had a national championship golf team here a long time ago," Widger says. "That's the only other one we've had. We do get a lot of respect. When we started here, [people] hardly knew Western had a bowling team. Now they look forward to picking up the paper and seeing an article about us. We've placed in the top 10 in our last 35 tournaments." And the team's success already has paid recruiting dividends. On the Monday morning after the IBC tournament, Widger says he'd received more than 50 e-mails from kids interested in Western's bowling program.