Bond Leads Huskers at Mid-Winter Classic

The N​TCA top-rated Nebraska women's bowling team wrapped up competition at the Mid-Winter Classic in Jonesboro, Ark., Sunday afternoon. NU finished third out of 15 teams in the three-day-event. 

The Huskers started off the competition on fire through the first two days, compiling a lead of over 450 pins entering Sunday's championship bracket, before going 1-2 on the final day resulting in NU finishing third. 

Nebraska Head Coach Bill Straub was disappointed with Sunday's tournament play, especially due to the fact that the Huskers were competing so well through Friday and Saturday's competition.  

“We lapped the field yesterday, everything went right – we had a huge lead going into today, 450 pin lead on second place, which in bowling terms we were leading by a mile and a half,” Straub said. “Today what could go wrong went wrong, and clearly bad coaching, I didn't do well enough today.”

Straub added that the Huskers left some open frames at the most inopportune times today, but hopes this will only fuel the Huskers as the season moves on. 

“What could go wrong today, went wrong, we had wrong alignments and we missed too many chances, leaving up pins at inopportune times. Good things have been going in general (for the team), I think this is a blip on the radar screen, if it is not it—it is on me.”

When asked if this was a learning experience for the talented group of Husker bowlers, Straub mentioned, “I sure hope so, it sure was a learning experience for Coach Klempa and I.” 

NU opened up Sunday's bracket play versus the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, winning the first game 204-145 before going on a four game losing streak, losing the match to UMES 4-1. 

The Huskers then faced off with tournament host Arkansas State University. NU and the Red Wolves battled through seven games, before ASU edged out the Huskers 4-3, winning the final game of the match 219-209. 

In the final match of the day, the Huskers edged out Central Missouri 4-3, winning the final two games 215-180 and 191-170 to finish in third place. 

Freshman Bond wins Individual Competition, Kuhlkin finishes Second

True freshman Julia Bond of Aurora, Ill., continued her impressive freshman campaign for the Huskers this weekend at the Mid-Winter Classic. Bond placed first in the individual competition on Saturday with a staggering 223.40 game average. 

Bond recorded a total pinfall of 2,234 in 10 games, with a high score of 256. 

Straub was impressed with Bond's performance, as he noted, “She continues to keep getting better, she performed very well Friday and Saturday,” he said. 

Senior two-time All-American Liz Kuhlkin continued to excel on the bowling lanes as well, placing second behind bond. The New York native compiled a game average of 219.80 with a total pinfall of 2,198 in 10 games. Kuhlkin's high score was 258. 

Both Bond and Kuhlkin received all-tournament honors for their performances. 

The Nebraska bowling team will now take a week off of competition in preparation for the Prairie View A&M Invite held in Arlington Texas Jan. 30-Feb. 1. Check back at Huskers.com for updates.