Huskers Open Northeast Classic in Twelfth

New Castle, Del. - The fourth-ranked Nebraska Bowling team opened the first tournament of 2026 in twelfth, ending day one of the Northeast Classic 2-3 with a 4,856 pinfall, good enough for an average of 194.2. 

The Huskers began their day with a five-game Baker match against the No. 20-ranked team in the land, Duquesne. The Big Red would trot out Abby Starkey, Karina Capron, Haley Swindle, Kayla Starr, and Jillian Martin to start the new year. In game one, the Huskers put up 183 to the Dukes’ 136, taking a 47-pin match lead. The Big Red got off to a hot start with back-to-back strikes in game two before troubles with splits and open frames slowed their momentum. Consistent play on the back five helped the Huskers maintain their lead, as they won game two 168-162. Game three was a marked improvement over the previous, with the Scarlet and Cream winning a close one, 192-190, bolstered by Martin’s triple in the tenth frame. After three, the match total came to 543-488. Open frames and elusive strikes plagued the Huskers in game four, dropping their first game of the match as Duquesne surged forward to win 226-169, taking the match lead by a slim 714-712 margin. In game five, Nebraska elected to make a change to the one-hole, subbing Starkey out for Desiree Buchert, who promptly notched a strike with her first throw. Two early open frames for Duquesne allowed the Huskers to jump out to an early lead, but open frames of their own allowed the Dukes to crawl back into the lead, eventually securing the game and the match with a 160-149 win. The 874-861 loss moved Nebraska to 0-1 to start its first tournament of 2026. 

In match two, the Huskers were pitted against the Felician Golden Falcons, where they would claim an early victory in game one, 200-172, helped by five straight strikes to close it out. Game two was less fruitful for the Big Red, as a streak of three open frames hamstrung their momentum, even with a strong back five, as Felician would claim game two 191-173, cutting Nebraska’s match lead to 373-363. Game three opened in dramatic fashion as Buchert would pick up a five-pin spare, but open frames once more posed a problem for the Huskers, and even with a clean back six frames, Felician was able to put together another win with a nearly clean 194 game, while the Scarlet and Cream would only post 161, allowing the Golden Falcons to take the match lead. Going into game four trailing 534-557, the Huskers needed a strong performance to right the ship. They delivered, bowling a clean 222, including a triple from Martin in the tenth, but Felician had a solid game of their own, bowling 233 to increase their lead to 810-756. The Golden Falcons were just as decisive in game five, striking three times to start and jumping out to an early lead. The Huskers swapped out Swindle for Brenna Hartzler, moving Capron to the four-hole, Hartzler to the three, and Starr to the two. The change paid dividends, with the Big Red striking five straight in the back four, but the boost in production came too late to make a difference, as Felician would claim game five 208-201 and the match 998-957, knocking the Huskers to 0-2. 

The third opponent of the day was the eighth-ranked Niagara Purple Eagles. Lani Breedlove got work in this one, slotting into the one spot and bowling two clean frames in the first game. Both teams would post multiple open frames in that game, but it was Nebraska who would come out on top with a razor-thin one-pin lead at 158-157. It looked at first like it wouldn’t last, though, as the Purple Eagles ground out a 192 performance while the Huskers would be hampered by more open frames, but five straight strikes to end it propelled the Big Red to a comeback 196-192 victory, making the match total 354-349 going into game three. The Scarlet and Cream came alive in that third game, bowling a 224 game that included a five-bagger to put the game away. With Niagara only shooting 168, the Huskers would extend their match lead to 578-517. Game four was hotly contested, with both teams posting an open frame off a difficult split. But it was Nebraska that came through in the clutch, striking four to end it, posting a 215-189 scoreline to broaden their lead to 793-706. The final game of the match was a small measure of revenge for Niagara, notching 190 pins to NU’s 185, but it wouldn’t be enough as the Huskers would win the match 978-896, claiming their first victory of 2026 and moving to 1-2 on the day. 

The fourth match had Nebraska up against the Long Island Sharks. Game one was solid for the Scarlet and Cream, and they shot a 192 to LIU’s 178, taking an early lead despite two open frames. In game two, the Big Red was unstoppable, notching seven strikes in a row in the back five, ten strikes total for a convincing 259-145 win, boosting their match lead to 451-323. The Huskers would tack on eight more strikes in game three to the tune of a 225-211 scoreline, increasing their lead even further to 676-534. They kept the ball rolling in game four, dominating the Sharks in a clean 239-150 win, which saw the Nebraska lead expand to 915-684 with still a game to play. The Huskers wouldn’t be able to string any strikes together in that game, but it was a clean 199-152 nevertheless, moving the Big Red to 2-2 after the dominant 1,114-836 victory. 

The final match of the day was against the Adelphi Panthers, with the Huskers in eleventh place in the standings after four matches. The Big Red didn’t keep their momentum to start the match, with three straight open frames in game one allowing Adelphi to take the first game 187-147. The Huskers went on to bowl game two clean, including a four-bagger to end it 225-203 and close the gap to a 390-371 Adelphi lead. Game three was another solid performance for the Scarlet and Cream, with four strikes in the final two frames to end 202-167, courtesy of Capron, Martin, and Buchert. With the lead now in their hands, 573-557, the Huskers checked in Buchert for Hartzler to bowl second in the fourth game. Both teams played it close, with the Huskers eventually tying the Panthers 196-196, keeping the margin between the two at 769-753. Needing a big finish to climb out of eleventh place, splits and open frames cost Nebraska, allowing Adelphi to capitalize with a strong 208-168, coming back to take the match 961-937, handing the Huskers their third loss of the tournament.

All told, the Huskers would finish day one in twelfth place, but, with another day of bowling ahead, not out of the mix. Nebraska will return to the lanes tomorrow morning, Jan. 17, at 8:25 a.m. CT for the first of five traditional matches.