On a weekend that Lindenwood seniors were recognized, both the men's and women's bowling squads won the Lions Match Play Classic November 1-2 at St. Charles Lanes in St. Charles, Missouri. It was the fourth straight victory at the event for each team. The Lady Lions swept McKendree in the women's bracket finals while the Lions topped Missouri Baptist 3-1 in men's competition.

Tournament play began on Saturday with three team games and 12 baker games. The Lady Lions took an early lead and continued to improve as the day went on. After posting 951 in game one, they followed with 1008 and 1047 for a team total of 3006. Lindenwood bowled seven of the 12 baker games above 200 including a high of 247 in set one for a total of 760. Set two included games of 235, 212, 246, and 202 for an impressive 895 with set three totaling 783. With a baker total of 2438 (203.17 average) and a grand total of 5444, the Lady Lions earned the top seed for bracket match play on Sunday by 365 pins over second place Missouri Baptist.

After an opening round bye, Lindenwood faced No. 4 seed McKendree. The Bearcats had dispatched No. 5 seed Central Methodist in a two-game sweep the start the day. The Lady Lions led for most of game one, but McKendree struck out to steal it in the 10^th frame 184-180. The early setback did not discourage the home team. Lindenwood started game two with four strikes in a row and never looked back, filling all 10 frames for a 257-180 victory. Game three was close to begin but the Lady Lions finished with seven straight for a 246-183 win to take the match 2-1.

No. 2 seed Missouri Baptist awaited Lindenwood in the next round. After a solid start in game one, the Lady Lions faltered a bit in the second half, but still had a chance to take game one with a spare and strike in the final frame. The spare happened, but a nine-count on the next ball left the team tied at 181. Like the previous match, Lindenwood never really looked back from there. The Lady Lions won game two 200-161 and took game three 207-185 to claim the match 2.5 to 0.5.
 

As the only team without a match loss, Lindenwood had to wait a couple of rounds before their final opponent was determined. It turned out to be a rematch against McKendree. After jockeying back-and-forth the first few frames, the Lady Lions sprinted to the end of game one with another seven-bagger and a 243-202 win. Lindenwood continued the hot streak with 10 strikes out of a possible 12 shots to close out the championship with a 269-210 victory.  

Meanwhile, the Lions were a bit off the pace on Saturday. After opening up with 972 in game one, they were already close to 150 pins behind the leading teams. Lindenwood followed with 952 and 1050 for a team game total of 2974, but that left the Lions in fourth place behind McKendree, Quincy, and Missouri Baptist. Things started to improve in baker play, especially after Lindenwood started the first set with 270. After finishing with 818, the Lions followed with sets of 828 and 872, which included another high game of 259. With a baker total of 2518 (209.83 average) and a grand total of 5492, Lindenwood was heading in the right direction. Despite a fourth-place finish for Saturday, there were positive signs heading into bracket play on Sunday.

As the No. 4 seed, the Lions faced No. 5 Central Methodist in the first round. Despite a few missed single-pin spares, Lindenwood prevailed in game one 183-148. There wasn't much drama in game two with the Lions posting 201 to complete the sweep and advance to the second round against top seeded McKendree.

The Bearcats had outscored Lindenwood by almost 350 pins on Saturday, but Sunday was a different story. After a nervous start, the Lions struck seven of nine times in the final seven frames to take the first game 230-187. McKendree bounced back to run away with game two 252-187, setting up a winner-take-all game three. It didn't take long for Lindenwood to build a comfortable lead. Despite a split in the eighth frame, the Lions were able to topple the top seed 226-203 to win the match.

No. 2 seed Quincy awaited Lindenwood in the next round, a rematch of the 2024 Lions Classic Final. The Lions clinched the championship a year ago with a 300 game. While perfection didn't happen again, Lindenwood still made quick work of the Hawks. After a 243-170 victory in game one, the Lions claimed game two and the match 214-177.

Lindenwood advanced to the best-of-five finals against No. 3 seed Missouri Baptist. The Spartans had defeated No. 6 seed Kansas State in the semifinals after the Wildcats had knocked out McKendree in a big upset a round earlier. The Lions fell behind early and could never quite make up enough ground for a comeback. They ended up dropping game one 204-181 and game two wasn't much better, but Missouri Baptist didn't bowl well either. A spare and seven-count in the 10^th frame was enough for Lindenwood to edge the Spartans 170-169. The Lions outlasted Missouri Baptist 190-171 to take a 2-1 advantage but needed some late heroics in game four. Lindenwood fell behind in the opening frames but stayed clean. A turkey in frames five through seven closed the gap, but a spare in the eighth still left some work to do. After a strike in the ninth, the Lions needed three more in the 10^th. That's just what happened, giving Lindenwood a 234-233 win and 3-1 match victory.

In other action, Lindenwood defeated Missouri Baptist 2-1 to claim the Women's Junior team title. In the Men's Junior division, the Spartans topped the Lions 3-1 in the championship match.

In individual competition, Hailey Bozych not only led the women's division, but topped everyone in the men's division as well with a three-game total of 726 (242 average) including high games of 277 and 246. That earned her the All-Tournament Team Championship. She was followed on the All-Tournament Team by Isabelle Fletcher with 594 (198 average). Carissa Merkle finished fourth with 577 (192.33 average) and also earned an ATT spot. Liz Rittenour took seventh place with 571 (190.33 average). Freshman Josie Bruck finished ninth overall and claimed the Junior Division title with 562 (187.33 average). Amber Bozych shot 209 off the bench in support of the Lady Lions.

In men's individual competition, Ryan Mackintosh led the Lions with a total of 698 (232.67 average) including a high game of 239 to finish third overall and earn a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Emmanuel McPherson just missed his fourth straight ATT with 670 (223.33 average) to finish seventh. Luke Batchelor took 13^th place with 641(213.67 average), Connor McCague finished 18^th with 609 (203 average), AJ Evrley took 26^th with 593 (197.67 average), Rolando Ng Delgado was 27^th with 589 (196.33 average), followed by Dylan Love in 28^th with 587 (195.67 average), and Shane DeRego in 29^th with 586 (195.33 average). Tyler Amos averaged 204.5 for two games and Christian Petersen averaged 202.5 for two to help the Lindenwood cause.

Men's and women's bowling are back in action for the 25^th Annual Leatherneck Classic November 8-9 in Rockford, Illinois.