LAS VEGAS – The University of Pikeville men's bowling team went 1-1 in the opening day of the 2025 Intercollegiate Team Championships at the South Point Bowling Plaza in Las Vegas.
 
The Bears opened the tournament with a 4-2 win over Lawrence Tech (Mich.) before falling to Wichita State 4-3 in the second round.
 
UPike got a solid day from graduate student Dylan Mishak, who threw 15 strikes and had only one open frame in the two matches. A native of North Ridgeville, Ohio, Mishak didn't leave a pin standing until his 21^st frame of the evening, by which time he'd rolled 12 strikes.
 
Sophomore Joshua Maslanich led the Bears with 17 strikes, with all five starters striking at least 15 times in the two contests.
 
The third-seeded Bears will be back in action on Friday morning at 9:45 Pacific Daylight Time, 12:45 in the Eastern time zone. They await the winner of the match between Newman (Kan.) and Calumet (Ind.), which will be played earlier on Friday morning.
 
Bears 4, Blue Devils 2: The Bears opened match play with a tight contest with Lawrence Tech, which ended in thrilling fashion.
 
UPike opened with a 217-207 win thanks to a turkey from Eli Mayberry, Bryce Oliver and Mishak in frames 4-5-6 and completed the opener without an open frame. Lawrence Tech evened the score with a 245-199 win, striking on the final five balls thrown in Game 2.
 
The Bears moved back in front with a 212-174 win in the third game, again thanks to three straight strikes from senior Blake Hisle, Maslanich and Mayberry in frames 7-8-9. But the Devils again tied the match with a 244-162 score in Game 4, getting strikes in five of the last six frames.
 
UPike took game 224-208, getting strikes in all but one frame from four through 10 and striking on the last six rolls. Game 6 opened with six straight strikes from the Bears, but the Blue Devils answered with a run of strikes starting with the sixth frame.
 
Needing to strike out to win, the Lawrence Tech anchor bowler went strike-strike-eight, and the Bears pulled out a 236-235 win to advance.
 
Mishak, Hisle, Maslanich and Mayberry all had seven strikes, while Oliver totaled five. The Bears had 33 strikes and left only nine frames open.
 
Shockers 4, Bears 3: In one of the most exciting matches of the day, Wichita State held off a determined Bears team to remain in the winner's bracket.
 
WSU opened with a 216-215 win, getting strikes on the final five throws. UPike bounced back with a 241-216 win, enjoying a run of six straight strikes from frame 3 through 8, as Maslanich struck to start and end the run. Oliver struck out to close the game.
 
Wichita rallied to move ahead much the same way the Bears won Game 2. It had strikes from frames 2-7 and then struck out in the 10^th. Oliver and Mishak struck both frames in the loss.
 
In Game 4, the Bears struck in all but two frames, including going through the lineup starting in the second frame. They also got four straight starting in the eighth frame, allowing them to overcome seven Shocker strikes in the first eight frames for a 253-230 win.
 
Wichita State was on the cusp of winning after a 196-132 win in Game 5. It never had more than two consecutive strikes but took advantage of six open frames by the Bears. But UPike rallied for a 222-212 win in Game 6, getting strikes in six of seven frames from 2-8 to force a Game 7.
 
UPike had only one bad frame in the finale and got five straight strikes in frames 4-9. But Wichita filled every frame, struck in even of them and struck out in the 10^th to seal the win 239-226.