\n Gene J. Kanak
\n <\/p>\n
QUALIFYING<\/a> GREEN BAY, Wis. \u2013 There are very few environments in the sport of bowling that can match the sustained energy and intensity that is always found inside the host venue on the final day of match play at the United States Bowling Congress Intercollegiate Team Championships.<\/p>\n For more than 12 hours, fans are on their feet \u2013 jammed in tight galleries \u2013 watching every shot with bated breath. Athletes can be seen literally jumping for joy one minute only to be rendered inconsolable the next. And encouraging phrases like \u201cLet\u2019s go!\u201d and \u201cRight now!\u201d can be heard reverberating from wall to wall and floor to ceiling.<\/p>\n Friday\u2019s action at The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley in Green Bay, Wisconsin, contained all of that and more as the 2026 ITC TV finalists were determined after five rounds and more than 12 hours of heart-stopping match-play action.<\/p>\n In the women\u2019s division, Jacksonville State (4-0), the defending ITC women\u2019s national champion and 2024 runner up, will take on McKendree (4-0), which will be looking to collect its third ITC women\u2019s crown in program history \u2013 The Bearcats won titles in 2017 and 2023.<\/p>\n A first-time champion will emerge on the men\u2019s side where two-time ITC men\u2019s runner-up St. Ambrose (4-0) will square off against Mount Mercy (4-0), which will be making its debut appearance in the men\u2019s title match. <\/p>\n The finals in each division will be recorded at Ashwaubenon on Saturday and broadcast on CBS Sports Network<\/a> in May. The women\u2019s ITC show will start at noon Eastern on Saturday and is scheduled to air on May 5 at 7 p.m. Eastern, while the men\u2019s ITC final will kick off on Saturday at 6:45 p.m. Eastern and be shown on May 13 at 7 p.m. Eastern.<\/p>\n Both the men\u2019s and women\u2019s title contests will be best-of-five Baker matches.<\/p>\n Jacksonville State comes to the finals looking to cap off one of the most dominant seasons in collegiate bowling history by completing a successful ITC title defense and collecting its second national title in seven days \u2013 The Gamecocks won the 2026 NCAA Bowling Championship by defeating Wichita State, 4-1, at Yorktown Lanes in Parma, Ohio, on April 11.<\/p>\n The feat would be impressive but hardly surprising as Jacksonville State has maintained a winning percentage of just over 91% thus far this season.<\/p>\n The Gamecocks\u2019 performance at Ashwaubenon the last two days has done nothing to hurt that mark as they led the 16-team women\u2019s division by 186 pins during qualifying on Thursday morning and then went undefeated during two days and four rounds of best-of-seven Baker matches.<\/p>\n Jacksonville State defeated Maryville, 4-1, and Central Missouri, 4-0, on Thursday and then went on to top North Carolina A&T by scores of 4-0 and 4-3 on Friday to reach the ITC women\u2019s title match for the third consecutive year.<\/p>\n Even though the Gamecocks have made winning look easy throughout most of this season, Jacksonville State Head Coach Shannon O\u2019Keefe is quick to explain that the process is anything but.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving an incredible season like this takes total buy-in, selflessness, patience and a lot of hard work,\u201d O\u2019Keefe said. \u201cThis team has taken that and ran with it. They\u2019ve believed in what we\u2019ve taught them in the classroom. They\u2019ve trusted the moves that we\u2019ve asked them to make frame in and frame out on the lanes, and they\u2019ve executed to a level where a lot of our opponents have felt like they can\u2019t make a mistake against us.\u201d<\/p>\n O\u2019Keefe has no way of knowing what mistakes her own squad might make during Saturday\u2019s title match. She just knows that any that may occur are unlikely to be caused by the bright lights and TV cameras.<\/p>\n \u201cOur girls just won a national championship on live TV last week, and all of our returners will be going to their fourth show in two years, so this is nothing new to them,\u201d O\u2019Keefe said. \u201cWe\u2019ll just continue to preach that even though the environment may look a little bit different, we, as a core, are still the same and that it\u2019s just bowling.\u201d<\/p>\n The McKendree women, meanwhile, will be making their first ITC TV finals appearance since winning the national title under O\u2019Keefe\u2019s direction in 2023 \u2013 She coached the Bearcats from 2014-2023 before stepping down to accept the position at Jacksonville State.<\/p>\n Current McKendree Head Coach Shawn Bibee knows that most fans will be expecting Jacksonville State to leave The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley with the Helmer Cup on Saturday; however, he also knows that his team is very comfortable playing the role of David to Jacksonville State\u2019s Goliath.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know Jacksonville State\u2019s a fantastic team; the whole country knows that,\u201d Bibee said. \u201cBut we\u2019ve been here before in these matches when we\u2019re not supposed to be. We\u2019re underdogs, and we\u2019ve had that mentality all along. Our girls have the talent, so we just need to put A to B and let it happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Bibee\u2019s Bearcats struggled to make things happen during qualifying on Thursday, placing 14th out of 16 teams.<\/p>\n McKendree flipped the script once match play began, however, racking up two victories on Thursday \u2013 4-3 over Mount Mercy and 4-1 against Tulane \u2013 and another pair during Friday\u2019s final day of bracket action \u2013 4-3 versus Newman and 4-1 while taking on Louisiana Tech \u2013 to move to the brink of another national title.<\/p>\n Bibee didn\u2019t try to downplay what that accomplishment would mean to him and his team.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I took this job three years ago, our program had been written off, and we had to rebuild from the ground up,\u201d Bibee said. \u201cIt means a lot to our players and to me as the coach to get back here and show that all the hard work has paid off. To win would be massive.\u201d<\/p>\n St. Ambrose and Mount Mercy will come to Ashwaubenon on Saturday each hoping to pay their own hard work and dedication off by securing the first ITC men\u2019s title in program history.<\/p>\n Mount Mercy knows what it feels like to win a national championship \u2013 The Mustangs won the 2026 NAIA Men\u2019s Bowling National Championship at Royal Scot Lanes in Lansing, Michigan, on March 21 \u2013 but has yet to reach the top of the USBC Collegiate mountain.<\/p>\n St. Ambrose, meanwhile, has gotten to the title match twice before \u2013 in 2021 and 2023 \u2013 only to have the Helmer Cup ripped away both times by perennial powerhouse and 13-time ITC men\u2019s champ Wichita State.<\/p>\n But St. Ambrose defeated Wichita State, 4-3, during Round 2 of match play on Thursday and then vanquished Southern Nazarene and Marian-Wisconsin by that same margin on Friday to finish undefeated and earn another shot at the title.<\/p>\n St. Ambrose Head Coach Eric Littig knows the task won\u2019t be any easier just because it won\u2019t be Wichita State opposing his Fighting Bees this time around.<\/p>\n \u201cMount Mercy is an incredible team; I\u2019ve believed all year they\u2019re the most talented team in the country from top to bottom, but we can\u2019t worry about that,\u201d Littig said. \u201cWe can\u2019t control anything anybody else does, so we just have to bowl smart, bowl well and let whatever happens happen.\u201d \u00a0<\/p>\n But although Littig has the utmost respect for Mount Mercy, he also knows that there is plenty of talent and lots of redeeming qualities to be found on his squad as well.<\/p>\n \u201cOur team is extremely talented, but we\u2019ve also got resiliency, heart and guts,\u201d Littig said. \u201cOur best quality is that we just keep fighting to the finish. It\u2019s what we\u2019ve done all year, and it\u2019s what got us here.<\/p>\n \u201cThis tournament is hard. The format is always hard. The conditions were hard. Any match can turn on a dime, and anyone can win any game at any time; you can\u2019t take anything for granted. We just kept plugging away, and good things happen when you do that.\u201d<\/p>\n Littig is hoping that the next good thing to happen will be his Fighting Bees hoisting the Helmer Cup inside The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley on Saturday night.<\/p>\n Resiliency will almost certainly have to be part of the equation for St. Ambrose though as Mount Mercy is highly unlikely to make things easy.<\/p>\n The Mustangs were a force to be reckoned with during the first two days of ITC men\u2019s competition, qualifying sixth on Thursday and then methodically marching through the Winners Bracket stacking one impressive victory after another.<\/p>\n Mount Mercy kicked things off with a pair of 4-1 wins on Thursday, the first over Belmont Abbey and the next against third-seeded Milligan.<\/p>\n The momentum didn\u2019t cease when the Mustangs got back on the lanes Friday afternoon as they toppled Lawrence Tech and Spring Arbor by identical scores of 4-2 to finish bracket play with a perfect record and secure the first ITC men\u2019s TV finals appearance in program history.<\/p>\n According to Mount Mercy Head Coach Cassidy Courey, the key to her team\u2019s success thus far and the path to victory on Saturday will likely come down to staying out of trouble.<\/p>\n \u201cThe pattern the guys are bowling on is really hard, so it\u2019s important to minimize mistakes, make routine spares, try not to split and stay in the moment,\u201d Courey said. \u201cIt\u2019s easy to think ahead on this pattern because you have to make moves fast, but you still have to stay present and focused on each shot and what you\u2019re trying to execute.\u201d<\/p>\n Courey is hoping that laser focus and quality execution will allow her Mustangs to race into the winner\u2019s circle and corral the first ITC men\u2019s title in team history.<\/p>\n \u201cI really want this for our guys because it will show them that all of their sacrifice and dedication to the program has been worth it,\u201d Courey said. \u201cI see their day-to-day work. I see every morning when they practice. I know what they put into it and how much they care for each other and want it.\u201d<\/p>\n The 2026 ITC began on Thursday with a 24-game Baker block determining seeding for the bracket for the top 16 men\u2019s and 16 women\u2019s teams in the country. The opening rounds of match play took place Thursday with all teams returning to The Ashwaubenon Bowling Alley on Friday.<\/p>\n Teams qualified for the ITC through four sectional qualifiers held throughout the country in March. Teams had to place in the top four in their respective sectionals to advance.<\/p>\n
\nMEN’S BRACKET<\/a>
\nWOMEN’S BRACKET<\/a><\/p>\n