RedStorm men complete Vegas tourneys

Rio Grande Sports Information
     LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The University of Rio Grande men's bowling team received an early Christmas gift with a cross-country trip to "Sin City" and surrounding areas for a pair of tournaments.
     The first of the two events – the Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational – took place Thursday and Friday and featured 60 teams from across the country.
     The RedStorm, who were in 54th place following the opening day of competition, finished 57th overall with 6,759 pins in eight rounds of team play.
     Mount Mercy University won the team title with 8,811 pins, while Wichita State University was second with 8,703 pins and St. Francis (Ill.) University was third with 8,621 pins.
     Louis Pisano from the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater took the individual crown in the field of 498 competitors with 1,870 pins over eight games for a 233.8 average. He defeated Blake Walsh from Mount Mercy by just two pins.
     For Rio Grande, the top individual performance came from junior Jacob Lemaster (Chillicothe, OH), who was 112th with 1,516 pins over eight rounds for a 189.5 average. His 229 in round six proved to be the RedStorm's top single-game effort.
     Rounding out Rio's effort was freshman Daniel Mast (Carlisle, PA), who was 180th with 1,344 pins in eight games; junior Dominic Catanese (North Royalton, OH), who finished 185th with 1,336 pins over seven rounds; sophomore Sailor Cope (Chillicothe, OH), who took 276th place with 1,084 pins in seven games; freshman Merik Candella (Columbus, OH), who was 353rd with 768 pins in five rounds; and freshman Caden Faust (Hillsboro, OH), who finished 367th with 711 pins in five games.
     The RedStorm rounded out their trip on Saturday and Sunday by participating in the Collegiate Shootout. The event consisted of five rounds of team play and 16 baker rounds.
     Rio, which was 51st after the opening day of team play, finished 54th among the 61 participating schools with 7,152 pins.
     Wichita State cruised to the team championship with 9,244 pins, while Mount Mercy (8,922 pins) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (8,910 pins) rounded out the top three.
     A total of 478 individuals took part in the event, with Wichita State's Carter Street taking medalist honors with 1,192 pins over five rounds for a 238.4 average.
     Rio's top showing came from Cope, who placed 109th with 981 pins over five rounds. He also had the team's single-game high of 234 in round four.
     The RedStorm's efforts also included Catanese, who was 148th with 920 pins in five games; Faust, who took 178th place with 874 pins over five rounds; Lemaster, who placed 219th with 797 pins in five games; Mast, who was 342nd with 485 pins in three games; and Candella, who was 397th with 337 pins over two games.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Jan. 22 in the Ohio Bowling Conference Tournament No. 3 in Columbus, Ohio.