Oberlin’s Intercollegiate Bowling Team kicked off the 2006-07 season last Saturday, Sept. 30, with one of the strongest performances in the 27-year history of the program.

 Competing in the opening meet of the American Heartland Intercollegiate Bowling Conference held at Rebman Recreation in Lorain, Oberlin’s Crimson squad finished in 23rd place (out of 34 teams), ahead of teams from Ohio State, Kent State, University of Cincinnati and five other schools.

Oberlin’s Gold and Fearless squads ended the day in 31 and 32 place, respectively, beating teams from the University of Toledo and Ohio University—Chillicothe.

First-year conference member St. Clair County (MI) Community College upset defending national champions (and perennial conference champions) Saginaw Valley (MI) State University to win the men’s division, while Shippensburg University took the honors in the women’s division.

Senior Brian Mazur led all Oberlin bowlers with a 183 average, 222 high game and 3-1-1 match-play record during the five preliminary team games. He also led the Crimson squad to a 9-5-1 record during the 15 Baker games that followed, striking on nearly every delivery as the team set a blistering pace with consecutive games of 201, 221, 208 and 199 as the lanes became tougher and overall scores began to plummet. (During Baker games, each of five team members bowls two frames of a single game.)

Senior John Zaldonis contributed a 212 game and 3-2 match-play record to the Crimson effort, while junior Bryan Werner rolled a 201 and won two matches. Junior Daniel Getler, also bowling with the Crimson squad, had Oberlin’s second-highest individual average of 176.

Senior Todd Ares led the Gold quintet with a 164 average, 183 game and 2-3 match-play record. The Gold team finished with a 7-8 record in the Baker games after dropping the first three.

Sophomores Avi Miner’s 156 average and Andrew Lawrence’s 179 game and 3-2 match-play record paced the Fearless fivesome. Senior Carolyn Hayes, sophomore Sam Lansford and Miner each won two matches for the Fearless squad.

In the third team game, all five Fearless bowlers defeated their OU—Chillicothe counterparts. Lansford’s 152 average and Hayes’s 178 game were tops among the six women bowling for Oberlin.

Oberlin’s highest score of the day was a 233 Baker game blasted by the Fearless five. To achieve that lofty tally, the three women on the team (Hayes, Lansford and senior Jennifer Figueroa) twice combined for three consecutive strikes, while teammates Miner and Lawrence each contributed two spares.

While Oberlin has finished as high as second place in a tournament, no Oberlin team has ever beaten as many schools in a single event as the Crimson squad did on Saturday. Nor has Oberlin ever sent three squads to a contest and had all three beat at least two other teams.