(Las Vegas, NV) - The Concordia Cardinals Men's Bowling team is represented at the Intercollegiate Singles Championship (ISC) Nationals by senior Conner Lackey after he placed third at the ISC Sectional earlier last month.
Lackey, a senior from Jackson, Michigan, is the first Cardinal since David Schaberg in 2023 to compete at the ISC National Tournament.
The first day of the event featured the 24 collegiate bowlers bowl six qualifying games and then be placed into a 24-man bracket with the top eight bowlers receiving a first round bye. Each bracket round would feature the athletes bowling three games and the highest score would advance until the semifinals and the National Championship round where it would be a one-game series.
QUALIFYING ROUND
Throughout the six qualifying games, Lackey bowled a total score of 1,290 to average 215 per game and bowled a high game of 259 in game #1. His score was good enough to finish ninth, as he was three pins away from eighth place.
BRACKET PLAY
The ninth-place qualifying score saw him match up with Ethan Vanderslik, the 24th ranked bowler from Davenport. Vanderslik took a slight lead in the first game by a score of 204-181 before Lackey roaded back with a 255-202 game #2 to take a 30 pin lead going into the final game. The 30 pin lead would be just what Lackey needed as Vanderslik outscored Lackey by only 6 pins as Lackey earned then win 632-608 to advance.
The next round saw Lackey take on Cayleb Carey from Lawrence Tech, who ranked 8th in the qualifying round. Lackey took the lead right from the start and never looked back as he grabbed a 227-180 lead in game #1, then a 247-182 in game #2, followed up with a 194-149 game #3. Overall Lackey outscored Carey, 668-511 to advance to Wednesday's matchup.
The quarterfinal round would have Lackey take on the top-seeded Spencer Robarge from Wichita State, who led the qualifying field by 157 pins as he averaged 253 pins per game. Lackey came out on top right away again with a 278-211 win in the first game. Lackey pushed his lead even furth with a 228-205 game #2, before Robarge took the final game 239-223, which wasn't enough to overcome the lead that Lackey had made as he came away with a 730-655 win.
Following a couple of days off, Lackey would then go up against Blake Walsh from Mount Mercy in the semifinal round, which was one game and the highest score advances to the National Championship. Walsh, who was the 13th seed to begin bracket play had come out strong in each of his previous matchups and had a solid 237 to Lackey's 180.
Lackey's semifinal appearance is the furthest a Cardinal has ever made at the ISC Nationals as the next closest was Alex Ouelette in 2019 when he advanced to the third round.
The semifinal match will be aired on CBS Sports Network on Tuesday, April 29th at 8 PM.
