Trentler advances to Nationals, CCSJ Men's Bowling finishes 5th at ITC
Addison, IL – The Calumet College of St. Joseph men's bowling team competed in the 2026 Intercollegiate Singles Championships (ISC) and Intercollegiate Team Championships (ITC) Sectionals from Friday, March 13 to Sunday, March 15 at the Stardust Bowl.
CCSJ finished the team portion of the competition in 5th place and junior Nathaniel Trentler finished third overall amongst a pool of 285 bowlers.
Through the six games on Friday, Trentler knocked down a total of 1,350 pins. His top-3 performance in Addison was enough to qualify for the ISC National Championships next month in Green Bay, Wisconsin.
In five of the six games Trentler bowled, he surpassed 200 pins being knocked down. He bowled an average score of 225 across the six games, and his highest score came in game three with 268.
"Nate has certainly put in the work this year to improve his game and the results in singles really showed all the improvements he's made," men's head bowling coach Mike Kubacki said.
Freshman Donald Simpkins III placed 26th with a total of 1249 over six games. He bowled an average score of 208.2 pins per game, and his highest score was in game two with 258.
Junior David Gilliam placed 59th overall with a total of 1,186 pins being knocked down in six games. He hit an average of 197.7 pins per game, and his highest score came in game one with 222.
Freshman Hunter Ross finished 64th overall, averaging 197.2 pins per game for a total of 1183. His highest score was in game one with 249.
Senior Purley Williams came in 70th place and he had a total of 1,179 pins knocked down. His highest score also came in game one with 233.
Senior Dominic Stahulak had his best game in game four with 243. He knocked down 1,161 pins to place 89th overall.
Both junior Ramiro Garcia and sophomore Alex Linnenbrink tied for 96th overall with a total of 1,151 pins. Garcia's best game was game four with 224 and Linnenbrink's best game was game three with 212.
In the ITC Sectional tournament Saturday and Sunday, the Crimson Wave finished 5th out of 20 teams with a total of 13,061 pins over 64 baker games. After completing the first 32 baker games on Saturday, CCSJ was sitting in third place with a total of 6703. The Wave fought hard to keep their momentum going on Sunday, but they ended ultimately dropping two spots and finishing 5th overall. CCSJ was only 203 pins away from qualifying for the ITC National Championships.
"Collectively, the team has really put in exceptional work this year but unfortunately we just had a moment where we weren't our best version at sectionals," Kubacki said. "We were still decent, but it wasn't enough for the top four. … The guys came right back to practice on Monday, put in quality work and we had a very healthy discussion. I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do now at Nationals."
Up Next
CCSJ travels to Lansing, Michigan to compete in the NAIA Bowling National Championships. Teams will bowl at the Royal Scot Bowling Center beginning on Thursday, March 19. The Crimson Wave have a first round bye and will start bowling at 1:30 p.m. CT.