Morningside seeks more progress on home lanes

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Throughout the season, Morningside University men's bowling coach Brett Hansen has seen progress.

He hopes that will remain the same this weekend, when the Mustangs compete in the home Mustang Invitational on Saturday and Sunday at Plaza Bowl.

So far, the Mustangs have competed in four events. They started with a 23rd-place finish at the Mid-States Championships, then earned seventh at the Jayhawk Collegiate Challenge.

In November, Morningside finished fifth in the Bronco Open and 15th out of 40 teams in the Nov. 10 tournament in Rockford, Illinois, where they tallied 7,943 total pins..

Nick Philthilath won the Bronco Open individually with an overall score of 1,123 in five games. Hunter Noteboom was sixth with 1,081.

"We like to focus on one thing until you can't miss it," Hansen said. "We get them into that one mindset and approach and focus on every shot. It all comes down to spares."

The Mustangs feature 11 men on their roster who are either freshmen or sophomores. There are just two seniors – Philthilath and Alex Badger.

Badger has been pleased to see the younger guys step up.

"From high school to college, it's a big step up and there's no way to prepare for it," Badger said. "You just have to go into it feet first, and they've developed into such good bowlers."