by Michael Marts
The Saint Vincent men's bowling team opened the 2024-25 season with a runner-up finish among 10 teams in the DO Apparel/ Brunswick Open in Columbus Ohio.
 
The event was broken into days, with five  traditional games Saturday, and four more on Sunday.
 
In the opening game of the tournament, the Bearcats started slow with a 900 team score, led by senior Brandon Dunmire with a 239 game. Game 2 was stronger for SVC as the team shot a 977, led by sophomore Ryan Schuck with a 230 game.
 
In Game 3 the Bearcats slowed their roll down, only shooting an 890, the high man was Dunmire (217). After the slow game, the rolling Bearcats went on fire with a 1085 game, and leading SVC was junior Dominick Spence with a collegiate-best 268, while Dunmire added a 235.
 
Keeping the momentum from game 4, the Bearcats set the school record for a traditional game with a 1144 in the final game of the day. Schuck (214), Michael Mullaney (225), Spence (210), James Gatto (216) all broke the 200 mark, while, tying the school's single game record was Dunmire with 279 that included 11 strikes in a row. Dunmire missed just missed the 5-game school series record by 3 pins, with a total of 1159, an average of 231.8.
 
After Day 1, the Bearcats were sitting in 3rd place with 4,999 pins, trailing Belmont Abbey College (5,314), and Muskingum University (5,058)
 
SVC spent most of the day 2 battling with Muskingum for second place. In game 1 of the day the Bearcats started with a 963, leading the way were juniors Spence (215), Gatto (213). In game 2 freshman, Mullaney was on fire for the Bearcats, shooting a game high 262, as the team finished with a total of  1035.  SVC followed with an 892, and Dunmire continued his outstanding weekend with a 248.
 
After 8 games, the SVC was slated 3rd in the position round, bowling the University of Akron.  The game the Bearcats caught some magic back shooting a 997, with Dunmire leading the way again for a 235 game. 
 
 
Dunmire made the All-Tournament Team for the weekend with an outstanding 1,982 series. (220.2 average). He was followed on the scoresheet by Gatto (195.2), and Schuck (194.9).
 
The Bearcats will be back in action on October 5th, as they travel back to Columbus for the Ohio Bowling Conference event #1.