The St. Ambrose bowling teams got the 2025-26 season off to a rousing start, as both the men and women emerged victorious. Competing in the Hammer Golden Eagle tournament in Rockford, Ill., both teams ran through the bracket virtually unscathed on their way to victory.

The women captured their first tournament title in more than three years, and it was a rewarding title. After qualifying third in the 15-team field, the Bees topped Calumet 2-0 before facing Judson in the title tilt. There, they faced high odds as Judson was one of the nation's top-10 teams in 2024-25. After losing Game 1, St. Ambrose reeled off three straight wins to take the championship 3-1.

All teams rolled five individual games on Saturday and 16 baker games on Sunday morning before the championship bracket. The women's bracket included four teams, while the men's bracket featured the top-eight teams after qualifying.

The top-three women's qualifiers were Judson (7670), Calumet and St. Ambrose (7043).

Women's team members were Kayla Staub (943-five games), Marissa Bills (866-five games), Emma Taft (699-four games), Molly Bramble (672-four games), Mia Almeida (468-three games), Brooklyn Schlapkohl (466-three games), and Megan Nyenhuis (116-one game).

The women's JV team finished in fifth place in a six-team field with a pinfall total of 5574. Team members included Gianna Koszut (706-five games), Shay Edwards (661-five games), Sam Lundvall (518-four games), Hannah Stearns (444-three games), Katie Otten (410-three games), Sophie Schillie (344-three games) and Abby Trendle (254-two games).

On the men's side, St. Ambrose went into Sunday in second place, trailing Saint Xavier University by 63 pins. During baker competition, the Bees found their best stride, pulling away from the field to lead by 242 pins, and earning the No. 1 seed for the eight-team finals bracket. Defending national champions Wisconsin-Whitewater qualified second (8571), with host Rock Valley College third (8548). A total of 28 varsity teams competed.

In the match play finals, SAU rolled, topping No. 8 seed Roosevelt 2-0, then eliminating No. 5 seed Calumet 2-0 and finally – in the championship match – shooting 742 to knock out No. 3 seed Rock Valley 3-0 to claim the title.

Kendric Siders finished fifth, earning all-tournament honors, with a total of 1112 for five games. Other team members included Tommy Burns (1107-five games), Lucas Finley (1094-five games), Lucas Hersrud (1051-five games), Keaten Bieri (570-three games), Kevin Magnuson (391-two games), Devin Richards and Tyler Close.

St. Ambrose had two JV squads competing in the event, JV1 qualified as the No. 1 seed among the 18-team field with 4919 pins. JV2 finished fourth with 4616. The SAU team earned the title with a 2-0 win the title match.

JV1 team members were Evan White (1080-five games), Dylan Harnden (795-four games), Wyatt Honecker (766-four games), Evan Flath (650-three games), Jaxon Robinson (577-three games), Elias O'Hollaren (529-three games), Gavin Finley (356-two games) and Chayce Stouffer (166-one game).

JV2 team members included Derrick Lewandowski (998-five games), Nicholas Kidd (953-five games), Logan Boll (700-four games), Matthew Edler (561-three games), Jackson Satterlee (542-three games), Raiden Nakagawa (352-two games), Colby Kato (340-two games) and Drew Ballard (170-one game).

The weekend marked just the fourth time in the 17-season history of the SAU bowling programs that the men and women captured the same tournament title. The others were the 2017 Boilermaker Classic, the 2019 Intercollegiate Sectionals, and the 2021 Kohawk Open.

Next up is the Tier 1 Midwest Collegiate Championships in Detroit, Mich., on Oct. 4-5.