The St. Ambrose women defeated top-ranked Mount Mercy 3-2 in an exciting title tilt that came down to the wire at the 12-team Storm Baker Challenge.

The all-baker format featured 24 baker games on Saturday, followed by 16 baker games on Sunday. Afterwards, the top eight teams squared off in best-of-5 baker match play finals. Previously, the Bees turned back No. 7 seed Judson 3-1 in their opening match and then dispatched Saint Xavier 3-0 to reach the title match. 

Team members were Megan Hess, Addy Nelson, Kayla Devine, Tricia Alvarado, Bailey Tripilas, Kayla Lampe and Sammy Upham.

On the men's side, St. Ambrose qualified second behind tournament host Calumet. In match play, SAU knocked off No. 7 seed Judson 3-0 before falling to No. 3 seed Saint Xavier in the semifinal clash. 

The men had two JV teams competing, with the JV1 capturing the championship in a thrilling six-game finale against No. 2 seed Mount Mercy. In the first five games, each team had two wins, plus a tie, so the championship went down to a deciding sixth game. St. Ambrose brought out their best, firing a 269 to claim the title.

Winning team members included Zack Denton, Justin Aboud, Jorell Morris, Joshua Collins, Caleb Gillmore, Anthony Mastroianni, Adam Kowalik and Alex Nolan.

JV2 finished in sixth place.

Varsity and JV squads will take to the lanes on Feb. 5-6 at the Kohawk Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.