The St. Ambrose men's and women's bowling teams ventured to Rockford, Ill., for the Hammer Golden Eagle Invite, and the opening event of the 2023-24 season. In the end, both teams came away with runner-up finishes.

The field consisted of 22 men's teams and 13 women's teams, as well as 19 men's JV teams and 6 women's JV teams. Teams bowled five traditional team games on Saturday, followed by 16 baker games on Sunday. Those games were followed by bracket elimination baker finals.

The top three qualifiers on the women's side were Saint Xavier (7161), St. Ambrose (7086) and Judson (6990). The SAU women knocked out No. 3 Judson 2-0 in the first round of match play, which put the Bees in the championship match against top-qualifier Saint Xavier, where they were defeated 3-1.

Erin Williams led the women with a third place overall showing, earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team. She had 970 for her five games. Other team members included Kayla Devine (844-five games), Sammy Upham (829-five games), Amanda Bohn (675-four games), Marissa Bills (434-three games), Tricia Alvarado (321-two games) and Madison Holevoet (126-one game).

The women's JV squad finished fourth in a field of six teams with a 6054 pinfall total. Women's JV team members included Emily Barth (827-five games), Shaylin Brown (805-five games), Bailey Tripilas (774-five games), Alexis Peters (521-four games), Makenna Verdon (369-three games) and Shay Edwards (338-three games).

The top men's varsity qualifiers were Wisconsin-Whitewater (8162), St. Ambrose (8083) and Calumet (7810). SAU came from behind to dispose of No. 7 seed St. Francis 2-1 and then downed No. 6 seed Joliet Junior College 2-0 to set up the title match with No. 4 seed Marian (Wis.), which had upset top-seed Wisconsin-Whitewater to reach the title tilt. The title match was a seesaw battle that saw the Bees on the verge of victory, holding a 2-1 edge before Marian claimed the final two games to post a 3-2 win.

Zach Greim was the top scorer for the Bees by averaging 225.8 for his five games (1129); this was the second highest score, and earned him a spot on the All-Tournament Team. Other team members were Lucas Finley (1011-five games), Kendric Siders (973-five games), Lucas Hersrud (785-four games), Pedro Irizarry (775-four games), Devin Richards (156-one game) and Justin Aboud (138-one game).

Men's JV had two teams competing, with JV1 finishing in third place (7464) behind top qualifier Calumet (7515) and Wisconsin-Whitewater (7500). SAU lost in the four-team bracket opener to Wisconsin-Whitewater. Team members were Alex Nolan (986-five games), Anthony Mastroianni (903-five games), Nic Kidd (818-four games), Jaxon Robinson (678-four games), Logan Boll (676-four games) and Raiden Nakagawa (511-three games).

Men's JV2 finished in sixth place in the 19-team field with a 7027 pinfall. Men's JV team members included Matthew Edler (939-five games), Landon Mathiason (937-five games), Luke Kahuhu (915-five games), Josh Prowse (533-three games), Eli Haack (517-three games), James Dubanowich (442-three games), and Adam Reed (145-one game).

Varsity teams hit the road for the Tier 1 Midwest Collegiate Championships this Friday in Wauwatosa, Wis.