COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Notre Dame College bowling teams spent the weekend before the start of spring semester toppling pins at H.P. Lanes, on January 11 and 12. Men's bowling romped to the championship of the Buckeye Baker Classic as both the varsity and JV teams took first place. The women's varsity team finished fifth while JV took second place at the event hosted by Ohio State University.

The varsity men led the field after each round, averaging 204 for 24 Baker games on Saturday to open up a 160-pin first day lead. Although Notre Dame found success on a grueling oil pattern, the other 37 men's and women's teams who were entered in the event averaged below 200.

Notre Dame remained comfortably atop the leaderboard throughout 12 more Baker games on Sunday morning, then cruised to a perfect 6-0 match play record while winning three best-of-three matches. The men defeated No. 8 seed University of Louisville, 204-189 and 207-151, in the quarterfinal and No. 4 seed Urbana University, 203-179 and 261-230, in the semifinal.  After opening the championship match against No. 2 seed Wright State University with a narrow 185-182 win, the men blasted six strikes in the first seven frames of the final game to secure the title with a 247-176 exclamation point.

The men's JV team also brought home some hardware, qualifying second before winning the division with three-game victories over No. 3 seed University of Toledo and No. 4 seed Shawnee State University.

NDC's women's team left the bowling center on Saturday in ninth place, 19 pins below the cut line. The team's tendency this season has been to save their best bowling for Sunday, and they continued that trend by averaging 186, second highest in the women's division, while vaulting up to fifth place on Sunday morning.  The Falcons then bowed out to No. 4 seed Northern Kentucky University in the quarterfinal, falling by a slim 193-183 margin in the third and deciding game.

The women's JV team qualified third, then defeated No. 2 seed Alma College in the semifinal match before dropping a three-game contest to No. 1 seed Wright State University in the final.  The JV Falcons have bowled in four tournaments this season, finishing first, twice, and second, twice.

The NDC bowlers will travel to Addison, Illinois, on January 18 and 19 for the Midwest Collegiate Classic, one of intercollegiate bowling's ten Tier I major championships.