The Upper Iowa men's bowling team concluded its regular season this weekend in epic fashion as they competed at the Hawk Open. The event, hosted by Quincy University, took place at Casino Lanes in Quincy, Illinois.
 
Eight varsity teams from across the Midwest participated in the event.  The tournament's format consisted of five traditional team games on Saturday followed by four sets of team Baker games on Sunday. The top two teams would go on to compete for the title in a best two out of three team Baker match.
 
The Peacocks finished in second place with a total of 7,949 pins for the weekend. They knocked over 4,902 during the traditional games and 3,047 pins during the Baker games. This weekend marks the best finish for the men's team in program history having first competed back in 2019.
 
On Saturday, UIU saw two of its members finish among the top five individual bowlers overall in order to make the All-Tournament Team. Kyle Moeller led the team and finished second overall with a total of 1,087 pins in five games, including a high game of 239 twice. Tyler Renner finished right behind in third place with a total of 1,073 pins in five games and a high game of 246.
 
Jonah Martin managed to make it three Peacocks inside the top-10, finishing in 10th place with a total of 1,027 pins in five games and a high game of 225. Those three, along with Demitri Ferneau and Matthew Moore, established a new program record for pins in a traditional team game with 1,061 pins in game four.
  
On Sunday, UIU found themselves in third place entering the day needing to make up a 36-pin difference. The Peacocks averaged nearly 762 pins per Baker set and utilized four games of over 200 pins over the last two sets in order to move above Quincy into second place. In the championship match vs. Hastings College, UIU won the first game 193-183, but the Broncos rallied to take the next two games 234-204 and 189-165 to win the title.
 
"As a program, we have worked hard throughout the year to get to this place for our men," said Head Coach Nichole DePaul. "A runner-up finish, two All-Tournament Team bowlers, and a team record shows that our program can dominate on the lanes. This was a fantastic way to finish our regular season."

Up next, the Peacocks will wait and see if they qualify for postseason play at the USBC Sectionals. The event is set to begin on March 11 across four different locations.