The 2011-2012 Martin Methodist men's bowling season started out with high expectations. The previous season yielded impressive individual results having two bowlers rank in the top 50 individually, however as a team they failed to make the National tournament. Having only lost one senior starter (Anthony Szeluga), the men's team seemed poised to take advantage of an extremely talented group of freshman for the current season. Some of the returning players included: Michael Poirier, Senior; Riley Buchholz, Senior; Ben Biddy, Senior; Chase Hayes, Junior; Jonathan Rodriguez, Junior; Aaron Davidson, Sophomore.

The freshman class brought in several very talented players. Justin Miller, Derek Philips, Kevin Madaczyk, Sam Bratton, and Dylan Woods all jumped immediately into the starting lineup as key bowlers for the team.

The first tournament of the year (Orange and Black Classic) allowed all the returning players to be on the A team, and the new freshman to lead their own B team. The team ranked 18^th at this event, but it was looked at as mostly an experience gaining tournament. Derek Philips made the All Tournament Team in the JV Division. The next tournament was a new event for the MMC team.

The Boilermaker Classic allowed the team to merge the players together, and the end result was an 8^th place finish out of 26 teams. These two events lead to the first Tier 1 event of the year for Martin Methodist, the Brunswick Southern Collegiate Classic. This tournament proved that MMC was a threat to be reckoned with, and the team finished 5^th out of 24 teams. Martin continued its success at the annual Raider Classic, finishing a season best 4^th place out of 22 teams. Michael Poirier found some success at this tournament, finishing in 4^th place individually out of 243 bowlers. The final event of the first semester was the second Tier 1 event of the year, the National Collegiate Team Match Games. The MMC team struggled at this event, and found themselves hoping to recuperate for the following semester.

The spring semester thus far has featured two events. The annual Hoinke Bearcat tournament was a very disappointing outing, as the two Martin seniors (Poirier and Buchholz), who ranked in the top 50 last year, struggled immensely. This was by far the worst event competitively for the two of them together, and the end results showed, as successful bowling by Dylan Woods and Kevin Madacyzk could not make up enough ground to save the team.

The team successfully rebounded at the third Tier 1 event of the season, The Blue and Gold Classic last weekend in South Bend Indiana. At this event, the team showed an overall consistent effort, with 4/5 bowlers starting every game and all of them averaging over 200. A 7^th place finish out of 64 teams showed the team they still had it in them to compete with the best, and the tournament added momentum for the final few events of the season (The Lion Classic, Mckendree Baker Challenge, and the Backhaul Direct Hoosier Classic).

From a players' perspective: all things considered, this year has so far not been all that we had hoped it would be. We have had our highs and lows, and though individually it has definitely been a struggle, I am hopeful I can rebound and help this team reach the level we know we should be at. We need to build on the Blue and Gold and make a strong run at Sectionals this year, and reach the National tournament for the first time since I arrived at Martin. We know we are capable of great things. The trick will be to find the right pieces to reach that level of greatness!

-Michael Poirier