MOON TOWNSHIP — Bowling is a common indoor sport, but it meant something special for RMU club bowler Jonathan Kleer. Kleer recently came in fourth place out of 120 bowlers in the 2019 Muskie Mash Bowling Tournament that took place back on Feburary 9th.

Kleer’s scores in the five games were 204, 183, 215, 242 and 198 for a total of 1042 pins, which was good for fourth among all the competitors.

“It felt actually pretty good. I threw the ball pretty well all day,” said Kleer. “My plan was just to grind out my game like I usually do, and I know at least one of the games I’ll probably average or probably shoot over 220 (pins), which I did, and I felt confident going into the tournament, so I figured just throw the ball well and I’ll be where I want to be,” said Kleer.

Going into the tournament, Robert Morris’s strategy was outlined by Kleer.

“We just wanted to make quality shots like we usually do. Making quality shots is our focus all the time, making our spares, and we executed that perfectly,” said Kleer.

The team’s plan was good enough to land the Colonials into a fourth place finish with a total of 4,714 pins.

The RMU club bowling team practices on Mondays, Wednesdays and Sundays and they practice multiple drills at Paradise Lanes on Neville Island.

“Typically we do drills, one-step drills, spare shooting is definitely one of our primary focuses and we bowl on some patterns,” said Kleer.

While practicing and preparing for tournaments, head coach John Michalenko expresses a high-quality concept to his team: teamwork.

“Teamwork mainly, we just need to focus on teamwork and spare shooting like usual,” said Kleer.

Kleer’s teammate and team captain Paul Brenden Schink follows suit from what Michaelenko emphasizes to telling the team the exact same thing.

“Paul Brenden Schink is our team captain right now and he mainly focuses on teamwork as well as getting in the right mindset,” said Kleer.

In addition to completing five games of bowling, Kleer and the rest of the Robert Morris team competed in baker games of bowling.

Kleer explained what it is like to be playing baker games.

“That structure is really different compared to the five individual games because we have one frame at a time no matter what, you can’t focus on yourself,” said Kleer. “Everyone’s in it to win it, this one’s on teamwork and making the best shots you can and making your spares, because spares are key in bakers.”

Robert Morris had a total of 2,194 pins in baker games and combining the 4,714 pins RMU landed the Colonials in fourth place with a total of 6,908 pins to beat out twelve other teams. Thanks to the efforts of Kleer and his teammates, Robert Morris was able to get into a winning position after the tournament.

If you’re interested to learn more about the RMU club bowling team, Kleer revealed that people can go to Facebook and type in “Robert Morris bowling team” and see every tournament that they go to.