Terpenning Earns Special Honors to Lead Tiger Bowlers in Building Season

While the competition results often didn’t favor Wittenberg Men’s and Women’s Bowling teams in their first year as varsity club teams, Head Coach Tony Cooper says vibes around the program are positive, highlighted by some impressive accolades earned by freshman Jacob Terpenning (Beavercreek, OH / Beavercreek) and success on the recruiting trail.

After sponsoring a women’s intercollegiate bowling team since 2022, Wittenberg added a men’s team to complement what is now a women’s club team that began competition in fall 2025. As a team, the Tiger men turned in several solid performances during their inaugural year, always with Terpenning leading the way individually. Terpenning’s performance earned him Rookie of the Year in the Ohio Bowlers Conference (OBC) and second-team All-OBC honors after he finished in the top 10 in three of the four OBC tournaments to become the first Wittenberg bowler, male or female, to earn postseason honors.

“When I got him, I knew I had to surround him with better bowlers. He is such a great kid,” Cooper said. “We had such a great group of kids this season, which strengthened the culture of the whole team. Jacob is an unbelievable talent, and the Terpenning family is a great group of bowlers. Josselyn, his sister, started with our women’s team (2025 Wittenberg graduate), and Justin, his twin brother, is joining us next year, transferring in from the University of Cincinnati.

“We just tried to compete this year,” Cooper added. “The goal was to bowl every shot and improve every time out; improve every day, and we did fine for a first-year team. We definitely lit a fire for next year and are looking to be a more competitive team next season. We have a lot of good bowlers coming in that will be a big help to the team.”

Not only did Terpenning excel at the OBC events, but he turned in a pair of top-100 finishes while competing in large tournament fields in Las Vegas in December. Terpenning placed 64th out of 522 bowlers with a 1,626 series in the Glenn Carlson Invitational, and he followed that up by grabbing 1,056 pins to finish 42nd out of 547 bowlers in the Collegiate Shoot-Out.

Terpenning was a member of Beavercreek High School’s bowling team that captured back-to-back state titles in his sophomore and junior years before finishing third in the state during his senior season.

“I’m a really competitive person, so I knew coming into Wittenberg that the transition from high school to college wasn’t going to be easy,” he said. “Honestly, being on a new team put less pressure on me. I felt a lot of pressure in high school because we were always expected to do well. I struggled this season as I went from being a really good bowler in high school to going up against Tier 1 teams in college. It’s a tough transition with a whole new level of bowlers. But I’m happy with the season overall. It was good to just become a leader, help the team out, and adjust to new college patterns.”

Most college teams have at least seven bowlers on their roster. Being a first-year team, the Tiger men started the school year with three recruits, including Terpenning, Jackson Hill (New Carlisle, OH / Tecumseh), and Landon Kegley (Springfield, OH / Northwestern). After the start of the school year, they were joined by Joel Martin (Dayton, OH / Trotwood Madison), who had never bowled competitively before joining the team, and Amen Traudt (Catawba, OH / Northeastern) , which gave Cooper just enough bowlers to compete as a team in most tournaments this year.

“We struggled to have five at times. Baker games are tougher when you only have five bowlers,” said Terpenning, who has had a total of eight 300-games and carried an average of 213 in the OBC events in 2025-26. “We struggled as a team but did better than expected. Each tournament and each bowling alley is different. You have to go throw some shots and figure out the oil patterns at each facility. We relied on Tony a lot for guidance. He is a great coach and provided us with great guidance. And there’s no better recruiter than Tony; he has worked like crazy to get more bowlers here at Witt.”

Cooper, who is in his third year leading the women’s team, oversees both the men’s and women’s varsity club programs. A 2017 inductee into the Clark County Bowling Association Hall of Fame, Cooper prepared for the introduction of men’s bowling at Wittenberg for several months, looking to build upon the success of the women's team, which qualified for the National Club Championships with its solid performances in the 2024-25 season. Both teams call Victory Lanes in Springfield their home alley.

The Tiger women team also only had five bowlers for most events during the 2025-26 season. The team was led in most events by sophomore Sydney Wilson (Springfield, OH / Shawnee), who finished in the top-10 “a few times” this season. She and Kendall Rausch (Mechanicsburg, OH / Mechanicsburg) are the only two returnees in the 2026-27 season, but the roster will be bolstered by the arrival of six recruits.

Cooper expects four men’s team members to be back on the roster next year, and he is looking forward to welcoming four recruits as well. He is eager to see how much success the teams can achieve in their second year as varsity club programs.

Written By: Cindy Holbrook and Ryan Maurer