The Nebraska Cornhuskers bowling team competes as part of NCAA Division I, representing the University of Nebraska–Lincoln in Conference USA. The program was founded as a club team in 1983 and became a varsity sport in 1997.
Nebraska is the most successful collegiate program in bowling history, winning eleven national championships and qualifying for every NCAA championship. Most of this success came under Bill Straub, who founded the team in 1989 and coached for thirty-six years. The team has been coached by longtime assistant Paul Klempa since Straub's retirement in 2019.
History Nebraska's bowling program began in 1983 under head coach Bill Straub, who led the team to Women's International Bowling Congress-sanctioned national titles in 1991 and 1995. Women's bowling became an official varsity sport at NU in 1997, though its two-time club champion men's program did not, and the school granted Jennifer Daugherty the first full scholarship in collegiate bowling history. Nebraska won three more WIBC titles before the NCAA sanctioned its first bowling tournament in 2004. The Cornhuskers won the first two NCAA championships under Straub, who retired in 2019 as a ten-time national champion and was elected to the United States Bowling Congress Collegiate Hall of Fame in 2025. The program has never been ranked lower than seventh.
In 2019, Straub retired and longtime assistant Paul Klempa was named head coach. Klempa led NU to its eleventh national title in 2021.
Conference affiliations Independent (1997–2025) Conference USA (2025–present)
Coaches Coaching history 1 Bill Straub 1990–2019 2 Paul Klempa 2019–present
Coaching staff Paul Klempa Head coach 2019 Nebraska Julia Bond Assistant coach 2021 Nebraska
Championships and awards Team national championships WIBC: 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001 NCAA: 2004, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2021
Individual awards National bowler of the year: Kim Berke (1992), Diandra Hyman (2000), Shannon Pluhowsky (2001, 2004, 2005), Lindsay Baker (2006), Amanda Burgoyne (2007), Cassandra Leuthold (2010), Lizabeth Kuhlkin (2015), Raquel Orozco (2020), Crystal Elliot (2021), Jillian Martin (2025) NCAA championship most outstanding bowler: Shannon Pluhowsky (2004), Amanda Burgoyne (2005), Cassandra Leuthold (2009), Lizabeth Kuhlkin (2013), Julia Bond (2015), Crystal Elliott (2021) National coach of the year: Bill Straub (2005, 2013, 2017)
NCAA champions Amanda Burgoyne – 2005 Julia Bond – 2016 Kelly Belzeski – 2017
First-team All-Americans Twenty Nebraska bowlers have combined for thirty-nine first-team All-America honors, in addition to sixteen second-team and thirteen third-team selections. The National Tenpin Coaches Association replaced the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association as the primary selector of All-America teams in 2004.
Seasons
1997–98 Bill Straub WIBC 4th 1998–99 WIBC champion 1999–00 WIBC 3rd 2000–01 WIBC champion 2001–02 WIBC 9th 2002–03 WIBC 7th 2003–04 NCAA champion 2004–05 NCAA champion 2005–06 NCAA 3rd 2006–07 NCAA T–3rd 2007–08 NCAA T–7th 2008–09 NCAA champion 2009–10 NCAA runner-up 2010–11 NCAA T–3rd 2011–12 NCAA 3rd 2012–13 NCAA champion 2013–14 NCAA runner-up 2014–15 NCAA champion 2015–16 NCAA runner-up 2016–17 NCAA runner-up 2017–18 NCAA 4th 2018–19 NCAA T–3rd 2019–20 Paul Klempa Canceled 2020–21 NCAA champion 2021–22 NCAA T–5th 2022–23 NCAA 3rd 2023–24 NCAA regional 2024–25 NCAA 3rd 2025–26 Paul Klempa
Notes
References