Nebraska Cornhuskers bowling


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

Championships and awards

Team national championships

  • WIBC: 1991, 1995, 1997, 1999, 2001
  • NCAA: 2004, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2015, 2021

Individual awards

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

1997–98Bill StraubWIBC 4th
1998–99Bill StraubWIBC champion
1999–00Bill StraubWIBC 3rd
2000–01Bill StraubWIBC champion
2001–02Bill StraubWIBC 9th
2002–03Bill StraubWIBC 7th
2003–04Bill StraubNCAA champion
2004–05Bill StraubNCAA champion
2005–06Bill StraubNCAA 3rd
2006–07Bill StraubNCAA T–3rd
2007–08Bill StraubNCAA T–7th
2008–09Bill StraubNCAA champion
2009–10Bill StraubNCAA runner-up
2010–11Bill StraubNCAA T–3rd
2011–12Bill StraubNCAA 3rd
2012–13Bill StraubNCAA champion
2013–14Bill StraubNCAA runner-up
2014–15Bill StraubNCAA champion
2015–16Bill StraubNCAA runner-up
2016–17Bill StraubNCAA runner-up
2017–18Bill StraubNCAA 4th
2018–19Bill StraubNCAA T–3rd
2019–20Paul KlempaCanceled
2020–21Paul KlempaNCAA champion
2021–22Paul KlempaNCAA T–5th
2022–23Paul KlempaNCAA 3rd
2023–24Paul KlempaNCAA regional
2024–25Paul KlempaNCAA 3rd
2025–26Paul Klempa