Competing at an event know to be one of the toughest of the season, men's bowling grinded through two days and multiple oil patterns to finish 20^th in a field of 78 teams at the 55^th Annual Hoosier Classic February 10-11 in Indianapolis, Indiana. The ladies struggled mightily, particularly on Saturday, and ended the weekend in 39^th place out of 66 teams.

The first day of competition featured six team games and the Lions began bright and early with a solid score of 992. They followed with 952, but dropped from 16^th to 31^st in the standings. The downward trend continued with 906 in game three, but Lindenwood rebounded with 1041 to climb back up to 30^th place. The final two games of the day were a bit of a rollercoaster with the Lions shooting 931 in game five, but finishing with 1039. With a Saturday total of 5861 (195.37 average), Lindenwood was tied for 27^th place with Huntington University, 227 pins from the top 10.

Sunday featured three, five-game baker sets on a completely different oil pattern, which proved to be brutal. Despite only one game above 170 and a total of 807 in the first set, the Lions dropped just six spots in the standings. They started to figure things out in the next set. After an opening game of 152, Lindenwood followed with 206, 208, 204, and 219 for a set total of 989 and leaped upwards 10 spots. The Lions finished the tournament with a set of 920, a baker total of 2716 (181.07 average), and a grand total of 8577, taking 20^th just 40 pins behind Northwest Ohio in 17^th and only 10 pins ahead of McKendree in 21^st.

The Lady Lions started slowly on Saturday with a score of 835, landing them in 45^th place after the opening game. They followed with 918 which propelled them into a tie for 37^th, but that was temporary as the low effort of the day followed in game three. Lindenwood did finish on an upward trend with scores of 873, 899, and 919 for a grand total of 5263 (175.43 average) and 41^st place, just 10 pins behind Grand View in 39^th and 45 pins ahead of Campbellsville in 42^nd.

Sunday brought renewed hope with a new oil pattern, but the Lady Lions struggled again, posting sets of 864 and 811 to start. Despite the scoring pace, they still maintained their position. In the final set, Lindenwood finally found a groove and finished the event with games of 182, 215, 255, 204, and 169 and a set total of 1025. With a baker total of 2700 (180 average) and a grand total of 7963, the Lady Lions inched up to 39^th place, just 18 pins behind Baker in 38^th and 20 pins ahead of Siena Heights in 40^th.

Individually, Blake Reiger led the Lions with a six-game total of 1285 (214.17 average) to finish 31^st in the men's field of 531. Nathan Bassford posted a total of 1245 (207.5 average) to finish 49^th, and Javier Muniz Vega took 110^th with 1185 (197.5 average).

Haylie Frick led the Lady Lions with a total of 1119 (186.5 average) to finish 114^th in the women's field of 410. Haylie Bozych posted 1084 (180.67 average) and Karsyn Braasch averaged 180.4 for five games to help the Lindenwood cause.

The Hoosier Classic concluded the 2023-24 regular season for bowling. The Lions and Lady Lions will find out their Sectional post-season assignment on February 21. The four possibilities include Addison, Illinois; Allen Park, Michigan; Smyrna, Tennessee; or Ft. Worth, Texas.