2
nd Team. 2
nd time.
The Club Team Bowling Coaches Association honored GCU Bowling's
Jovan Mercado with a spot on the CTBCA All-American 2
nd Team. In addition, the Lopes' junior picked up a spot on the West Coast Collegiate All-Star Team. Both awards were voted on by conference and CTBCA coaches based on performance throughout the season. Finally, nine Lopes were honored as National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association Scholar-Athletes for their hard work in the classroom.
It's the second consecutive season Mercado has landed on both All-American and West Coast All-Star squads. Mercado, who averaged 207.5 across 10 tournaments and 47 games. He medaled twice, winning individual titles at the Oak Tree Lanes Open (233 average, tops among 100 bowlers) and the Florida Financial Services Open (203.3 average, tops among 111 bowlers), and finished inside the top 10 in six of his ten events, including a 4th-place showing at the Rebel Classic in Las Vegas.
The native of Omak, Washington, hasn't missed an awards ceremony during his three years wearing Lopes' purple, since he became the first GCU bowler to ever earn CTBCA Rookie of the Year honors two seasons ago.
"Jovan being honored in this way is a testament to how hard he works in both the season and the offseason," said
Lopes' Head Coach Ben Canfield. "As a coaching staff, we're proud of the example he sets for the rest of his teammates, and we're excited to see what his senior year has in store."
On the academic side,
J.R. Barczyszyn,
Noah Barranco,
Wesley Cunningham,
Joseph Golo,
Zachary Howe,
Mario Munoz,
Skyler Pond,
Karsten Poyser and
Anthony Scharton all found their way to NCBCA Scholar-Athlete List after each maintained a 3.5 or better cumulative grade point average this past year.
"At team orientation in the fall every year, I mention this award and encourage every player to make this a goal," said Canfield. "Eight months later, it's great to see that almost half of our team brought that goal to fruition."
As a team, the Lopes look to 2026-27 with four tournament wins under their collective belts (West Coast Collegiate Championships,
the Oak Tree Lanes Open, the Antelope Shoot-Out and the Rebel Classic) from this past season – as well as a top-8 finish at the ITC Sectional Qualifier this past March.
