Note: This is one of a series of articles about the top stories in OC athletics during the 2021 calendar year.
OKLAHOMA CITY (Dec. 27, 2021) – When Oklahoma Christian bowling coach
James Hayes made
Josh Imhoff the program's first signee in 2018, he knew he'd landed a promising prospect. Just how promising has become more and more evident with each season Imhoff has competed for the Eagles.
Imhoff's rise to become an All-American – the first in the OC program's history – ranks as the No. 5 story in OC athletics in 2021.
As a freshman in 2018-19, Imhoff, a left-hander from Cabot, Ark., was named as both the player of the year and rookie of the year in the Southwest Intercollegiate Bowling Circuit (SWIBC). His sophomore season in 2019-20 ended prematurely because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but he picked up where he'd left off in early 2021, when club bowling competition resumed across the U.S.
During the season, Imhoff rolled the first 300 game in OC history, in the Hammer Lions Classic in St. Charles, Mo., and won both that tournament and the SWIBC III tournament in Shawnee. Those two wins gave Imhoff five during his collegiate career.
At the Intercollegiate Singles Championship Sectional Qualifier at USA Bowl in Dallas, needing to finish in the top six among 145 bowlers to advance to the ISC national event, he placed fifth with a score of 1,222 over six games, highlighted by an opening game of 244. He became OC's first-ever qualifier for the ISC.
In that event in Wyoming, Mich., in early May, he emerged from six games of qualifying to earn the No. 8 seed in the elite 24-man field, rolling a top game of 235. He received a first-round bye in match play before falling to a bowler from Tusculum (Tenn.) in the round of 16.
Voters for collegiate club bowling's honors took notice of Imhoff's season-long excellence. He became OC's first All-American when he was named to the National Collegiate Bowling Coaches Association first-team list. Imhoff also was named as one of the four runner-ups for the Storm/International Bowling Media Association (IBMA) Bowler of the Year honor.
Imhoff is off to a strong start in the 2021-22 season, having won the season-opening SWIBC I tournament in Dallas on Oct. 2, then placing third in the Tier I Glenn Carlson Las Vegas Invitational earlier this month. He's also signed a staff contract with Hammer Bowling and will help represent Brunswick Bowling brands in 2022.
