Photo courtesy of YSU Athletic Communications The Youngstown State bowling team reacts to seeing its selection for the NCAA tournament on Wednesday at the Constantini Multimedia Center in Youngstown.

YOUNGSTOWN — Last year, the Youngstown State bowling team made school history, winning the program’s first national championship with an experienced, senior-laden team.

Coming into this season, despite graduating most of that title-winning squad, the Penguins haven’t missed a beat with a young group consisting of six freshmen.

YSU will have a chance to defend its title after learning on Wednesday that it received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament for the sixth consecutive year. The Penguins are attempting to become the first team to successfully defend their championship since Maryland Eastern Shore went back-to-back in 2011-12.

“It was nice to see that we’re up there [on the bracket] and we still get a chance to compete,” sophomore Kara Beissel said. “I think we can go back-to-back.”

YSU (72-35) will bowl at Royal Scot Golf & Bowl in the Lansing Regional for the fourth time in the last five seasons, beginning competition at 9 a.m. on April 3 against North Carolina A&T (74-35).

“We always make guesses on where we’re going to go, but I think I’ve been wrong every year. You just never know where you’re going to be,” eighth-year head coach Doug Kuberski said. “But in the grand scheme of things, it doesn’t make a whole lot of difference. These teams are all so darn good. They’re all tough, they’re all going to be a battle. I think we know [Lansing] pretty well and love the area and love the bowling alley, so we’re excited for it.”

Other teams in YSU’s region include Carroll (Wis.), Fayetteville State and overall No. 1 seed Jacksonville State.

The Penguins beat the Gamecocks 4-3 to win the national championship last year. But Jacksonville State is the favorite in this year’s tournament after finishing with a 97-10 record, while also having spent most of the season at No. 1 in the NCAA’s RPI rankings.

“[Jacksonville State] is an amazing team, but I think we just need to throw our shots,” Beissel said. “We’re not really competing with them. We’re competing with the pins.”

Carroll and Fayetteville State will open the regional by facing off in a play-in match. The winner of that advances to face Jacksonville State, as the four remaining teams face off in a double-elimination format, with the winner from each of the four regionals advancing to the National Collegiate Bowling Championship in Parma Heights from April 10-11.

“The committee’s got a really tough job because all these teams are so good, and I think every matchup is going to be a really tough one,” Kuberski said. “[Jacksonville State] is clearly the No. 1 team in the country this year. They’ve earned that No. 1 seed and they’re the team to beat. If we want to repeat as champions, you’re going to have to go through them at some point. So we’re excited for the challenge and we feel like we can do it.”

When the Penguins first began the season back in October, Kuberski reiterated his team’s high expectations, even after graduating six bowlers from last year’s team.

That continuity comes with the sustained success and championship culture that Kuberski has built at YSU in his eight years running the program.

“It’s really been a team effort to help usher in a new era,” Kuberski said. “I really just give all the credit to the infrastructure that’s been built on our campus and our [athletics] department to help us succeed.”

With Beissel as the team’s lone returner, Kuberski and his staff rebuilt the roster with a talented freshmen class and a junior transfer in Amy Chrzanowski.

The Penguins fought through some growing pains at first in the fall, but Kuberski said they really started to hit their stride in the spring. Despite their youth, YSU still earned six top-10 finishes at tournaments this season.

“It’s hard to believe it’s already been — what is that now — six months or so of the regular season? It’s been quite a journey, just giving them a lot of leeway to create their own identity and figure out who they are as a team,” Kuberski said. “I thought they did a good job in the fall getting their feet wet. Then we really turned on the jets in the spring to earn one of these top-eight seeds. So I’m excited to see where they go with it in April.”