Over the past five years, the Aquinas athletic department has continued its storied tradition of athletic success in the form of individual national championships, incredible postseason runs, WHAC championships, record-breaking performances, and a tremendous number of athletic and academic All-America honorees.
 
We wanted to provide our fans with an enjoyable look back at some of the best moments from all of our athletic programs since 2015. Over the next two months, we will highlight a few programs each week - 25 programs in total - and provide a reminder of why it's great to be an Aquinas Saint.
 
Losing the first match of a double-elimination tournament is never the ideal scenario for any sports team, but for the Aquinas men's bowling team competing in the 2015 WHAC Championship in Canton, Mich., it proved to be only the beginning of its unbelievable tournament story. After falling to crosstown rival Davenport in their opening tournament match on Feb. 7, 2015, the Saints rattled off six consecutive victories – with a few nailbiters and several sweeps – en route to capturing the 2015 WHAC Tournament championship.
 
AQ entered the seven-team, double-elimination tournament as the #6 seed and faced third-seeded Davenport in the opening round, with the Panthers winning game five to prevail in the series, 3-2. The Saints immediately fell into the consolation bracket, with one more loss ending their championship hopes. Aquinas next matched up with #2 Northwestern Ohio and with the series tied at 2-2, the Saints escaped by winning the fifth game by a razor-thin margin, 191-190. 
 
Next up was #1 Lawrence Tech, which had also fallen into the consolation bracket after an earlier loss. After dropping a close first game, Aquinas pulled away from LTU and captured the series by a 3-1 score, eliminating the top-seeded Blue Devils. That upset victory pushed AQ into a match-up with #5 Indiana Tech, but the Saints had little trouble with the Warriors and earned a 3-0 sweep to continue their tournament run.
 
Riding the three-match winning streak, Aquinas received a rematch with Davenport, with the winner notching a spot in the championship round. After a five-game match to start the day, the Grand Rapids rivals did so again, with Davenport taking a 2-1 lead. The Saints, however, bounced back to win game four (176-142) and scored a decisive game five victory, 228-181.
 
Aquinas advanced to the finals against #4 Concordia, needing to defeat the Cardinals twice to claim the WHAC Tournament championship. The Saints swept CUAA by 10, 24, and 17 pins to win the series 3-0 and force a winner-take-all championship series. AQ easily won game one (220-159) and two (198-169) over Concordia before clinching the title with a thrilling 198-197 win for a second straight 3-0 sweep. In becoming 2015 WHAC Tournament champions, the #6 AQ men defeated the #2, #1, #5, #3 and #4 (twice) teams in the conference, eliminating all five of those programs from the tournament. 
 
Head coach Charlie Tapp was named WHAC Champions of Character Coach, while Ryan Lovett earned WHAC Newcomer of the Year honors. Dakota Neff, Tim Pluene, and Josh Schneider were WHAC All-Academic honorees and Pluene was the team's Champions of Character representative.

Next Moment: Tuesday, September 22nd

Previous Moments:
Women's Volleyball: Saints Capture First WHAC Title in 22 Years
Men's Cross Country: Aquinas Men Earn 2018 WHAC Championship
Women's Soccer: Saints Women Pick Up First National Tournament Win
Women's Cross Country: Saints Win 2017 WHAC Championship for Fourth Straight Title
Men's Soccer: Tahlan's Buzzer Beater Stuns Trinity Christian
Esports: AQ Earns Rocket League National Runner-Up Finish
Cheer: Cheer Team Finishes 9th at 2019 Nationals