Trine team competes in Collegiate Bridge Bowl

CHICAGO — Five members of Trine University’s bridge team traveled to Chicago with Coach Chester Pinkham to compete in the 2023 Collegiate Bridge Bowl.

The event, held July 20-22 in the ballrooms of the Sheraton Grand Hotel, featured 13 college bridge teams.

Trine’s contingent included Trenton Sederstrom, an actuarial science major from Cedar Lake, Indiana; Ryan Hoak, a civil engineering major from Warsaw, Indiana; Isaac Braun, a chemical engineering major from Portland, Indiana; Cameron Orr, a Master of Business Administration student from Angola, Indiana; and Ethan Merkle, a computer and information technology major from Muncie, Indiana.

The students played in team games at 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. July 20, and individual games in the evening, with sessions lasting about three hours.

On Friday they played in a pairs event. Hoak and Merkle had the best finish, placing third in their flight.

Hoak also was able to play a game with James Holzhauer, who had a 32-game winning streak on the game show Jeopardy!, as his partner. The game took place on Hoak’s 20th birthday.

The 2024 Collegiate Bridge Bowl will be held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.