For the first time since 1989, the annual Association of College Unions-International recreation tournament is coming to Iowa State.

College teams from four states will be competing in six sports this weekend, Feb. 8 and 9.

Doug Wandersee, program adviser at the Memorial Union, said the tournament is made up of teams from North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota and Iowa.

About 20 schools, including Iowa State, will participate in bowling, table tennis, billiards, darts, chess and table soccer.

Members of the teams must be students at the universities they represent and are required to maintain a 2.0 GPA while taking at least 12 credits, Wandersee said.

The events are sponsored by ACU-I, a non-profit organization dedicated to enhancing campus life. It has existed since 1914.

“It’s a neat treat for Iowa State,” Wandersee said. “It’s a great opportunity to showcase the university to other students.” He added there are no admission fees for any of the contests.

The bowling competition will take place at 20th Century Bowling, 505 S. Duff.

Individual matches will begin on Saturday at 4 p.m., according to Ted Gass, bowling club adviser. Team bowling will run from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday.

“It’s a great opportunity for people to see us bowl competitively,” Gass said.

“We’re expecting to take first. That’s our goal.”

Gass said the men’s and women’s six-person teams from the Iowa State Bowling Club will be on the roster this weekend, but only five members will compete at a time. The other player will be used as an alternate in case of an injury.

He added that this weekend’s tournament is a preliminary for later events this year.

The first-place team will qualify for the national tournament, scheduled for Omaha in April, and the highest scoring man and woman will each gain berths in the individual nationals held in Reno, Nev. in May.

Table tennis matches, which will be held in the P.E. Building, are scheduled to begin at 3 p.m. on Saturday, said Yunfei Chen, table tennis adviser. There will be men’s, women’s, doubles and open competition.

Two years ago, Chen took fourth place in the regional tournament and also participated in the nationals. He said gold and silver medals will be presented to the top two finishers in each division.

Minjie Dai, the top-ranked table tennis player in Iowa, said he expects some tough competition. “I think it will be a good tournament. I’m looking forward to meeting some very good players.”

The MU Recreation Center will host billiards, darts and table soccer. Chess matches will take place at another location in the Union.

These events will start at 3 p.m. on Saturday and will continue on Sunday at 10 a.m.

One pool player who is competing at the regional level for the second year in a row is Michelle Beck. She won the ISU tournament last year and then went on to play in Minneapolis.

“The regional tournament was really difficult,” she said. “The people there were really awesome.”

Beck said she will encourage female pool players to enter the local competition next year.

“There are a lot of women here that play pool, but [the tournament] isn’t very publicized,” she said.