2 x Flint Kearsley, 2 x Champions
March 6, 2015
By Sarah Jaeger
Special for Second Half
WATERFORD – Friday’s Division 2 Bowling Finals at Century Lanes ended in a repeat for 2014, as both the Flint Kearsley girls and boys teams successfully repeated as MHSAA champions.
The Kearsley girls had to defeat a familiar foe, 2014 Finals runners-up Bay City Western.
"I thought this was déjà vu all over again," said Bay City Western senior Anna Kuehne, "but I kind of hoped the ending was different."
After losing three bowlers to graduation last year, Western welcome three new members to the roster including a senior bowling with the team for the first time and a junior who had never picked up a ball until six months ago.
The Warriors came out strong with their Baker games, and Kearsley soon found itself down 69 pins after the set.
"I knew they were good," said Kearsley coach Robert Ploof. "I knew they could put up some scores in their Baker games."
But the Hornets made each frame count and never gave up. "You just got to chip away," Ploof added. "They didn't worry about throwing strikes, just filling frames, and that's what we did and it paid off."
Kearsley was able to overcome the deficit and win 1242-1212.
"You got to give Bay City Western credit though, they gave us everything we could handle,” Ploof said. “They had us, they really did. They had us."
Junior Hannah Ploof led Kearsley during the final game with a score of 238 despite battling an injury to her foot. "She's kind of a mess right now. So for what she did out there, that's pretty amazing," said Robert Ploof, also her father.
"I iced it all day, and I tried not to think about it," Hannah said. "The last match it was more like my adrenaline kicked in, so I didn't feel it."
On the boys side, Western also was Kearsley’s championship match opponent – and the last obstacle keeping Kearsley from becoming the first Division 2 boys team to win back-to-back titles.
With close Baker matches of 160-152 and 173-168, the Western boys took the lead going into the regular game.
But experience in the Finals came in handy for the Hornets.
"We only lost one senior from last year," said Flint Kearsley coach Bart Rutledge, "so we had the same team coming back."
Not only was it primarily the same team from 2013-14, but most of the bowlers had been competing together for the last six years.
"Our school started middle school bowling," said Kearsley senior Anthony Kelly, "so we've been bowling together ever since seventh grade."
And for his last game with his teammates, Kelly rolled a 226, allowing Kearsley to edge Western, 1351-1344.
"To be completely honest, at the start of the year I didn't think we had it in us. And now that it's over I wouldn't change anything," Kelly said.
While Kearsley’s boys will have one lone bowler returning next season from their back-to-back championship teams, Bay City Western does not have a graduating senior.
They already have set their sights on the prize.
"It's not the result I wanted, but it's a lot farther than I thought we were going to make it," said Dylan Brown, a junior for Bay City Western.
"Next year I think it's ours," he added. "We're a young team, we really are. Next year we'll be a lot more mature."
Click for full girls results and boys results.
Top Seeds Take D2 Top Honors
March 2, 2013
By Sarah Dorow
Special for Second Half
WATERFORD – History was made Saturday in Waterford as Jordan Richard, a junior from Tecumseh, became the first MHSAA Finals back-to-back singles champion.
"It's amazing," Richards said. "We wanted it as a team, too, but unfortunately it didn't work out so well."
She led the qualifying block with a score of 1,370 and high game of 268.
On her journey back to the finals she ousted number 16 seed Samantha Eldridge from Owosso (424-375), the eighth seed Samantha Knight from Richland Gull Lake (427-381) and Kayla Emmendorfer, the fourth seed from Flint Kearsley (425-400).
The last bowler who stood in the way of Richard's back-to-back championships was sixth-seeded senior Sabrina Senninger from Grand Rapids Northview.
In the semifinal round, Senninger knocked out Richard's teammate, junior Lauren McKowen, by a single pin.
But after the excitement, Senninger had to prepare to face the top-seeded defending champion.
"I knew that I would be going against Jordan, and I just told myself I needed to bowl my best and do what I could," Senninger said
And that included leaning on her fans for support.
"I think having my parents and family there definitely helped,” she added.
However, Richard's experience proved too much and she beat Senninger 450-326.
With her senior year on the horizon, Richard already is looking ahead toward a three-peat and what she plans to work on in the offseason.
"Spares, because I've been struggling with my 10 pin lately, and I've missed quite a few this weekend," she said.
This was the fourth MHSAA singles championship won by a Tecumseh bowler over the past five seasons. In addition to Richard's win in 2012, her older sister, Kara Richard, won in 2010 and Tawni Vollmer took the title for the Indians in 2009.
Holly's Andrew Anderson didn't begin competing this season until six weeks ago. But his credentials spoke for themselves: He had made the top 16 singles at the MHSAA tournament his freshman year, the quarterfinals his sophomore year, and is a member of the 2012 Junior Team USA.
The senior made the most of his Finals opportunity and beat Bay City John Glenn junior Alex Ouellette for the singles championship Saturday.
After the morning qualifier, which included a 299 game, Anderson was sitting in first with Ouellette second.
But Anderson and Ouellette, who also had made it to the quarterfinals before, knew positioning didn't guarantee a win.
"I just knew that qualifying didn't mean anything because if you bowl against the 16th or the first, they're still good bowlers, and you have to go out and do your own thing and make shots," Ouellette said.
Ouellette was able to lean on his strength of making spares and eased his way into the finals while Anderson was almost knocked out in the quarterfinals by Sault Ste. Marie senior Nick Beatty with a nail-biting score of 415-412.
"I was ahead and he, just like the match before, he came out striking 246 against me," Anderson said. "But I knew that I was going to have a chance being up by 40 pins. He gave me a chance to throw the first one and shut him out."
Once in the finals, Anderson had the carry and threw the first 10 strikes.
"You know the bowling gods liked me today,” he said. “Let's just say that."
While Anderson was striking, Ouellette applied his own strategy and did not watch his opponent's shots.
"You can't do anything about what the other person does, so if they go through the nose or throw a good strike it doesn't matter," Ouellette said. "It's still a strike. You can't do anything about how they throw it."
In the end, Anderson’s 289 game to start the finals match proved too much to overcome, and he beat Ouellette 518-406.
With Anderson ending his high school career on a high note, junior Ouellette is looking to do the same next year.
"I want to win it," said Ouellette. "So I'm going to use this as motivation that I've gotten here, I've gotten close and I know what it takes to win."
Click for full girls results and boys results.
