Boys Singles Finals: No Pins to Spare
March 4, 2012
BATTLE CREEK – No one said becoming the first-ever two-time boys MHSAA Singles champ would be easy.
But after the winning the Division 1 title as a sophomore, Davison senior Taylor Greene took home top honors for the second time by defeating Lake Orion senior Kevin Yang on Saturday at M-66 Bowl in a match that came down to the last frame.
Greene almost didn’t have a chance to get that coveted second title after struggling in the first four games of qualifying. Standing 70 pins short of the cut line and in 40th place, he rolled games of 223 and 235 just to get into a roll-off for the 16th and final afternoon match play spot.
But Greene stayed hot, and a 256 roll-off score sent him to the match play and started a run to the championship match.
“The lanes kind of opened up, and I knew I had the shot to do it,” Greene said. “I was one of the few that were able to go that deep and turn it a lot.”
Greene opened the championship match with a 258, but Yang kept pace with a 229. When Yang failed to double in the 10th frame of Game 2, the door was open for Greene – a mark and eight would seal the win.
“I knew I just needed a mark to beat him,” Greene said. “I was hoping it wasn’t a 10-pin because I missed one before that.”
In fact, it was a 10-pin. But this time, Greene promptly buried it and followed up with a strike to seal the historic championship, 438-435.
“Wow, it means a lot. That’s crazy. I never thought I would,” Greene said of adding his second title. “Last year, I had a good run at it. I dominated the field, but bowled bad after the re-oil.
"But this year, I’m glad I got to redeem myself.”
Division 2 at Century Lanes
WATEFORD – Let Wyoming Rogers junior Derek Nyenhuis stand as the example for any bowler who squeaks into the final spot of match play at an MHSAA Final.
Your run might be just beginning.
Nyenhuis made the Division 2 match play Saturday by a mere nine pins. But he proceeded to down the top seed by 18, his Quarterfinal opponent by 70 and eventually New Boston Huron’s Terry Bonner 426-340 in the Final.
"It feels awesome. I just worked hard through this whole thing,” Nyenhuis said.
“To tell you the truth, the seeding I don't think is a big deal. It just depends on how good the bowler is at the end."
He nearly fell into another slow start in the championship match before finding his shot.
"The first game I started off bad and made a ball adjustment and then threw seven in a row,” Nyenhuis said. “So I was up 60, but I just kept telling myself we were tied."
Division 3 at Airport Lanes
JACKSON – This already had been a memorable season for Grand Rapids West Catholic. But Trent Clark added a finishing stroke Saturday.
Clark pulled off arguably the gutsiest run of the Singles Finals, winning his first three matches by four, eight and 11 pins before downing Caro’s Jarred Pretzer 376-324 in the finale.
“This is the best group of kids you could ask for. Trent Clark did an amazing job this season,” West Catholic coach Mike Hall said. “He finished with a 220 average for the season and a high game of 289. He works every day on his game and strives to be the best.
“West Catholic won their conference for the first time in school history, and now Trent is the first to become state champ in school history.”
Division 4 at Century Lanes
WATERFORD – Sandusky senior Tyler Johnston qualified for the MHSAA Singles Finals all four of his high school seasons. One more day wasn't going to keep him from winning the Division 4 title.
Johnston also made the match play for the fourth time Sunday, and survived two and four-pin wins before defeating Rogers City's Zach Hazel 424-371 in the Final.
"The brown out yesterday was a very long day," said Sandusky coach and Tyler's dad Jeremy Johnston, noting the power outage at Sunnybrook Lanes that moved Division 4 competition back one day and to a different center. "I know all three of my boys that qualified for singles did not bowl well Friday and were happy to hear the tournament was moved, even though it was a long wait.
"We have only bowled at Century Lanes once, and didn't know what to expect. But it worked out well for Tyler."
PHOTO of Taylor Greene receiving his championship medal at the Division 1 Final. Click for detailed results from all MHSAA Singles Finals.
- Boys Swim & Dive
- Wrestling
- Girls Swim & Dive
- Competitive Cheer
- Girls Bowling
- Girls Skiing
- Boys Skiing
- Girls Basketball
- Boys Basketball
- Boys Bowling
- Gymnastics
- Ice Hockey
- MHSAA News
MHSAA Winter Sports Start with Extended Basketball Schedules, New Wrestling Weights
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 13, 2022
The addition of two games to basketball regular-season schedules and a new series of wrestling weight classes are likely the most noticeable Winter 2022-23 changes as an estimated 65,000 athletes statewide take part in 13 sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Girls gymnastics and boys ice hockey teams were able to begin practice Oct. 31, with the rest of those sports beginning in November – including also girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer, girls and boys skiing, Upper Peninsula girls and boys and Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving, and girls and boys wrestling.
A variety of changes are in effect for winter sports this season, including a several that will be noteworthy and noticeable to teams and spectators alike.
Basketball remains the most-participated winter sport for MHSAA member schools with 33,000 athletes taking part last season, and for the first time, basketball teams may play up to 22 regular-season games. This increase from the previous 20-game schedule allows more games for teams at every high school level – varsity, junior varsity and freshman.
Another significant change has been made in wrestling, as the majority of boys wrestling weight classes have been adjusted for this season in anticipation of a national change coming in 2023-24. The updated boys weight classes are 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215 and 285 pounds. Only 215 and 285 remain from the previous lineup. There is also one change to girls weight classes, with the 255 class replaced by 235 to also align with national high school standards.
A series of notable changes will affect how competition takes place at the MHSAA Tournament levels. In hockey, in addition to a new classification process that spread cooperative and single-school programs evenly throughout the three playoff divisions, the MHSAA Tournament will employ two changes. The Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) will be used to seed the entire Regional round, not just the top two teams, and prior to the start of Semifinals, a seeding committee will reseed the remaining four teams in each division with the top seed in each then facing the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed facing No. 3.
Bowling also will see an MHSAA Tournament change, as the Team Regional format will mirror the long-standing Team Final with teams playing eight Baker games and two regular games at both levels. And as also applied during the fall girls season, there is a new qualification process for divers seeking to advance to Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals. In each of the three divisions, each Regional will be guaranteed 10 qualifiers for the Finals, with six more “floating” qualifier entries to be distributed to the Regionals that have one of the previous year’s top six returning Finals divers in their fields. If a team changes division from the previous season, any floating top-six spots are added to the six already allowed in the school’s new division.
A gymnastics rules change provides an opportunity for additional scoring during the floor exercise. A dance passage requirement was added in place of the former dance series requirement to encourage creativity and a more artistic use of dance. The dance passage requires gymnasts to include two Group 1 elements – one a leap with legs in cross or side split position, the other a superior element.
In competitive cheer, the penalty for going over the time limit in each round was adjusted to one penalty point for every second over the time limit, not to exceed 15 points. The new time limit rule is more lenient than the past penalty, which subtracted points based on ranges of time over the limit.
The 2022-23 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 18 and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 25. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Boys Basketball
Districts – March 6, 8, 10
Regionals – March 13, 15
Quarterfinals – March 21
Semifinals – March 23-24
Finals – March 25
Girls Basketball
Districts – Feb. 27, March 1, 3
Regionals – March 7, 9
Quarterfinals – March 14
Semifinals – March 16-17
Finals – March 18
Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 24-25
Finals – March 3-4
Competitive Cheer
District – Feb. 17-18
Regionals – Feb. 25
Finals – March 2-3
Gymnastics
Regionals – March 4
Finals – March 10-11
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 20-March 1
Quarterfinals – March 4
Semifinals – March 9-10
Finals – March 11
Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 13-17
Finals – Feb. 27
Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 18
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 2
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 10-11
Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 8-9
Regionals – Feb. 15
Finals – Feb. 24-25
Wrestling – Individual
Districts – Feb. 11
Regionals – Feb. 18
Finals – March 3-4
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.