Comebacks Succeed for D1 Title Winners

By Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com

March 6, 2020

ALLEN PARK – Utica Eisenhower’s boys and Zeeland’s girls both went into the regular game portion of their Team Finals matches behind after the Baker round.

Both rallied and ended up claiming Division 1 championships Friday at Thunderbowl Lanes.

Eisenhower rallied from 34 pins down, taking advantage of splits by Salem in the 10th frame to win the crown by five pins, 1,454-1,449. Zeeland fell behind Jenison, the 2019 champion, but rallied in the regular games of the match to win 1,185-1,155 and claim its first Finals title.

“Just amazing,’’ said Zeeland coach Jeremey Baum. “We had shot an 1,119 early in the day, and the girls never gave up.”

“We fell behind, but we stayed positive,’’ senior Skylar Beverwyk added. “We knew we were going to get their best because they were the defending state champs.’’

Eagles senior Dylan Kelly struck out to finish with a 235 and secure his team’s title.

“Dylan has been there for us all year,’’ said Eisenhower coach John Snider. “He’s clutch for us. We got lucky. We had some things go our way in the 10th frame.

Said Kelly: “We kept our spirits up. It wasn’t over until it was over. It’s a special group. We bonded well. We pick each other up when we’re down.’’

Eisenhower fell behind after the first Baker game, losing 216-177, forcing the Eagles to play catchup.

They won the second Baker game, 198-193, but had 34 pins (409-375) to make up in the regular games.

Salem advanced to the championship match by eliminating Davison 1,419-1,243, while the Eagles dispatched of Farmington 1,314-1,160.

Salem had won titles in 2017 and 2013. Eisenhower had won a state championship in 2004 prior to the addition of the sport to the MHSAA lineup in 2006.

In the girls championship match, Jenison built a 63-pin lead after the first Baker game. Zeeland rallied in the second Baker game and headed into regular games trailing 355-325.

“It’s a grind, but the team kept its composure,’’ said Baum. 

Perennial power Macomb Dakota was the boys’ top qualifier at 3,684, followed by Oxford (3,624) and fellow Macomb Area Conference Red opponent Eisenhower at 3,623.

Dakota’s run was short-lived as it fell to the eighth-seeded and always tough Davison 1,427-1,359. It was the first time in 16 years Davison had beaten Dakota, head-to-head or in tournament play. Second-seeded Oxford also fell in the quarterfinals, losing to Farmington 1,337-1,313.

Davison advanced to face Salem, which beat Livonia Franklin, 1,475-1,392, while Farmington faced Eisenhower in the other semifinal after Eisenhower had disposed of Swartz Creek, 1,553-1,149.

Zeeland advanced to the championship match by defeating Lake Orion, 1,280-1,194, while the reigning champion was dispatching New Baltimore Anchor Bay, 1,201-1,061.

In the girls’ qualifying round Monroe and Lapeer tied for eighth (3,013), resulting in a roll-off to determine which would face top qualifier Lake Orion (3,344). Lapeer won the tie-breaker, then fell to the Dragons 1,151-1,098.

Anchor Bay was the second seed at 3,184, and Jenison was third at 3,123. Jenison advanced over Westland John Glenn with a 1,415-1,381 victory to face Anchor Bay, which had beaten MAC rival St. Clair Shores Lakeshore 1,224-1,176.

In its quarterfinal, Zeeland opened some eyes with two bowlers shooting 253 and another 255 to set a school record with an 1,119 pin fall in the regular games portion of its match against Rockford. Zeeland advanced to the semifinals with a 1,484-1,232 romp.

Jenison defeated Anchor Bay by 140 pins, while Zeeland reached the final with an 86-pin victory.

Click for full girls results and boys results.

Franklin Steers Thru Tough Start, Rolls Into Regional Ready for Repeat Pursuit

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

February 23, 2023

The Livonia Franklin boys bowling team raised its state championship banner from last year back in January at its home alley, but that wasn’t close to being the proudest moment this year for head coach Dan Hejka.

Greater DetroitIn fact, each passing day probably becomes the proudest moment, but not necessarily for successes that Franklin has enjoyed.

Rather, Hejka becomes prouder of his team with each passing moment because of how it’s found bright spots in a season dominated by a major detour and some potholes on the road to a potential repeat title. 

The detour started right before tryouts, when Ian Wright – who won the Division 1 Finals singles championship last year as a junior the day after Franklin won the team title – called Hejka with some news. 

“He had a little bit of wrist soreness,” Hejka said. “He gave me a call a couple of days before tryouts. He said, ‘I’m injured.’ I said, ‘OK, well you’ve got a spot (on the team).’” 

Hejka said the goal was to have Wright come back after Thanksgiving, but then the soreness lingered into the holidays. 

Wright was expected to come back with fellow senior Sam White to form one of the state’s top tandems. 

“He bowled once or twice with us in practice after the holidays,” Hejka said. “With the pain he was experiencing, he was unable to bowl.”

Hejka suspects it was an overuse injury from bowling a lot over the summer, but regardless, replacing the reigning champion was going to be an impossible task. 

Hejka said it was simply a “next man up” mentality. 

“We all want him to bowl with us,” Hejka said. “But facts are facts, and reality is reality.”

With Regionals coming up Friday (team) and Saturday (singles), the reality is Franklin has forged on and looks like it might be peaking at the right time. 

Of course, the road has been bumpy, with bowlers who weren’t in the lineup at the Finals last year being thrown into expanded roles, and tough dual losses to rivals in the Kensington Lakes Activities Association during the regular season. 

However, Franklin downed highly-ranked Wayne Memorial in the league tournament last week and is heading into a Regional at Super Bowl in Canton with plenty of confidence.

“We’re coming out of it,” White said. “We’ve been bowling really good the last month. We’ve really come together as a team. As we started bowling better, we started bonding and it’s become a team atmosphere.”

Leading the way has been White, who’s gone from being the other half of Franklin’s anticipated dynamic duo at the beginning of the season to the unquestioned leader both emotionally and in production. 

White has committed to play football in college at Trine University, but he hopes to bowl there as well. 

“Sam has really taken a leadership role, one he probably didn’t expect to take,” Hejka said.

White, the lone bowler in this year’s lineup who competed at the Finals last year, enters this Regional round with an average over 190 and has bowled a high game of 279 this season. 

“It’s a big burden with (Ian) not being able to bowl, but I felt like as a leader and a senior on the team, I needed to step up,” White said. “I needed to cheer on the team and be that leader we were missing without Ian being here.”

Junior Alex Mengel (182 average), junior Michael Lerner (180 average) and senior Ben Sparks (171 average) are all within the top 50 in averages in the KLAA and have become more comfortable as regulars.

The competition at the Regional for the three qualifying spots at the Finals will be stiff, with fellow KLAA and state powers Canton, Belleville, Wayne Memorial and Plymouth also headlining a deep field. 

It will be a huge challenge for Franklin, but one that it’s prepared to take head on after a year of adversity and growth. 

Franklin hopes to show other teams that not only is it dangerous to count out a defending champion, but a defending champion hungry to show it can still win without its star from last year. 

“It comes down to making your spares,” Hejka said. “If we make our spares, we have a shot at the top three.”

Keith DunlapKeith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties

PHOTO Livonia Franklin’s Sam White bowls during competition; he’s taken on a larger leadership role this season for the reigning Division 1 champion. (Photo courtesy of the Livonia Franklin boys bowling program.)