D4's Best Win in Dramatic Fashion
March 4, 2017
By Dick Hoekstra
Special for Second Half
LANSING – It took the third highest series of bracket play to do it, but Bronson sophomore Brandon Hyska eliminated three-time reigning champion Kyle Tuttle of St. Charles 482-456 in a Quarterfinal match and went on to capture the Division 4 individual championship in boys bowling Saturday at Royal Scot Lanes.
In the girls Final, senior Kendra Schuitema of Ravenna bowled strikes in frames 5-10 and an extra frame to pull away from senior Paige Kortz of Napoleon and also earn an individual title.
Hyska, the No. 2 seed after morning qualifying, rolled his best series of 487 in the first round of bracket play to set up the match with the No. 7-seeded Tuttle.
“He was making good shots so I had to keep making good shots,” Hyska said. “We were both striking. It was a high-scoring match. I knew he would put up a good fight. So I knew I had to put up a good score to beat him.”
Tuttle was disappointed, especially after his St. Charles team lost by just 13 pins in a team Semifinal a day earlier.
“Qualifying was a grind after starting off with a 154, but I slowly came back from that,” Tuttle said. “That was a good match (with Hyska). I missed a spare on a 10-pin in the first game. I could have won in the 10th, but I 2-8-10ed. That’s what it came down to was bad shots. But he bowled well with a 482.”
Hyska then defeated No. 3-seeded sophomore Korey Reichard of Vandercook Lake 318-268 in a Semifinal and No. 1-seeded senior Chase Elkins of Grass Lake 453-377 in the Final.
“I got off to a good start, and had a 50-pin lead,” Hyska said. “So I had to stay clean, make strikes and spares, and throw good shots.”
Hyska felt he could be a contender after throwing the best score of 1206 of the six Division 4 regionals the previous weekend. He also had the experience of making the final 16 as a freshman a year ago before losing in his first match of bracket play.
“I knew I had a good chance to come out here, do what I can do, and shoot good scores,” Hyska said.
Schuitema, on the other hand, never expected her success.
“I was a champion at Regionals last year, but I never thought I would be a state champion,” she said.
She placed fifth at her Regional this year and came into bracket play as the No. 7 seed after morning qualifying.
“Coaches just kept saying you can beat any girl here,” Schuitema said. “I didn’t believe it, but I did it. What a way to end up senior year.”
She defeated No. 10-seeded Melissa Steinbis of Bad Axe 369-313, and then No. 2-seeded Mackenzie Johnson of Vandercook Lake 419-402. Johnson’s series was the third best of the day, but Schuitema managed to throw her best series to beat her. Then she overcame a 10-pin deficit to edge Jennifer Stratton of Hudson by just eight pins at 360-352 in a Semifinal and recorded her second-best series of 410 to earn the title.
Schuitema started to believe she could win it all with the Semifinal victory. But it wasn’t until the sixth frame of her second game, which was the second of her seven straight strikes, that she felt she had it won.
Kortz, who held a slim 172-167 lead after the first game of the Final, qualified fifth and defeated the No. 12 seed Victoria Ivey of Beaverton 367-323, No. 13 seed Chasta Ganski of Rogers City 373-348, and then No. 1 seed Shaierica Gould of Flint Beecher/Mount Morris 364-305 to make the Final.
“I was mainly focusing on not showing my emotions, and getting my spares, because the lanes are getting harder,” Kortz said. “I got a couple bad breaks that were mentally tough. At the end, she found out what line to shoot. I was still struggling to find the line.
“I wanted to leave it all on the table my senior year. I made it to state two previous times, but never made the cut.”
Elkins finished fourth in a Regional won by Hyska, but secured the No. 1 seed Saturday by 27 pins after morning qualifying. He defeated No. 16 seed Drake McFarland of St. Charles 482-318 with his best series of the day, and then won two super close matches. He edged No. 9 seed Cody Johnson of Sandusky (who was coming off a spectacular 526 series) 469-461 in a Quarterfinal and No. 5 seed Chase Castro of Beaverton 413-407 in a Semifinal to reach the Final.
“I actually missed more opens in those two games than I did all day,’ Elkins said of the Final. “I think the nerves got to me, and the adrenaline. But I’m happy with my performance today.”
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bronson sophomore Brandon Hyska with his supporters Saturday. (Middle) Ravenna senior Kendra Schuitema stands with her supporters at Royal Scot.
Franklin Finishes Title Sweep, Davison Adds Individual Win to Team Runner-up
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 5, 2022
ALLEN PARK – Emma Siekierski kept doing just enough to advance at Saturday’s Division 1 Singles Finals, until she put up a 279 game to move to the championship by eliminating Bailey Tomlin of New Baltimore Anchor Bay.
The Davison senior then prevailed in the final, winning 430-374 over Alyssa Fortney of Zeeland.
“I wanted a state team title badly,’’ said Siekierski, whose team finished runner-up the day before. “We struggled Friday. In our gym we have so many team title banners, but now at least I get to go into the gym and see my name for the individual singles title. It’s something I’ll always cherish. I trusted my shot today.’’
In the boys, division Livonia Franklin made it a sweep in the team and individual titles as junior Ian Wright edged Jared Musser of Davison, 400-391, in the championship match.
“I really didn’t think I’d get here,’’ said Wright. “The goal was the team title. We waited a long time for that.’’
“I struggled in the main,’’ added Wright of the multiple competition areas at Allen Park’s Thunderbowl Lanes. “We got to the arena, and I was able to make some adjustments.’’
Holt senior David Schaberg was the top male qualifier at 1,439 followed by Warren Woods Tower’s Zach McMichael (1,416) and Caledonia’s Alec Bisterfeldt (1,365). The Ians from team champion Livonia Franklin – Cain and Wright – made the top six, while Davison also had two in the final 16: Jared Musser and Shane Gagnon. Caledonia’s Ayden Sulzener also made the top 16 at 1,288.
Cain came out firing in the quarterfinal with a 300 game to dispose of Dylan Jablonski of Canton 485-304. He eventually cooled off and lost to Musser, who had ACL surgery in his right leg two years ago, 451-357, in the quarterfinal. Musser is a one-step, two-handed bowler.
Musser had eliminated Nate VanderBeek of Wyoming, 441-395.
Schaberg advanced by beating Matthew Starbenz of Brownstown Woodhaven, 420-390. His next opponent was Carson Hommes of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, who had beaten Shane Gibson of Waterford Kettering, 378-311. Schaberg eliminated Hommes, 408-395, to advance to the semifinal against Musser, who prevailed 458-388.
Wright moved on by beating Sulzener 469-416. He took on Gagnon, who had eliminated Bisterfeldt, 442-416, and eliminated Gagnon (469-356) to move onto the semifinal.
Macomb Area Conference stars Carter Milasinovich of Utica Eisenhower and Connor Rogus of Dakota had to face each other in quarterfinal matchup after Milasinovich beat Tony DeLuccia of Rockford and Rogus downed McMichael, 467-387. Milasinovich won the friendly rivalry, 409-405, but eventually lost to Wright, 419-376 while Musser eliminated top seed Schaberg, 458-388.
Woods Tower’s Kayla Tafanelli was the top girls qualifier at 1,370, followed by Siekierski at 1,310. Three Zeeland bowlers made the top six: Fortney 1,231, senior Morgan Smith (1,227) and freshman Hayden Pompey-Oshinski (1,224).
New Baltimore Anchor Bay placed two in the top 16 – senior Melanie Straub and senior Bailey Tomlin – as did Hartland with Calie Mitchell and Morgan Maliszewski.
Tafanelli served notice she would be a force to be reckoned with, beating sophomore Samantha Mason, 545-348 with games of 268 and 277.
She faced Ava Crumley, who had defeated New Baltimore Anchor Bay’s Melanie Struab by one pin, 398-397 in the Round of 16.
Zeeland teammates Smith and Fortney faced each other in the quarterfinals after downing Calie Mitchell of Hartland and Hudsonville’s Morgan Blouw, respectively.
Fortney prevailed, 410-393 and upset Tafanelli, 439-422, in the semifinals to advance to the championship.
Nataleigh Eagle of Monroe beat Angelita Mireles of Holt, 332-320. She then squared off against Tomlin, who had finished off Pompey-Oshinski, 397-311.
The other quarterfinal had Maliszewski, who had defeated Aubree Clark of Utica (408-378), taking on Siekierski, who had eliminated Karley Chouinard of Westland John Glenn, 361-322.
PHOTOS (Top) Davison's Emma Siekierski rolls during Saturday's Division 1 Singles Final at Thunderbowl Lanes. (Middle) Franklin's Ian Wright lines up his shot during his championship match against Davison's Jared Musser. (Click for more from Champions Photography.)