Friday Standouts, Saturday Champs in D3

March 1, 2014

By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half

JACKSON – Fremont junior Sam Brandt’s opponent in the MHSAA singles bowling championship match Saturday seemingly had a hometown advantage. 

However, despite living 150 miles away, Brandt feels right at home and has had plenty of success at Airport Lanes in Jackson, and he became just the third male to win an MHSAA team championship and a singles championship in the same season in bowling. The other two were Peter Duran of Sandusky (Class C-D in 2005) and Trevor Jackson of Hudsonville Unity Christian (Class B in 2004).

On Friday, Brandt led Fremont to the MHSAA team championship with a 268 in the final game, and Saturday he qualified ninth and swept four two-game matches to win the singles title. He defeated Zach UIicny of nearby Jackson Lumen Christi 414-332 in the championship match. 

Last November, Brandt won a Youth Masters championship at Airport Lanes on nearly the identical pair of lanes, and last year he finished third in the MHSAA Finals singles event also at Airport Lanes.

“The shot was almost similar to Friday, but every pair was different,” said Brandt, whose brother Zach Brandt won the Division 3 singles championship in 2011 and was runner-up in 2010. “Everybody throws different, so it shifts different ways, and you play different lines. But nobody was playing the outside, so I kind of took that as an advantage.” 

Brandt averaged 200.5 pins in six qualifying games to earn the ninth seed in match play. He averaged 199.2 in the next three two-game matches, setting up the championship clash with Ulicny, who had averaged 204.2 during the same stretch.

However, Ulicny had trouble striking on lanes 35-36, and Brandt took an early lead. Ulicny grabbed his only lead in the 10th frame of the first game when he struck three times – his first strikes of the championship match – to take a two-pin edge. However, Brandt, who was working on a strike in the ninth, also struck out in the 10th to take a 203-185 edge after one game. 

“I just made sure that I had my line,” Brandt said of the key 10th frame. “I had to execute it, and I knew what I had to do.”

Ulicny started the second game with three consecutive open frames while Brandt had a double and a spare to build a huge lead. Brandt poured it on with three strikes in a row late for a 211-147 edge. 

Brandt, a right-hander with a high backswing, is patient on the lanes and takes considerable time before starting his approach.

“I’m just trying to clear my head and focus on my mark,” he said. “I know what I have to do; I just have to focus. 

“I just run through the steps in my head and just relax – you have all the time in the world until you throw your shot.”

Heather Bruci of Richmond came close to duplicating Brandt’s double-championship weekend in the girls singles. Although she won that event, her Richmond team lost on Friday in the Semifinals after outdistancing the field in qualifying by more than 300 pins to earn the No. 1 seed.

“This doesn’t make up for it – yea, it’s awesome to be a state champion, but it would have been even greater to be the team state champion,” said Bruci, a senior. “We really worked hard at what we do, and it was really close. I honestly think we could have won it, but we just got lazy.”

Bruci averaged 199.5 pins in the six-game qualifying session and was seeded No. 2 for match play. After an 89-pin victory in the round of 16, Bruci had to face teammate and good friend Noelle Scheuer in the Quarterfinals. Bruci had games of 202 and 243 to sideline Scheuer 445-382.

“Bowling my teammate was hard because I’ve bowled with Noelle since I was 3 years old,” Bruci said. “We’ve always worked up to this; it’s always been me and her. We always said we were going to bowl each other in the state championship, and it happened.

“I knew I wanted it that bad, so I went out and got it.”

That set up a Semifinal match against Victoria Bender of Croswell-Lexington, which defeated Richmond in the Team Semifinals on Friday and went on to win the team championship. Bruci won with a two-game total of 334-313, but a split in the ninth frame of the second game made it interesting.

“I was just thinking to save myself, and I have a chance to win it,” she said.

Richmond and Croswell-Lexington are members of the Blue Water Area Conference, and the girls on the bowling teams know each other well.

“I have a lot of respect for them; they’re great friends of mine, and they’re always nice to me and say congratulations and cheer me on, and I cheer them on, too,” Bruci said of Croswell-Lexington. “Victoria and I are really good friends, but when it comes to competition, there are no friends. You have to do what you have to do, and you can get together after.”

In the championship match, Bruci had a strike or nine-count on 19 of her first 20 first-ball deliveries before leaving a split in the final frame of the second game.

“My coach told me I had already won, so I wanted to go out like a champion should go out,” said Bruci, who defeated Hannah Chase of Alma 428-323 in the championship match. “I threw a split, but I’m still happy with everything. 

“I pretty much threw the same shot all day. I made an adjustment of three to four boards all day, and my shot was in the oil, so I was good all day.”

Bruci averaged 199.4 for 14 games on Saturday. 

“I’ve been here all four years, and this is the first year I qualified for singles,” she said. “I walked in and thought I was not going to walk away without a state championship.”

Click for full boys results and full girls results.


PHOTO: MHSAA Division 3 singles champions Heather Bruci of Richmond and Sam Brandt of Fremont.

Mother/Daughter Pair Powering Gobles Bowling's Growth

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

December 14, 2021

GOBLES — When it comes to high school bowling, Morgan Brunner and Alexis Diamond are perfect examples that the team sport is for anyone.

Southwest CorridorBrunner, a junior who began bowling when she was 3 years old, is the reigning MHSAA Division 4 girls singles champion.

Diamond, a senior, started bowling this year and has no experience other than birthday bowling parties.

In spite of the vast difference in experience, both are integral parts of the Gobles bowling team.

They also are the only girls on the boys team.

For the second-straight season, there was not enough interest to field a girls team, so Brunner and Diamond joined the five varsity male bowlers.

“When I first started bowling, I had to bowl against boys because in the U12 division in tournaments, we couldn’t get enough girls, so I’m kinda used to it,” Brunner said.

“It does help me because boys usually score higher, so it makes me work harder and harder.”

Diamond, who also is a member of the marching band, said bowling is similar in that it is not a gender-specific sport.

“The boys have embraced the girls as their own, and I think it’s made our girls better bowlers,” coach Karrie Brunner said. “Even though we do have a little bit of disappointment (because there is not a full girls team), it is fun to work with the boys, too.”

The Brunners, mother and daughter, were instrumental in starting the team.

When Brunner was a freshman, no bowling team existed at the high school.

Gobles bowling“I promised Morgan that if she wanted to bowl in high school, I would coach her,” her mom said.

Athletic director Chris Miller gave the go-ahead, and a bowling team was born.

Interest in the girls team lasted just one year, so last year Morgan Brunner also bowled with the boys during the regular season. Girls are allowed to bowl on the boys team and then switch to the girls postseason as long as they compete in a minimum number of regular-season girls competitions. 

At Regionals, “I was pretty much my own team,” the junior said. “I competed in individuals with the girls, which made me able to go to states and gave some of the freshmen (boys) who never bowled a chance to bowl at Regionals.”

Brunner made the most of her run at the state tournament.

Seeded third, she bested the sixth, second and top seeds for the title.

“I don’t think it really matters where you’re seeded,” she said. “If you work hard and get through all the matches, you should be good.

“You can come from the bottom and make it to the top.”

That experience has helped her become a better bowler, she said.

“Throughout my whole season so far, it’s taught me not to give up, even if you have a low game,” Brunner said.

“Stay positive throughout the day because that’s something I did at state, too, and it helped me.”

Having her mother as her coach is nothing new.

Her mom and dad, Scott, have coached her since she was a preschooler.

Her dad runs Scott Brunner’s Pro Shop at Continental Lanes in Portage, and when she was very young, “I’d go to the pro shop with my dad all day, so I would bowl all day,” Morgan Brunner said.

“I started bowling competitively at 9 or 10. I’ve just stuck with it since.”

During all those years, her mom, dad and grandpa Bill Keirns have been her three main coaches.

However, bowling every week with mom as a coach is a bit different than in tournaments.

“It’s mostly good,” Morgan Brunner said. “She knows what I’m working on and what I have to work on or if I need help on something.

“If I need something different and I don’t know what, she can help me with that. She tries to keep me positive.

“She knows everything about my game,” Brunner continued. “Even if she sees one thing that’s different, she’ll point it out and I’ll be like …” she said, shaking her hand.

Karrie Brunner said she is thankful for the bonding time with her daughter.

Gobles bowling“I know sometimes it’s hard to have Mom around cramping your style, but I love that we get this bond and get to do this together,” she said.

“Her dad and I both coach her when she bowls individual events, but this just adds to the bond. To get to watch her become a leader on the team is really fun.”

Talking about wins and losses at home is a no-no.

“We have rules in our family that it stays on the lanes no matter what happens, whether it’s individual or team,” Karrie said.

“Scott and I had to develop that for our games, so we taught the girls that. She has to leave it at the bowling center.”

With no bowling center in Gobles, the team’s home house is Revel & Roll West in Kalamazoo, about a half hour away.

“It does pose some challenges, especially for the kids, but it was the best choice for us,” Brunner said. “We work with the kids if they can’t make it or need rides.”

New bowlers like Diamond have added to a worthwhile coaching experience.

Working with Diamond, “it’s fun,” Brunner said. “You’re teaching somebody to love the game that they can do when they graduate, when they get older.”

One area Diamond hopes to improve is “keeping my arm straight. It has a mind of its own,” she said.

Eric Phillips and James Goerke are the only other seniors on the team, and Oskar Wood is the lone sophomore. Juniors include Nolan Vanhorn and Owen Nuyen.

Brunner uses all seven bowlers in a match, subbing out so everyone has a chance to bowl.

The key to this year’s team is camaraderie, the coach said.

“The boys get along great and with the girls, I think they’re finally getting into their own skin,” Karrie Brunner said. “They’ve done it a couple years now, so everybody’s getting comfortable and they’re getting that desire that we can actually win.”

Pam ShebestPam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.

PHOTOS (Top) Morgan Brunner is returning for Gobles this winter after winning the Division 4 singles championship last season. (Middle) From top down, Gobles coach Karrie Brunner, Morgan Brunner and Alexis Diamond. (Below) Morgan Brunner warms up before a recent match at Revel & Roll West in Portage. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)