Grandville Emerges from Semifinal Tie-Breaker to Sweep 1st Championship Win
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2024
ALLEN PARK – Grandville senior Mason VanDyke was looking at a difficult 1-2-4-6-10 in the eighth frame of the third game of Friday’s Division 1 Final against Davison at Thunderbowl Lanes.
He threw the ball and looked away, then was in shock when he heard cheering.
VanDyke indeed picked up the spare, Davison eventually opened in that frame and again in the ninth, and Grandville captured the team title 3-0 with a 162-144 win.
“Unbelievable; I couldn’t believe it honestly,’’ said VanDyke. “This means everything. Last year we missed the cut by 50 pins. Being able to go from 12th to fifth (in qualifying) was absolutely amazing.’’
Said Coach Nick Watkins: “I always tell the guys to concentrate on every shot. That was a big spare because they ended up opening that frame and the next one. Extremely proud of this group.”
Grandville’s lineup included senior Justin Schmidt, freshman Cash Pulcifer, senior VanDyke, junior Bonham Pulcifer, sophomore Ethan Brown, junior Carter Holt and junior Gavin Dailey.
Grandville won the first game 193-191 and went up 2-0 winning the second 195-156. The championship was the Bulldogs’ first.
The Team Bowling Finals went to a new format this season with five Baker games determining the champion.
Davison advanced to the Final by sweeping Holt 3-0, while Livonia Churchill and Grandville went to a five-frame roll-off in their Semifinal after tying the fifth game. Open frames were Churchill’s undoing, as Grandville advanced to the championship with a 93-74 victory.
Churchill had made a huge jump in the first regular game of qualifying, shooting 1,158 to vault from 14th into 10th. A 1,016 in the second regular game garnered Churchill the eighth seed and a match against top-seed Jenison, which finished qualifying with a 3,792.
Waterford Mott was second in qualifying at 3,682, Macomb Dakota third at 3,619 and Grand Haven fourth at 3,571. Grandville, Holt, Davison and Churchill rounded out the top eight.
Holt swept perennial contender Dakota in the Quarterfinals, rolling a 237 in the first game.
Churchill continued its momentum from qualifying, eliminating Jenison 3-1 to set up a Semifinal with Grandville, which had knocked off Grand Haven, 3-1.
Davison defeated Waterford Mott 3-2 to face Holt in the other Semifinal.
Chance Meeting Sparks Mott History, and Corsairs Seeking to Make More
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
February 22, 2024
WATERFORD – All Waterford Mott head boys bowling coach Rob Hanson wanted to do was have a personal practice session.
Little did he know it would randomly plant a seed that would eventually produce some state high school bowling history.
More than two years ago, after finding some rare time outside his coaching duties to work on his own game at a local center, Hanson noticed a kid coming in with his grandmother to bowl.
Hanson immediately took notice of how well the kid was bowling and the fact he had a pair of Waterford Mott soccer shorts on. So he asked the kid, then-sophomore Brendan Riley, if he went to the school.
After Riley told Hanson that he did, Hanson had another question for him.
“Why didn’t you try out for bowling?” Hanson said.
Riley said at the time, his mother wasn’t familiar with the bowling team’s schedule and thought it would take too much time away from school.
Once Hanson explained the schedule to the family, Riley ended up trying out after all and made the JV team.
Weeks later, Riley worked his way up to varsity.
The rest, as they say, is history.
After bowling on the varsity for a majority of his sophomore year, Riley as a junior last year won the Division 1 Finals singles championship, capping a rapid rise to the top that might not have happened if not for that chance encounter.
“It was quite surprising,” Riley said. “I wasn’t expecting to see the coach that day. I was just going up to have a good time with my grandma.”
Last year for Riley turned out to be all about his individual success, as he led the Lakes Valley Conference with a 217 average and ended up seeded No. 8 out of the Finals qualifying block.
Riley then rolled to the title, earning a 14-pin win over Mattawan’s Charlie Johnson in the final.
For Riley, his success at the MHSAA Tournament boiled down to one thing: Composure.
“I think the only reason I won was because I had the best attitude,” said Riley, who also was a member of Mott’s soccer team in the fall. “Everyone I bowled in the match play started to get upset at themselves every time they got a split or when they didn’t get a strike.”
As a senior, Riley’s average actually has been down a little compared to last year’s 207, but what his teammates have done has been a bigger testament of his success – and made it even more enjoyable than what he accomplished last year as an individual.
Riley enters Friday’s Regional tournament third on Mott in average behind teammates Dylan Keating and Zechariah Thomas, but that is more a reflection of the improvement those two have shown and how they were inspired by what Riley did last year.
“He hasn’t had a bad year,” Hanson said of Riley. “It’s just that his success is breeding desire for everyone else. His leadership quality is amazing.”
Mott will travel Friday to Century Bowl with four tournament titles, including winning the LVC championship, and a 15-1 record.
Bowling is as fickle a sport as any, but no doubt the Corsairs are contenders if they bowl as they’re capable.
“As a team, it feels a lot better to get more things accomplished beyond just myself,” Riley said.
Riley also has a college future, as he has signed to bowl for Goshen College in Indiana as part of the first recruiting class for the new program.
An individual title last year, team domination so far this season and a future in college bowling? That’s a great crop of greatness that was planted simply by running into Hanson that one day.
“It’s a great story,” Hanson said.
Keith 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
PHOTOS (Top) Waterford Mott’s Brendan Riley finds his shot during a match. (Middle) Riley takes a post-tournament photo after winning last season’s singles championship. (Top photo courtesy of the Riley family.)