Kearsley Boys Finish Memorable Repeat Story with 3 Must-Win Victories
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2024
WATERFORD — This wasn’t the plan of attack for Flint Kearsley in its effort to repeat as Division 2 boys bowling champion.
The Hornets had seen a lot go their way for most of the MHSAA Team Final at Century Bowl on Friday. But upon advancing to the championship match against Grand Rapids Northview, Kearsley saw things go astray and lost the first two Baker games in the new format, where teams have to win three of five Bakers to clinch.
“We had only one more to lose,” Kearsley head coach Bart Rutledge said. “I told the guys that it was a better story coming back from 2-0.”
That story for Kearsley did indeed have a happy ending, as the Hornets rallied to win the final three Baker games and prevail over Northview, 3-2.
Kearsley became the first boys team in Division 2 to repeat since the Hornets pulled off the feat in 2015, in the process denying 2022 champion Northview its second title in three years in what was a terrific final match between the last two champions.
Northview earned a 185-173 win in the first game and a 186-169 triumph in the second before Kearsley conducted its rally.
The Hornets prevailed 189-171 in the third game, 204-174 in the fourth game and 173-150 in the deciding fifth game.
There’s an adage in sports that it’s usually harder to repeat than it is to win the second time, and Rutledge said that was the case for his team throughout the year.
“We actually struggled throughout the year,” he said. “Last year, it seemed like we won everything all year long. This year, we won a couple of tournaments, but we had problems finishing. We did at the right time. I got up this morning and had that feeling just like last year that we were going to win. It looked like it was going that way, It ended up that way, but not in the way I expected.”
Kearsley had little trouble all day long until the Final, first finishing in the top spot out of the qualifying block. The Hornets then recorded three-game sweeps over Auburn Hills Avondale in the Quarterfinals and Tecumseh in the Semifinals.
Northview finished second out of the qualifying block and recorded four-game wins over Bay City Western in the Quarterfinals and Carleton Airport in the Semifinals.
“We just didn’t get any breaks the last three games,” Northview head coach Jason Pranger said. “There were a couple of shots we got nine on and a couple of shots they threw good and they got all 10 on. They doubled a few times, where we would go strike and spare. When you are going strike and spare, you don’t build scores as teams that are throwing double (strikes). It’s tough. I think nerves got a little of us right at the end with some spare shooting. Other than that, it’s bowling.”
Kearsley Boys Take Turn as Champions, Sparta Girls Claim 1st Finals Win
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 3, 2023
WATERFORD – Since the last time the Flint Kearsley boys bowling team won a state championship in 2015, the girls program had captured six.
The boys are obviously honored to train alongside the girls and celebrate their championship success, but it’s easy to understand why the Kearsley boys wondered when it would be their time again.
That day came Friday at the Division 2 Team Finals.
The Kearsley boys broke an eight-year championship drought, defeating New Boston Huron —another past winner in 2019 — in the championship match by a score of 1,455-1,338.
This was also the first time the boys won a Finals championship without the girls winning one in the same year.
“They earned every bit of it,” Kearsley head coach Bart Rutledge said. “They worked harder than any team, and went out and got it done.”
Kearsley didn’t take the easy route, first qualifying fifth to earn a matchup with 2022 champion Grand Rapids Northview in the quarterfinals.
Kearsley prevailed, 1,345-1,315, and then defeated Tecumseh in the semifinals, 1,401-1,357. Tecumseh was the top seed out of the qualifying block.
In the championship match against New Boston Huron, Kearsley took a healthy 55-pin lead after the first Baker game, added 31 pins to that after the second Baker game, and then also claimed the regular game to win comfortably overall.
“This year, 1 through 7, we were solid,” Rutledge said. “In the past, it was maybe 1 through 4. This year, we had seven guys we could work in.”
Huron was led by Donnie Jacobs, who bowled games of 300 and 298 in match play.
“We set goals at the beginning of the year,” Chiefs head coach Larry Collins said. “We marked off our checklist today. The boys are disappointed, but they’ve got nothing to be disappointed about. They lost to a very good Kearsley team.”
While the boys side was a matchup of previous champions, the girls tournament ended with two teams trying to win titles for the first time.
That honor went to Sparta, which outlasted South Lyon East in the championship match by a narrow margin of six pins, 1,123 to 1,117.
“We didn’t have a lot of high games, but we were very consistent,” Sparta head coach Barb Orlikowski said. “We’ve been working on how to get your spares and stuff, and it worked today.”
Sparta held a 310-264 lead after the two Baker games, and held off a charging South Lyon East team that collected an 853-813 advantage in the regular game.
But it wasn’t enough to overtake Sparta.
South Lyon East advanced to the Final despite being in only its second year of existence as a program.
“I’m real proud of them,” South Lyon East head coach Gerald Raymor said of his team, which consists of six seniors. “They came out last year and I knew I didn’t have much time with them, so I showed them how to throw outside the pattern. They bowled their butts off today.”
Sparta finished fourth out of the qualifying block, then earned a 1,157-1,067 win over Goodrich in the quarterfinal before taking a 1,164-1,098 win over Charlotte in a semifinal.
Orlikowski said her team has qualified for the Team Finals five of the past seven years and advanced to a quarterfinal last year, and that experience seemed to pay off this time.
“I think the girls really got a lot of confidence in themselves,” Orlikowski said. “They knew they could do it. They weren’t intimidated by the other bowlers like they were last year.”
The noteworthy news on the girls side before the championship match was that Flint Kearsley, which entered having won eight of the previous nine titles and was seeking its third straight, were eliminated in the quarterfinal round by Charlotte.
Kearsley was the top seed out of the qualifying block, but was downed by Charlotte in the quarterfinals by six pins, 1,187-1,181.