In Newest Bowling Role, Myers has EGR Boys Rolling

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

March 12, 2021

EAST GRAND RAPIDS – Hunter Myers is performing a rare double role in athletics this winter.

The Vicksburg High School graduate is the first-year varsity bowling coach at East Grand Rapids, while also competing as a collegiate bowler.

The 21-year-old Myers is a junior on the Aquinas College men’s bowling team.

His opportunity to take the reins of the program occurred while interning for Pioneers’ athletic director Tim Johnston.

“He lost his bowling coach, and he brought me in and asked if I would take it,” Myers said. “I thought that would be a great idea, and I thought I could help out a lot and try to make things a little better.”

Myers inherited a boys squad that had struggled in recent years. East Grand Rapids won only one match in 2019 and was 6-14 last season. 

This season was put on hold by the pandemic as high school sports were shut down in early November. But bowling was one of the first sports to return in January, and it’s currently been a season to remember as the Pioneers are experiencing a turnaround that few expected. 

“Things weren’t going very good for them, so I was looking forward to helping them in any way I could,” Myers said. “It’s been an amazing experience, and I can’t complain one bit. I’m doing it for the kids, because when everything got shut down I didn’t even know if I would have a team.

“We had a girls team of seven and 18 guys came out so I was able to pick six and we’ve run with it ever since. I love the kids, and everything has been going well.” 

The boys team is currently 9-5-1 on the season after a loss to conference leader Byron Center on Wednesday.

That setback hasn’t diminished the vast improvement made by the Pioneers’ starters. Each bowler has made giant strides and improved his averages by 30-50 pins.

“I just got blessed with a good team with kids who are competitive and had some basics down,” Myers said. “They just needed some fine tuning, and now their averages have increased by a lot.”

East Grand Rapids has been led by junior Corbin Olsson, who boasts a 201 average.

Olsson averaged around 170 last season, but has seen his pin total rise through hard work and the addition of an experienced fresh face at the helm.

“I thought it was going to be good to have someone like him coach us because he has experience bowling in tournaments and bowling in high school and college, so he knows what it’s like,” Olsson said. “Last year was a pretty rough season, but with the new coaches and some new kids on the team it has definitely helped. 

“Coach has helped us with positioning, as far as where to stand and aim the ball. He also helps us to stay positive and have a good mental attitude toward the game.”

Junior Finn Moher is averaging 189, while the other juniors include Gavin Bishop (173), Cameron Brandstadt (176) and Michael Columbo (167).

Beau Stancil (151) is the lone senior.

Myers said he is pleasantly surprised by the team’s success.

“I didn’t know we would be doing as well as we have,” he said. “Now we’re third in the conference and we’re looking pretty good for Regionals coming up.”

While Myers has provided fresh insight to his team, he said his bowlers have dedicated themselves to getting better.

“They are putting in a lot of time on the lanes this year because they see what they can do, and they go out on their own and bowl together on the weekends,” he said. “We have two practices a week where they all work hard for an hour and a half, and we work on picking up spares and figuring out oil patterns as to what their ball is doing.”

Moher said Myers is showing the team different aspects of bowling that they didn’t know prior to his arrival.

“Just learning how to adjust to different lane conditions and how to move when our shot is not working,” he said. “He’s given us some confidence in ourselves and we’re starting to win, which has helped a lot. 

“Our first Bakers game is usually pretty good, but then the second one we don’t do as well. Individually we do really well, and I’m already looking forward to next year because I think we’re going to be really good with basically everyone coming back.”

Myers visited his former school for EGR’s first match, competing against his father James, who is the coach at Vicksburg.

Hunter won family bragging rights as the Pioneers rolled to a 26-4 win.

“My dad coached me in high school, and I called him and set up a match down there,” Myers said. “That was the first big surprise of the season, and that was a sweet victory for me.”

Myers said the parental support has been satisfying during the course of the season as East Grand Rapids has overcome past struggles en route to respectability.

“They think I’m some kind of wizard who made their bowlers really good, but they had it in them the whole time,” Myers said. “It’s just that nobody has really tapped into it.”

The Pioneers will compete next weekend at Regionals in Comstock Park.

“I think we have a shot at doing pretty well, and we’re definitely going to do a lot better than last year,” Olsson said. “It feels good to be on a winning team instead of one that loses all the time, and we all get along as a team. It’s been fun.”

Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties. 

PHOTO: Hunter Myers, far left, is in his first season leading the East Grand Rapids boys bowling program. (Photo courtesy of the EGR bowling program.)

Sisk Prevails in Dramatic Finish, VanDuinen Ends On Championship Note

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 5, 2022

CANTON – All Zack Sisk needed was a chance, even as slim as it appeared at the time.

Facing 2021 Division 2 singles champion Kyle Pranger of Grand Rapids Northview in the championship match Saturday at Super Bowl, Sisk – a junior at Gibraltar Carlson – saw Pranger leave a split of five pins in his second-to-last ball of the 10th frame.

Pranger knocked down one more. And that left Sisk an opportunity – if he could throw three strikes in his 10th frame to force a roll-off.

“I was ready to pass out,” Sisk said. “I’m not going to lie.”

You wouldn’t have known Sisk was facing such enormous pressure, because he rolled three strikes in a row to tie Pranger at 409 and force a roll-off where each bowler essentially redid the ninth and 10th frames.

After each bowled a strike in the new ninth frame, Sisk stayed hot and bowled three straight again in the 10th frame of the roll-off to make it seven in a row.

Pranger answered by bowling two strikes, but left one pin on his third ball of the frame, and Sisk began celebrating the first singles title in the six-year history of Carlson’s program.

“When he got the one, I was just like ‘All right, I’ve got to go up there and throw as many good shots as possible,’” Sisk said. “Obviously I did.”

Tom Sisk, Zack’s Dad and the program’s co-coach along with his wife and Zack’s mother, Kim, said he felt bad that Pranger couldn’t get the tying strike because he threw a great ball.

But Tom Sisk obviously was overjoyed with pride over what his son achieved.

Gibraltar Carlson bowling“(Pranger) is such a good bowler,” Tom Sisk said. “When he got that one, we went ‘Oh my gosh, (Zack) has got a chance.’ He had to throw three. Fantastic, and you couldn’t have asked for anything better. He handled the pressure very well.”

In the girls event, Whitehall senior Karli VanDuinen finished off a fine career by claiming the singles title, defeating Wayland senior Bella Harnish in the final 460-381.

VanDuinen advanced to the quarterfinal round last year, used that experience to her benefit in her last MHSAA Tournament.

“It feels good,” said VanDuinen, who will continue bowling at Arkansas State. “I’ve been wanting it since my freshman year. But I’ve been working hard in general for college. To finally be able to win it was a nice send-off.”

Seeded No. 3 after the qualifying block, VanDuinen defeated Chloe Fish of Cedar Springs in the round of 16, 409-310, before squeaking out a one-pin win (357-356) over Livonia Clarenceville freshman Caitlyn Johnson in a quarterfinal.

VanDuinen then downed another Wayland bowler, junior Kadence Bottrall, in a semifinal by a score of 441-385.

“During the qualifying, we thought her throws were looking pretty good,” Whitehall coach Tyson Jasperse said. “She looked comfortable out here. She was reading the lanes really well, and she seemed pretty confident.”

Pranger, who helped lead Northview to the team title Friday, was seeded No. 1 out of the qualifying block Saturday.

Sisk was seeded sixth, starting his journey to the title by defeating Brad Spalsbury of Eastpointe 447-436 in the round of 16.

Sisk then got past Jackson Northwest freshman Logan Jahr in a quarterfinal, 473-423, before edging Owen Williams of Tecumseh in a semifinal by just two pins, 463-461.

GIRLS Results | BOYS Results

PHOTOS (Top) Gibraltar Carlson’s Zack Sisk and Whitehall’s Karli VanDuinen earned Division 2 singles championships Saturday at Canton’s Super Bowl. (Middle) Sisk celebrates his roll-off victory. (Click for more from Champions Photography.)