Alma, Jonesville Add to Trophy Count
March 2, 2018
By Mitchell Boatman
Special for Second Half
MUSKEGON – Alma girls bowling coach Ken Shunk is going out on top.
The 11-year coach decided before the season that this one would be his last, and his team made the most of it.
The Panthers dominated all day Friday and beat Muskegon Oakridge 1,205-1,072 in the Final to capture the MHSAA Division 3 girls bowling team championship at Northway Lanes in Muskegon.
“I’ve got a really talented team here,” Shunk said. “We had a really good year. It feels good to win another state championship. I’ve got five seniors here, and I’m happy for them.”
Coach Shunk is not leaving bowling entirely; he’s just switching roles.
“My daughter (Kemmie Shunk) graduates this year,” he said. “She’s going on to play at Alma College, and I just want to be able to travel and go to her events. That’s the reason I’m resigning.”
Leading the way for the Panthers were seniors Shunk and Morgan Johnson and juniors Hallie Weaver and Sarah Gadde. That group helped the team bowl its best game of the year, a 1,004 in the qualifying round.
Alma trailed 162-161 after the first Baker game in the title match, but took a 338-305 lead into the regular games. Alma the bowled an 867 in the final portion, compared to Oakridge’s 767.
The Division 3 championship was the second in the last three years for the Panthers. Coming off last weekend's Regional win, Alma posted Friday’s highest qualifying score at 3,273. The Panthers defeated Gladwin in the quarterfinals and came back to down Caro in the semifinals 1,106-1,090.
Oakridge reached the final match for the first time in the school's history and made it there with a sixth-place finish in the qualifying round. The Eagles beat Flat Rock in the quarterfinals and topped reigning champion Birch Run 1,102-1,037 in the semifinals.
The win capped off a great season of hard work, Shunk said.
“This year we did some tougher Division 1 tournaments. I think the tougher competition really helped us out,” he added. The Panthers won several of those tournaments and finished undefeated in their conference as well. The regular-season success had them feeling confident going into the Finals.
“We had a great day at Regionals last week and a great singles event as well,” Shunk said. “Coming into today, we were confident that we had one of the better teams here.”
The members of Alma’s champion team were Kemmie Shunk, Morgan Johnson, Hallie Weaver, Sarah Gadde, Morgan Lindsey, Shauna Brenner and Aaliyah Wilson. Shunk, Johnson, Weaver and Gadde all will compete in Saturday’s Singles Final.
Jonesville’s boys, meanwhile, continued their season-long habit of come-from-behind wins Friday.
The Comets captured their school’s second MHSAA boys bowling title with a 1,318-1,146 win over Corunna in the championship round.
Jonesville trailed after the Baker games, but that was nothing new.
“These kids, they’ve fought so hard all year,” Jonesville coach Matt Molinaro said. “They were down in so many matches, and they just fight back and fight back.
“They proved to themselves that they could do that and not give up. I’m proud of them for that.”
The title, while Jonesville’s second, was the first in Division 3. The Comets won Division 4 in 2014.
Against Corunna, the Comets trailed by just eight pins heading to the regular games. Needing a rally, they turned in their best performance of the day.
Jonesville bowled a 1,001, compared to Corunna’s 821, to run away with the title.
But the biggest comeback came in the semifinals. Jonesville trailed Mount Morris by 54 pins following the Baker games but managed to pull out a 1,147-1,111 win.
“That’s all I could reinforce for them,” Molinaro said of his team’s resiliency. “They did this all year. That’s just a few marks; we don’t have to panic. They buckled down and they continue to excel.”
Jonesville finished fourth in the qualifying round with a score of 3,304. The Comets were just six pins shy of second and 18 better than sixth in a crowded field. Jonesville knocked off fifth-seeded Caro in the quarterfinals.
Corunna finished sixth in qualifying. The Cavaliers upset three seed Hopkins and second-seeded Cheboygan. Corunna and Cheboygan were tied heading to the regular games, when the Cavaliers pulled out their dramatic 17-pin victory.
Despite being a senior-heavy team – six of the seven members will be graduating – most of Jonesville’s squad had little varsity experience before this season.
“The majority of them really haven’t had any varsity experience,” Molinaro said. “We’ve had such good teams, they finally busted into the varsity (this year).”
The regular season wasn’t exactly stellar for Jonesville, but one match stood out as a confidence booster.
“We did beat the defending state champions in Vandercook Lake,” Molinaro said. “For that to happen, that gave the guys a little spark.”
Jonesville’s championship roster consisted of Grant Baker, Austin Creger, Dustin Gutowski, Caleb Hoover, Jacob Maynard, Freeman Do and Fred Yaniga.
Click for full girls results and boys results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Alma’s girls bowling team: Sarah Gadde, Morgan Johnson, Morgan Lindsey, head coach Ken Shunk, Kemmie Shunk, Shauna Brenner, Aaliyah Wilson, Hallie Weaver and assistant coach Raedene Shunk. (Middle) Jonesville’s boys bowling team: Assistant coach Matt Davis, Austin Creger, Dustin Gutowski, Caleb Hoover, Jacob Maynard, Grant Baker, Freeman Do, Fred Yaniga and head coach Matt Molinaro.
Cadillac Boys Rolling in Debut Season
January 17, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Jeremy Moore had wanted to get a bowling program going at Cadillac High School for a while.
It appears the Vikings picked the perfect time to give it a roll.
More than a month into its first season, Cadillac’s boys bowling team is undefeated and already the champion of the Big North Conference, winning the lone tournament on the league schedule Dec. 2 in what also was the Vikings’ season – and program – debut.
They edged host Gaylord 338-324 in the championship match that afternoon and have yet to be defeated, earning the MHSAA/Applebee’s statewide “Team of the Month” for December.
“We’ve had our core varsity team. These six guys bowled together in youth leagues for several years,” Cadillac coach Jeremy Moore said. “A couple of them are my nephews, and all of their parents bowl.
“We had high hopes. But when we went in and won (the Big North), now we know they’re really good.”
Cadillac will compete in Division 2 during the MHSAA Tournament, and it wouldn’t be shocking if the Vikings found their way into the first state rankings released Friday by the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association.
If not, it could just be a matter of the good word continuing to get out. Cadillac also bowls in the Greater Northwest Bowling Conference with a number of schools from the northwestern corner of the Lower Peninsula (including others from the BNC), and has yet to be challenged. The Vikings are winning their matches by an average score of 28-2.
All six are juniors or sophomores. Sophomore Kyle Vermilyea is averaging a team-high 224, followed by juniors Tyler Campbell (193), Brandon Foster (191) and sophomore Korbin Keller (190). Sophomore Kyle Perry adds a 176 average, and junior Brennen Dagner has been effective in limited frames as the team’s sub.
Moore, who works at The Pines bowling center in Cadillac, worked with first-year athletic director Fred Bryant (formerly of Newberry) to add boys and girls programs this season. Moore coaches both.
As noted above, he knew he’d have talent on the boys team. Multiple Vikings had won Junior Gold youth events downstate in the past, and two of his bowlers had competed well against members of the Lowell team that won the MHSAA Division 2 championship last winter. (Cadillac’s girls, meanwhile, entered the season with far less experience but are a solid 4-2 and took fifth in the BNC tournament.)
There have been small adjustments to make for high school bowling. Cadillac is learning the Baker format a bit on the fly – in a Baker game, all five bowlers take turns bowling a frame with two turns per game apiece – but that’s hardly slowed them down. They’re looking forward to continuing to see where they fit among Michigan’s high school elite as the season progresses, especially when the pressure gets higher during Regionals late next month.
Not new is how much Moore’s tight-knit group enjoys competing. But now the Vikings are getting to show their talents while representing their school.
“Up here there’s not a lot to do, so they’ve spent a lot of time in bowling alleys. They had a lot of games under their belts before high school started,” Moore said.
“They’re just always amped up in practice, always pushing each other. These guys have bowled together in youth leagues, and they’ve been friends a long time. They’re always together, wherever they go.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
November: Ottawa Lake Whiteford football - Report
October: Beaverton volleyball - Report
September: Shepherd girls golf - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) A Cadillac bowler starts a frame during competition this season. (Middle) The Vikings celebrate a Big North Conference championship in their first event as a high school program. (Photos courtesy of the Cadillac athletic department.)