Bronson, Vandercook Finish Journeys
March 2, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
BATTLE CREEK – The Bronson boys bowling team walked a path to its first MHSAA championship this season that no high school team should ever have to travel.
But the courage shown by the Vikings likely explained a little added loudness to the cheers and a few more of the tears during the final frames of Friday’s Division 4 Team Final at M-66 Bowl.
The Vikings – who along with Vandercook Lake’s girls claimed this season’s championships – made sure the name Tyler Wirtz was included as coach Roger Wisman listed his bowlers during the trophy presentation. Wirtz, a senior, died in a crash Dec. 19.
“We stepped up really big when he was gone. I know it crushed the entire team, but we stayed together,” said Bronson’s Joseph Weigt, the lone senior in the lineup Friday. “This was a good journey and life experience for us. … We stepped up and got the job done.”
Bronson’s boys, who finished only their third season as a high school program, downed St. Charles 1,354-1,283 in the championship match.
Vandercook Lake’s girls, meanwhile, repeated as winners with a 1,052-945 win over Brown City – earning the Jayhawks girls their sixth MHSAA title in the sport.
The Vikings, who entered the postseason top-ranked but finished second at their Regional last week, trailed the No. 2 Bulldogs by 24 pins after the two Baker games. But Bronson started off the regular game portion with 10 straight strikes – two each from every bowler in the lineup – to take away both the lead and momentum.
“The kids come through. Every one of them come through,” Wisman said. “We had a huddle before we started. We tried to be positive. ‘We can do this,’ I said. And they rolled with it.”
Junior Brandon Hyska, last season’s Division 4 singles champion, led the way with a 236 and junior Bryan Foote came in at 235, while junior Kameron Haviland rolled a 213. Weigt, who averaged 161 this season, added a 193 to the effort. Junior Brandon Taylor rounded out the scoring with a 165.
St. Charles was a semifinalist in 2017 but needed to win a roll-off to earn the final quarterfinal spot Friday. Junior Michael Pratt led St. Charles in the regular game with a 255, and senior Alex Dittenber rolled a 200.
It was an impressive run, especially keeping in mind that the Bulldogs posted their second runner-up finish in three years despite graduating three-time singles champion Kyle Tuttle last spring.
Tuttle missed a fourth individual title by falling in a close match to Hyska in last year’s quarterfinals. Hyska went on to dominate the rest of the singles field, but was raring to come back this winter and pick up a team title as well.
“We knew we were down 20, and we knew we had to make a comeback and we had to do it quick, get ahead and stay ahead,” Hyska said. “It gets kinda contagious. Your teammates start striking, and you want to do it too. We’ve done it multiple times this season when we needed it; (we’re) 18-0, and it showed.”
Vandercook Lake’s girls dominated their qualifying block, finishing first by 118 pins. In the Final, the Jayhawks – ranked No. 10 entering the postseason – led No. 2 Brown City by 60 after the Bakers before adding 47 to the margin during the regular games.
Juniors MacKenzie Johnson and Preslee Stahl led in the regular games with scores of 168 and 166, respectively. Senior Allana Hatfield rolled a 152, freshman Arielle Oakley a 141 and sophomore Evie Hatfield a 113.
The Jayhawks lost three league matches early this season by a combined 30 pins. But coach Todd Reichard said a team bonding dinner six weeks ago charged his lineup, which went on to avenge all three defeats and claim the conference title.
“We had to come a pretty far way,” Johnson said. “In the beginning of the season, you could tell we needed a little work to ever become state champs again. But I think us bonding as a team and coming together more really happened throughout the last part of the season, and that’s what helped us. We had our whole team today as one.”
Brown City earned its highest Finals finish in the sport. Senior Jordyn Burke rolled a 161, followed by junior Faith Gleasure at 152, junior Courtney Wheeler at 147, freshman Danyale McIvor at 117 and junior Madison Anglebrant at 116.
Vandercook Lake will have three individuals competing in Saturday’s singles competition, and will graduate only one contributor this spring – which no doubt will make the Jayhawks a team to chase again in 2018-19, as few others have been so consistently successful at this level.
“I think it’s the attitude, I think it’s the personality we have, and I think it’s our coaches too,” Johnson said. “I think it’s the personality our coaches have, that they always see the best in their players. Winning isn’t necessarily the goal for them, but it’s a nice treat.”
Click for boys results and girls results.
Clarkston's Stephens, Waterford Mott's Riley Finish Strong to Clinch D1 Titles
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 4, 2023
ALLEN PARK – With the loudest cheering section at the MHSAA Division 1 singles bowling championship Saturday at Thunderbowl Lanes, Clarkston sophomore Katie Stephens captured her first title with a 411-307 victory over junior Hannah Reid from Flushing.
“My dad is like that all the time,’’ said Stephens, who shook off a 19-pin deficit in the semifinal to advance on the way to claiming the title. “I was nervous. I was tired. I started and finished pretty good. I was happy about that. I thought the shot was tougher in the main arena. I didn’t start off well the first two games, but I finished well.’’
It was also a happy day for lefty Brendan Riley of Waterford Mott. The eighth seed after qualifying, he kept the tradition alive of left-handers doing well in the tournament by defeating Charlie Johnson of Mattawan 377-363 to claim the title.
“I had a 25-pin lead after the first game, so it took some of the pressure off,’’ said Riley. “I think the shot here is an advantage for left-handers. I struggled a little bit early, then I started to find the line. I was locked in during the championship game.’’
Johnson said nerves may have gotten the better of him in his first game when he shot 152.
“I was rushing,’’ he said. “Once I slowed down, I started carrying. It was my first time getting this far, so there were some nerves.’’
Reid made the match play by just four pins as the 16th seed. She took advantage of her good fortune, downing top-seeded New Baltimore Anchor Bay senior Melanie Straub 362-345. Straub had qualified first with a 1,272, followed by Traverse City West’s Jordan Lafleur at 1,218 and Stephens at 1,199.
“In the championship I struggled with open frames,” Reid said. “I tried to fix my shot and improve my carry. It was tough.’’
Other top seeds were able to survive as Lafleur eliminated Taylor’s Lily Adams, 363-323, and Stephens advanced against Karley Chouinard of Westland John Glenn 404-334.
Macomb Dakota’s Haylie Patterson struggled with spares and lost to Alyssa Tanner of Traverse City West, 376-286. Maddy Gazzarari moved into the semifinals by beating fellow sophomore Sophia Matheson of Utica Eisenhower, 355-335.
Reid proved that opening win was no fluke by defeating Alyssa Tanner of Traverse City West, 384-307 to advance to the semifinal against Gazzarari. Reid won that matchup by a close margin, 373-370.
Stephens moved into the semis by defeating Grace Polega of Utica Ford, 440-362. Her semifinal opponent was Taylor Phillips of Traverse West, who had eliminated teammate Lafleur, 405-383. Stephens then bested Phillips 349-326.
On the boys side, Dylan Harnden dominated qualifying, posting four games more than 240 and a total 1,416 to outdistance Nate Vanderbeek of Wyoming, who shot 1,371. Nick Schaberg of Holt was third at 1,368 and Traverse City Central’s Carter Bandon fourth at 1,363.
Harnden moved past Ethan Brown of Livonia Churchill, 428-331, to begin match play while No. 2 seed Vanderbeek was edged No. 15 Dylan Jablonski of Canton, 412-399.
Harnden’s run was ended in the quarterfinals by Riley, 368-335, as Riley moved into the semifinal against Traverse City Central sophomore Carter Banton, who had defeated Griffin Henderson of Swartz Creek, 412-374.
Rockford’s Tony Deluccia moved into the other semifinal with a 448-336 win over Monroe’s Evan Eagle. Johnson was his opponent after he eliminated Dylan Jablonski of Canton, 439-370.
Riley won his semifinal 421-368, and Johnson made the final with a 420-361 victory.