D3 Champs Make Work Pay Off in Close Clinchers
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
March 6, 2020
JACKSON — History was made Friday, and it brought Jim Tesner to tears.
Never before in the history of sports at Essexville Garber High School had a team won an MHSAA Finals championship.
That changed when the girls bowling team won three matches, including a whisker-close Finals match against Clare at JAX 60, to put the first Division 3 Finals trophy in the Essexville Garber case.
And that history was not lost on Tesner.
“I keep repeating this: I always want them to only focus on what’s in front of them and not what’s behind them,” he said. “But there are exceptions, like this trophy we’re going to get. That’s behind us, but it matters.”
After taking a 34-pin lead after the two Baker games at 353-319, Garber used a clean ninth and 10th frame in the regular game to stave off Clare’s comeback. Clare shot 858 in the team game to Garber’s 829, but the Dukes did enough to win 1,182-1,177.
The Finals win provided a fitting end to the Dukes’ season that included an undefeated Tri-Valley Conference record, a conference tournament victory and a Regional championship.
“I don’t know, I’m at a loss for words,” said an emotional Tesner, who has made a couple different stops during his 30-year coaching career but has been with the Dukes for the past decade. “They bought into the system. Last year we missed going to states by 42 pins. We finished fifth (at the Regional). I just kept hammering that and hammering that. We missed so many spares, and this year we stepped up our spare game.”
Those spares came in handy in the Final. With Clare junior Sydney Swartz shooting 210 and senior Jenna Betts tossing 209 in the team game, the Dukes needed every mark. Tesner said Brittany Rohde’s 175 that included just one open frame was critical.
“I don’t know where she came (from), but she dug down,” Tesner said.
Rohde said making school history was the result of hard work.
“Everything we put into our games and practice, it pays off,” Rohde said. “Usually I get down on myself if I don’t do well, but I didn’t get down on myself and I kept my energy up.”
Garber qualified fourth after eight Baker games and two team games and downed Jonesville, 1,173-1,105, in the quarterfinals and then top-seeded Coloma — which shot a 288 Baker game during qualifying — 1,157-1,145 to reach the Final.
Clare qualified second then won its quarterfinal by one pin over Armada, 1,086-1,085, and beat third-seeded Caro, 1,131-1,110.
For the boys, Armada won its second Finals trophy and first since 2015 by getting out to a huge lead after the Baker games and holding its breath in the team game while Boyne City mounted a comeback.
In the end, Armada had enough in the tank for a 1,230-1,215 victory.
“It means a lot. It’s awesome to work with people for so long and have something like this happen,” said coach Jim Carl, who started the program in 2003. “It just shows that all of our hard work paid off.”
Armada struggled through qualifying, squeezing in as the eighth seed, then got into a 93-pin crater after the Baker games against top-seeded Cheboygan in the quarterfinals. The Tigers righted the ship just in time to post a 1,039 team game and get past Cheboygan, 1,355-1,304.
They beat Birch Run by 173 pins in the semifinals and darted out to an 82-pin lead on Boyne City after throwing six strikes in each Baker game to go up 394-312.
Boyne City was undaunted during the first portion of the team game, essentially tying things up around the sixth frame, but Dylan Malinowski threw six of seven strikes between the fourth and the 10th frames to create some breathing room.
“It feels really amazing. It’s my first year coming to states, so it’s a really exciting moment for me,” Malinowski said. “I just step up to the line, clear my mind and do my thing.”
Boyne City’s Mike Deming shot 219 in the team game, which the Ramblers won 903-836. The Ramblers, who made their first Finals appearance, qualified second then beat Grand Rapids Catholic Central, 1,207-1,187, and Sanford Meridian, 1,310-1,200.
Click for full girls results and boys results.
TC Christian Girls Follow Anchor to Title Win Securing School's D4 Sweep
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2024
MUSKEGON – Competing for a state title is not a given, let alone winning one.
Traverse City Christian’s Rebekah Burch has bookend championships now in girls bowling – won as a freshman and as a senior – and she was a big reason for the Sabres’ second title in program history Friday.
In the 10th frame, Burch fired two strikes and followed with nine pins on her final ball to rally the Sabres. In a five-game thriller, Traverse City Christian defeated Bronson 3-2 to capture the Division 4 Finals championship at Northway Lanes.
It’s the second state title in four years for the Sabres’ girls, who shared in the excitement with their boys team Friday as Traverse City Christian pulled the championship sweep with a victory on that side as well.
“It’s so surreal. Like, today, I was going into it and I couldn’t even believe that it happened. When I was in (ninth) grade, I couldn’t believe that it happened,” Burch said. “It’s just crazy and I thank the Lord for everything that he has provided me with, giving me these opportunities.”
Traverse City Christian finished first in the 16-team qualifying block with a total score of 3,066, while Bronson was second at 3,005. Both teams edged their Quarterfinal opponents by 3-2 margins (TCC over Ithaca, Bronson over Ravenna), and both won Semifinal matches 3-1 (TCC over Jonesville, Bronson over Allen Park Cabrini).
The championship match was fittingly a back-and-forth battle with Traverse City Christian and Bronson alternating wins in the first four games. Bronson won the first (158-153) and third (125-100), TCC won the second (178-160) and fourth (166-154). That set the stage for the dramatic final game, which the Sabres rallied to win 191-184 thanks in large part to Burch’s heroics.
“It was mainly just keeping up the energy. Mrs. Radtke, my coach, she always says, ‘It’s not over ‘til it’s over.’ And that’s kind of been one of the main things we’ve been saying throughout the season,” Burch said. “It’s not over ‘til it’s over, ‘til that last ball is thrown.’ Just keep on going until it’s over.”
Traverse City Christian coach Andy Radtke had his doubts at moments during the championship match. But having an anchor bowler like Burch, who was allowed to bowl on the Sabres varsity team as an eighth-grader because of the small-school exemption, meant that anything was possible.
And Burch delivered.
“They never quit. Every time I thought we were out of it, all of sudden, ‘No, we’re not,’” Andy Ratdke said. “Started adding up (the score), ‘Wait a minute, if Rebekah strikes, we win.’”
Burch’s strikes and those of her teammates were the big separator between the teams, according to first-year Bronson coach Leah Friedel, who said her team felt good throughout the match until the very last frame.
Bronson was aiming for a fourth Division 4 championship in six years.
“We had spares, but they had the strikes, which overtook us in the end,” Friedel said.
“This has been an amazing season. We went undefeated before getting here, so I am super proud.”
Traverse City Christian’s boys bowling team seized its first state championship in the middle of the afternoon. As soon as the Sabres wrapped it up, TCC coach Brent Wheat hustled down several lanes to get caught up with the girls in their Semifinal match versus Jonesville.
Wheat, who calls himself the “mechanical guy” of the three Sabres coaches, had to calm himself down and re-focus on the girls team.
“I had to try and calm down, focus on what they had going on, and try and help them get through to the Finals,” Wheat said. “I would love to say it’s me (who was more riled up) but I’m not the one up there throwing the ball. I know what that feels like, too.”
Traverse City Christian traveled to Muskegon on Thursday, practiced at Northway Lanes, and stayed overnight.
The MHSAA Singles Finals are Saturday, and four members of the Traverse City Christian girls team will be competing along with three from the Sabres’ boys squad.
In Wheat’s mind, anything that happens Saturday is a bonus.
“We knew Bronson had a really tough team and if we were able to make it to the Finals, we figured it would probably be against them,” he said. “We knew it was going to be a hurdle in the Finals just because they have a lot of good bowlers. They’re mechanically sound, they’re good spare shooters.
“We got hot there at the end of the game. Our anchor bowler, Rebekah, she’s been with us since eighth grade because we’re such a small school, we’re able to have eighth-graders in our program. She was able to come through big and bury two big strikes to win it.”
Burch was in disbelief about Traverse City Christian sweeping girls and boys titles a mere 90 minutes apart.
“Oh, it’s so cool,” she said with a hearty laugh. “It’s so exciting.”