D4 Winners Find Right Shots at Right Times

By Tim Robinson
Special for MHSAA.com

March 7, 2020

LANSING — All athletes make adjustments during their events, but few work out as well as the one Hanover-Horton's Kassidy Alexander made during the Division 4 girls bowling singles championship match Saturday at Royal Scot.

Alexander, a junior, was dueling with Bronson's Dakota Smith, winning by four pins in the first game. In the second game, she didn't like the way her ball was responding.

"It wasn't coming into the pocket correctly," she said. "I was leaving 10-pins everywhere."

So she consulted with her father, Arron, who also is her coach. He suggested she move one board to her right on her approach.

The move, less than an inch, paid off.

"He spotted it," Kassidy sad. "I was thinking about moving over, but I didn't want to change anything that serious."

Alexander won the second game by three pins, but needed, and got, two strikes in the 10th frame to pull out the 371-364 win.

It was the second trip to the finals for Smith, who lost in the 2019 championship match to Mackenzie Johnson of Vandercook Lake.

Alexander and Smith were familiar with each other from competition in summer leagues and again at last week's Division 4 Regional.

"Kassie respects her for how good a bowler she is and how passionate she is for the game," Arron Alexander said. "She appreciated ending the day by bowling against Dakota."

Kassidy's title was the second individual championship for the Comets, following Emma Davis' in 2015.

It's also the second MHSAA bowling title for the Alexander family. Older brother Justin was on the Hanover-Horton squad that won the Division 4 team title in 2015.

Justin wasn't able to see his sister bowl Saturday due to work obligations, but was a key supporter down the stretch.

"Through our Cascades (Conference) meet and at the Regional, he was there for her, helping her focus on her game," Arron Alexander said. "It was such a neat moment to watch them interact, being five years apart (in age). It makes for a proud dad."

Hunter Haldaman of Traverse City Christian, who won the boys title, took a different route to his championship.

He won his opening match against Unionville-Sebewaing's Ethan Androl by 49 pins. Androl won the second game, but not by enough to make a dent in a match Haldaman claimed 404-373.

"I had a strike in the first frame and had a good line going," Haldaman said. "I was confident in that shot, and it worked out from there."

In the second game, "our goal was to fill frames," coach Brent Wheat said. "We wanted to make our spares and try and match him the best we could."

Androl won the second game by 18 pins, but Haldaman had a strike in the ninth frame to put the match out of reach.

"It was a good feeling," Wheat said with a chuckle of relief. "I figured one good ball in the 10th, and we had it. But when he had a strike in the ninth, we put the pressure on (Androl) to make the shot in the end."

Haldaman, who won the Sabres' first individual bowling title, got into the sport through his grandparents, who took him and his brother bowling on a weekly basis while they were young.

"I played soccer in elementary school," he said. "I didn't have a passion for it, but I have a passion for bowling."

Like Alexander, Haldaman worked on his game between his sophomore and junior years, learning the mental aspect of the game as well as fundamentals like reading lane conditions.

Although he was leading overall throughout the second game, Haldaman didn't think he had the title sewn up until the 10th frame.

"You notice the lead, but that could change at any point in time," he said. "I was just taking it shot by shot, frame by frame. That's the way to do it."

And, for both, that resulted in a Division 4 Finals title and motivation for next year, when they're both seniors.

"I would love to come back as a senior," Haldaman said.

Click for full girls results and boys results.

MHSAA Winter Sports Start with Extended Basketball Schedules, New Wrestling Weights

By Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor

December 13, 2022

The addition of two games to basketball regular-season schedules and a new series of wrestling weight classes are likely the most noticeable Winter 2022-23 changes as an estimated 65,000 athletes statewide take part in 13 sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.

Girls gymnastics and boys ice hockey teams were able to begin practice Oct. 31, with the rest of those sports beginning in November – including also girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer, girls and boys skiing, Upper Peninsula girls and boys and Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving, and girls and boys wrestling.

A variety of changes are in effect for winter sports this season, including a several that will be noteworthy and noticeable to teams and spectators alike.

Basketball remains the most-participated winter sport for MHSAA member schools with 33,000 athletes taking part last season, and for the first time, basketball teams may play up to 22 regular-season games. This increase from the previous 20-game schedule allows more games for teams at every high school level – varsity, junior varsity and freshman.

Another significant change has been made in wrestling, as the majority of boys wrestling weight classes have been adjusted for this season in anticipation of a national change coming in 2023-24. The updated boys weight classes are 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215 and 285 pounds. Only 215 and 285 remain from the previous lineup. There is also one change to girls weight classes, with the 255 class replaced by 235 to also align with national high school standards.

A series of notable changes will affect how competition takes place at the MHSAA Tournament levels. In hockey, in addition to a new classification process that spread cooperative and single-school programs evenly throughout the three playoff divisions, the MHSAA Tournament will employ two changes. The Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) will be used to seed the entire Regional round, not just the top two teams, and prior to the start of Semifinals, a seeding committee will reseed the remaining four teams in each division with the top seed in each then facing the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed facing No. 3.

Bowling also will see an MHSAA Tournament change, as the Team Regional format will mirror the long-standing Team Final with teams playing eight Baker games and two regular games at both levels. And as also applied during the fall girls season, there is a new qualification process for divers seeking to advance to Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals. In each of the three divisions, each Regional will be guaranteed 10 qualifiers for the Finals, with six more “floating” qualifier entries to be distributed to the Regionals that have one of the previous year’s top six returning Finals divers in their fields. If a team changes division from the previous season, any floating top-six spots are added to the six already allowed in the school’s new division.

A gymnastics rules change provides an opportunity for additional scoring during the floor exercise. A dance passage requirement was added in place of the former dance series requirement to encourage creativity and a more artistic use of dance. The dance passage requires gymnasts to include two Group 1 elements – one a leap with legs in cross or side split position, the other a superior element.

In competitive cheer, the penalty for going over the time limit in each round was adjusted to one penalty point for every second over the time limit, not to exceed 15 points. The new time limit rule is more lenient than the past penalty, which subtracted points based on ranges of time over the limit.

The 2022-23 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 18 and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 25. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:

Boys Basketball
Districts – March 6, 8, 10
Regionals – March 13, 15
Quarterfinals – March 21
Semifinals – March 23-24
Finals – March 25

Girls Basketball
Districts – Feb. 27, March 1, 3
Regionals – March 7, 9
Quarterfinals – March 14
Semifinals – March 16-17
Finals – March 18

Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 24-25
Finals – March 3-4

Competitive Cheer
District – Feb. 17-18
Regionals – Feb. 25
Finals – March 2-3

Gymnastics
Regionals – March 4
Finals – March 10-11

Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 20-March 1
Quarterfinals – March 4
Semifinals – March 9-10
Finals – March 11

Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 13-17
Finals – Feb. 27

Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 18
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 2
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 10-11

Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 8-9
Regionals – Feb. 15
Finals – Feb. 24-25

Wrestling – Individual
Districts – Feb. 11
Regionals – Feb. 18
Finals – March 3-4

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.

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