Eastern, Kearsley Write Winning Endings
March 4, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
CANTON — The movie McFarland, USA was based on the real story of a championship cross country program in California, but embellished one important detail.
For the sake of drama, Disney condensed the championship-building process into only one season for the fledgling program. In reality, it took eight years for McFarland to win its first state title.
The story of the Lansing Eastern boys bowling program reads like a work of fiction, but is a true story that doesn't need Hollywood to jazz it up.
In only the second season after their program was restored, the Quakers won the MHSAA Division 2 championship in a showdown with two-time reigning champion Flint Kearsley on Friday at Super Bowl. Eastern had a score of 1,444 to Kearsley's 1,288.
"We were definitely gunning for it this year, for sure, but in the back of our minds we weren't expecting to win it, especially in this kind of fashion," said Dennis Crump, who rolled a team-best 246 for Eastern in the regular game. "It's definitely nice to win it."
It was the first MHSAA championship for Eastern's athletic program since the softball team beat Warren Cousino, 8-0, to capture the 1981 Class A title.
Kearsley's girls were able to successfully three-peat, beating Jackson by a score of 1,249 to 1,111.
Kearsley is a tournament-tested program, but Eastern didn't even have a program for three years from 2011-12 to 2013-14. In their former incarnation, the Quakers never sent a team to the MHSAA Finals, though they did have four individual qualifiers from 2007-11.
Current coach Billy Salazar has no idea why Eastern dropped bowling, but he knew the school needed to put a team back together when he saw the level of talent coming up in the ranks. The Quakers finished fourth in the Regional in their first season back, one spot behind Ionia for the final berth in the MHSAA Finals.
"We had a core of guys who were going into their freshman year," Salazar said. "A mom wanted high school bowling, so I thought it would be kind of a shame to let that kind of talent not have a bowling team. When she asked me to coach, I agreed to coach. We were very close last year to getting through the Regional, and everybody came back."
It was anybody's championship to win following two Baker games, as Eastern held a 452-445 edge over Kearsley.
"That Baker set, we knew we had to keep it close, because we knew they were going to give us a run for our money in the team game," Crump said. "During the team game, a lot of our guys stepped up and we went on a run and just sailed on that momentum."
It was still a close match through six frames of the regular game, with Eastern leading by 22 pins. The Quakers broke it open from there to knock off the Hornets, who beat Eastern by 110 pins to take the Regional championship.
"Our team chemistry was really off," Eastern senior Victor Riojas said of last year's team. "It took a lot of time for us to get the bond we have now."
In the final game, Crump rolled 242, Juan Medellin 212, Riojas 202, Justin Genson 182 and Kyle Lewis 150 for Eastern.
Phil Hawes rolled 190 to lead Kearsley. Brandon Wheeler rolled 184, Zach Timm 158, Brice McKerchive 157 and Chad Stephen 154 for the Hornets.
"We kind of ran into a buzzsaw," Kearsley coach Bart Rutledge said. "We made a few mistakes, and they capitalized on them and built on them. We just weren't able to keep up."
In the girls tournament, Kearsley won its fourth championship in the last five years. Only the boys cross country program, with five, has won more MHSAA titles for Kearsley than the girls bowling team has managed in the 13-year history of its sport’s tournament.
A fifth title could be coming soon for the Hornets, as they were led by freshman Alexis Roof, who rolled a 200. No. 1 bowler Hannah Ploof had an off day, rolling a combined score of 161 with freshman Mary Wheeler, who had a spare after Ploof's strike in the 10th frame. Karlee Griffin was the primary bowler in a score of 164, which she split with Emma Boychuk. Barbara Hawes was the main bowler who split a 158 with Kayla Ward. Alexxa Flood rolled a solo 150.
Roof had five strikes and three spares in the first eight frames before rolling a gutter ball in the ninth. She turned away from the lane, put her head down and laughed. She could afford to when she was bowling so well and her team had built a formidable 416-262 lead after two Baker games.
"I was just kind of like, 'Whatever, I'll come back the next frame,'" Roof said. "I had a good feeling that we had it after those Baker games.
"I was kind of nervous at first, but then I remembered the coach kept saying to act like it's just a practice, it's not that big of a deal. I went out and did what I could; I did my job."
Kearsley coach Robert Ploof knew all about Roof before she got to high school, because he is best friends with her father.
"I was thinking about retiring this year, because my daughter is gone, but I've got to stick around because his daughter is here," Ploof said. "It's just an incredible feeling; winning never gets old."
Hannah Ploof is the only member of the team to compete in the Finals during each of Kearsley's three straight MHSAA championships. Her 238 last year in the Finals carried the team. On Friday, she rolled well below her average of 220.
"It's a team thing," Ploof said. "My team had to hold me up; that's what they did. They did what they had to do."
In the Regional, Kearsley finished second behind only Mason. Mason finished 11th in qualifying, three places below a berth in the Quarterfinals.
"We had a really young team this year, but we did it," Ploof said. "We started out winning the conference. We got to Regionals and had a rough day there. We finished second, but we did it. I'm so proud of them."
Jackson hadn't reached the Final in an MHSAA bracketed sport since the 1980 girls basketball team lost 52-46 to Flint Northern in the Class A championship game. After reaching the Semifinals in 2014 and the Quarterfinals in 2015, the girls bowling team made it to the final by beating Charlotte by a 1,284 to 1,231 margin in the Semifinals.
"They're a great team," Jackson coach David Rodriguez said. "That's why they're three-peat champs. We gave it what we had. I think my girls ran out of gas. It was a great ride this season. I've got four coming back. I see they're only losing two, so we'll do it again next year."
Jackson's Joz Hunt had the best score of the final, rolling a 212 that included four straight strikes in frames six through nine. Callie Mollitor rolled 198, Kaylee Collier 164, Morgan Bradley 146 and Jamie Bleiler 129 for Jackson.
Click for full boys results and full girls results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Lansing Eastern’s boys bowling team. (Middle) Flint Kearsley’s girls bowling team. (Photos by Bill Khan.)
Preview: Powers Set to Strike Again
March 2, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This could be a weekend of unprecedented successes for Michigan high school bowlers.
The Davison and Flint Kearsley girls teams both will roll in Friday's Team Finals for their fifth championships over the last six seasons. Four 2016 singles champions also return, with St. Charles' Kyle Tuttle looking to add to his already record title streak by becoming the first and only four-time MHSAA champ.
This season's Finals will be bowled at the following centers: Division 1 at Sterling Heights’ Sterling Lanes, Division 2 at Canton’s Super Bowl, Division 3 at Battle Creek's M-66 Bowl and Division 4 at Lansing’s Royal Scot. Click for the full list of qualifiers, and come back to Second Half all weekend for coverage from all four Finals sites. Team Finals are Friday and Singles Finals are Saturday; both will begin at 8:30 a.m.
Division 1 Girls
Team: Top-ranked Davison has won four of the last five Division 1 championships and finished runner-up in 2015. The Cardinals won their Regional with 3,857 pins, the second highest count in any division, and a number of other expected contenders joined them – No. 2 Brownstown Woodhaven, No. 4 Macomb Dakota and No. 8 Saginaw Heritage also were among Regional champs, and unranked Caledonia claimed its Regional title with a score better than two of the ranked winners.
Singles: Davison senior Taylor Davis can close one of the most accomplished careers in MHSAA history after winning the singles title last season and making the Semifinals as a sophomore. She won her Regional by nearly 200 pins with a score of 1,417. The only other Division 1 competitor to approach her score was Caledonia senior Brittney Schnicke (1,390), another of the top bowlers in the state the last few seasons and Davis’ Quarterfinal opponent in 2016. St. Clair Shores Lakeview sophomore Stephanie Schalk also made the Semifinals last season.
Boys Division 1
Team: Nine teams cleared 4,000 pins at their Division 1 Regionals, including reigning Division 1 champion and top-ranked Wyandotte Roosevelt – which rolled 4,100 to win last week. The division-high score came from unranked Flushing (with 4,301), which didn’t even qualify for the Finals a year ago. Hudsonville will return to the Finals after rolling the second-highest Regional score, 4,229; other Regional champs were No. 2 Belleville (4,101) and unranked Clarkston (4,059) and St. Clair Shores Lakeview (3,911).
Singles: Both finalists from last season are back and returning through the same Regional; 2016 runner-up Gabe Cassise, a Roosevelt junior, won that Regional with a 1,291, while reigning champion and senior Brad Demarle from Warren Mott qualified with a ninth-place 1,165. Four of the six Division 1 bowlers who cleared 1,300 pins during Regionals did so at Grand Haven’s Starlite Lanes, led by Buccaneers’ senior Jimmy Mitchell at 1,395 – he also was one of only five non-seniors to make the Finals’ Round of 16 last season. Davison junior Brandon Kreiner was another of those five, and he won his Regional last week with 1,325 pins. Westland John Glenn junior Matt Essa (1,308) also cleared 1,300 in winning a Regional title.
Division 2 Girls
Team: Top-ranked Flint Kearsley also has won four of the last five championships in this division and three straight. Its 3,910 Regional score was nearly 850 pins better than that field and the tops of all girls teams in any division. Total, eight of the top 10 ranked teams qualified for Friday’s Finals, with No. 8 Charlotte posting the second-highest Regional score in the division of 3,790.
Singles: Last season’s runner-up, now-junior Sydney Urben of Wayland, and 2016 semifinalist Madchen Breen of Warren Regina, now a senior, both are back this weekend after finishing runners-up in their respective Regionals. Jackson senior Kaylee Collier finished ahead of Urben with the highest Regional score in the division, 1,282, and Taylor Truman senior Miranda Norris was right behind winning her Regional with a 1,280. Charlotte senior Brooke Noecker and Jackson senior Jamie Bleiler both made the Quarterfinals last season as well.
Boys Division 2
Team: Reigning champion Lansing Eastern stunned the field last season – but the Regional results this season make it looks less likely for another unranked team to pull off the same surprise. Top-ranked New Boston Huron rolled the highest Regional score in any division, 4,371, and No. 3 Flint Kearsley (4,091) and No. 4 Coldwater (4,191) also won Regional titles with 4,000-plus pins. Kearsley won Division 2 in 2014 and 2015 before finishing runner-up last season to the Quakers, who didn’t qualify for this weekend.
Singles: Like in Division 1, the reigning singles champion will be back for more – Sturgis senior Austin Robison qualified second at his Regional with a score of 1,304. Marquette senior teammates Liam Robinson (1,297) and Hunter Negri (1,191) both made the Round of 16 last season and qualified first and third, respectively, at their Regional last weekend, and Kearsley senior Bryce McKerchie made the Quarterfinals last season and won his Regional last week by 260 pins with the highest score in Division 2 of 1,488. Warren Lincoln senior Tyler Kolassa made the Round of 16 in Division 3 last year after winning the title in 2015.
Division 3 Girls
Team: Division 3 has celebrated nine different champions over the last nine seasons, and this tournament could be wide open as well. Only one of the top five (No. 2 Battle Creek Pennfield) and four of the top-10 ranked teams advanced to this weekend. Unranked Gladwin posted the top Regional score in Division 3, 3,481, followed closely by No. 7 Birch Run at 3,477. Pennfield did win its Regional as well. Last season’s Division 4 champion, Ithaca, also is in Division 3 and qualified.
Singles: Gladwin senior Kasidey Easlick was the only non-senior to make last season’s Semifinals, and she qualified again placing ninth at her Regional. Grand Rapids West Catholic senior Katelyn LaBelle also made the Quarterfinals last season and won her Regional last weekend. Three other Regional champs broke 1,200 pins – Marine City’s Alyssa Crampton, Adrian Madison’s Alexis Cable and Gladwin’s Carley VanTiem.
Boys Division 3
Team: Saginaw Swan Valley is the reigning champion and entered the postseason ranked No. 1, but just qualified with a third-place at its Regional. Seventh-ranked Battle Creek Pennfield – last season’s runner-up – is no doubt ready to step in and claim its first MHSAA team title, and rolled a division-best 4,045 to win its Regional. Four of the six Regional champions were not ranked – creating some intriguing possibilities for an under-the-radar team to step in as the division’s sixth different champion this decade.
Singles: Only one of last season’s semifinalists was a senior, but only one of the other three qualified to compete this weekend – reigning runner-up Grant Baker, a Jonesville junior, who qualified ninth at his Regional. Three others from last season’s Round of 16 also will be back; Battle Creek Pennfield sophomore James Ruoff (1,288) and Dundee senior Quinn Auten (1,348) both won their Regionals, and Wyoming Kelloggsville senior Gage Nickerson was fourth at his behind teammate and champion Zach Postma (1,227). Richmond junior C.J. Wagner is one to watch as well; he won his Regional by 138 pins with an incredible 1,453. And Adrian Madison junior Isaac Solis (1,256) made the Division 4 Semifinals last season.
Girls Division 4
Team: Jackson Vandercook Lake is ranked No. 1 and won Division 4 titles in 2011, 2013 and 2014. The Jayhawks won their Regional with a pinfall of 3,239, second in the division behind only unranked Traverse City Christian (3,248). Second-ranked St. Louis also was a Regional champ as the top five ranked teams all qualified for this weekend.
Singles: This could be anyone’s competition, with Flint Beecher/Mount Morris senior Shaierica Gould and Unionville-Sebewaing junior Tiffany Lutz the only qualifiers from last season’s Round of 16 back; both were Regional runners-up last weekend. Vandercook Lake sophomore Mackenzie Johnson rolled the high score for Division 4 Regionals at 1,086, followed by Rogers City junior Stephanie Marx at 1,077.
Boys Division 4
Team: All seven seasons with a Division 4 tournament have seen a new champion emerge – but that trend may come to an end this weekend. St. Charles, which won Division 4 in 2010, won its Regional last weekend with a score of 4,003, ahead of reigning Finals champion Sandusky (3,793). Those were two of the top three scores in the division last weekend, but there is hope for another new winner. Vandercook Lake, a frequent power and the Division 3 runner-up in 2009, posted the second-highest score in the division in winning its Regional with a 3,879.
Singles: After becoming the first to win three MHSAA individual titles last season, St. Charles senior Kyle Tuttle can become unprecedented one more time in his final high school competition. He won his Regional rolling a 1,203, second-highest in the division only to Bronson sophomore Brandon Hyska (1,206), who made the Round of 16 last year. Genesee junior Luke Cantrell was Finals runner-up last season and won last week’s Regional with a 1,118. Vandercook Lake sophomore Korey Reichard and Sandusky senior Cody Johnston also made the 2016 Round of 16, and Whittemore-Prescott freshman Tyler Watkins is an intriguing prospect after winning his Regional with a 1,192.
PHOTO: Davison's girls bowling team celebrates last season's Division 1 championship. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)