Fremont Boys, Cros-Lex Girls Claim D3
February 28, 2014
By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half
JACKSON – Fremont junior Sam Brandt fell a little short of perfection Friday afternoon in the championship match of the MHSAA Division 3 Boys Bowling Final at Airport Lanes in Jackson.
However, Brandt did not come up short in terms of a championship.
Brandt opened the final game with the first seven strikes before a 7-pin stopped him in the eighth frame. He went on to a 268 game to lead Fremont past Pinconning 1,296-1,203 for Fremont’s second MHSAA title in three years.
“It felt great – although the smash seven wasn’t a great feeling, but it happens,” Brandt said. “I got a little light with the ball.”
Brandt, a right-hander who was using a Storm IQ Tour Fusion ball he had just bought Thursday, is the younger brother of Zach Brandt, who was the Division 3 individual runner-up for Fremont in 2010 and the MHSAA champion in 2011.
“I feel the pressure having to win state because I’ve been bowling with him and all of his friends all my life, basically,” Sam Brandt said.
Fremont nearly did not get out of the qualifying round. The Packers were 11th entering the final game of qualifying and used a 913 team game to climb to eighth and grab the final spot in the Quarterfinals by just five pins over Ishpeming.
“At first, we were half and half on whether we were going to make it or not, but once we found out we made it, we knew we had to finish,” said Fremont senior Jeremy Pikaard, who bowled in the MHSAA Final two years ago for Fremont with Brandt and Mike Margol.
Seeded eighth, Fremont knocked off No. 1 seed Jackson Lumen Christi 1,252-1,200 in the Quarterfinal and No. 5 seed Grand Rapids South Christian 1,312-1,259 in the Semifinal.
Fremont stumbled early in the first Baker game against Pinconning with three open frames to start. But the Pioneers followed with six strikes in a row for a 225 and went on to a 93-pin victory.
“All year long we’ve been a very resilient team,” second-year Fremont coach Tom Elmer said. “We kind of start slow sometimes, but we battle and battle and battle. We have a strong group of kids.”
In the final game when all five individuals bowl an entire game, Brandt led the way with a 268 while Pikaard added a 231 and Margol had a 203. All three will be joined by teammate Sean Vincent in the Individual Final today, also at Airport Lanes in Jackson. Brandt lost in the Semifinals a year ago.
Meanwhile, the Croswell-Lexington girls had to get past their nemesis, Richmond, in the Semifinal, to get to the championship match. The Pioneers knocked off top-seeded Richmond 1,312-1,256 and then rolled over Ishpeming 1,190-1,082 in the championship match.
As far as the Pioneers were concerned, beating Richmond was almost as thrilling as winning the championship. Richmond and Croswell-Lexington both compete in the Blue Water Area Conference, and Richmond finished first and the Pioneers third in the same Regional last week.
“It was amazing that we beat them,” senior Victoria Bender said. “It’s one of the first times we’ve ever beat them, and we’ve never beat them by that margin.”
Senior Megan Geiser had similar feelings.
“I felt more pressure against Richmond than anything because they’re like our family,” she said. “But when it came to being against them – we don’t normally beat them like that – we came in feeling good and pulled it off and got first.”
The match against Ishpeming was almost anti-climatic. The Pioneers won both Baker games (171-163 and 163-137) and then used great consistency in the team game as all five girls rolled between 166 and 179. Bender led the way with a 179, while Charity Mosher had a 174, Geiser 170, Katie LaPorte 167 and Kelsey Lodge 166.
“We were very nervous going into it, but the girls came to bowl,” Croswell-Lexington coach Anita Mifsud said. “They did a good job.
“There was nice consistency all the way through, and they all stepped up to the plate this year. It was wonderful.”
The Pioneers qualified fourth and beat Wyoming Kelloggsville 1,221-1,149 in the Quarterfinal to set up the match with Richmond, which had a 3,473 qualifying total – 362 pins ahead of No. 2 seed Battle Creek Pennfield, the defending MHSAA champion.
Bender, Geiser, Mosher and LaPorte all will compete today in the Individual Finals. Bender, Geiser and Mosher all are seniors, while LaPorte is a junior.
“It’s pretty amazing that we actually did it,” Bender said. “It took a lot to get here and to overcome the nerves that we had early in the day.”
Click for full boys results and full girls results.
PHOTOS: The Fremont boys bowling team and Croswell-Lexington girls bowling teams pose with their MHSAA championship trophies. (Photos by Chip Mundy.)
Preview: Contenders New and Old
March 5, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
All eight MHSAA bowling champions from 2014 will return for this weekend’s Team Finals on Friday, and four who have won individual titles will compete in Singles Finals on Saturday.
But that hardly means we should expect everything to fall into place as it has in the recent past.
Contenders old and also new abound for this weekend’s tournaments, the 12th since bowling became an MHSAA-sponsored sport in 2004. Read about them below.
All Team Finals are Friday, and Singles Finals are Saturday. Click for the full list of qualifiers, and come back to Second Half all weekend for coverage from all four Finals sites.
Girls Division 1
Team: Davison is rolling on a three-year championship streak and enters the weekend as again a Regional champion – although its 3,376 qualifying score was only third highest in the division as a whole. Macomb Dakota (4,194) and Westland John Glenn (4,141) both broke 4,000 pins and have plenty of experience at this level – John Glenn was runner-up to Davison last season, and Dakota fell to Davison in the Semifinal. Dakota sophomore Tamera Robinson (1,271) won the individual Regional title at Star Lanes in Sterling Heights while three more teammates finished among the top nine; John Glenn placed four among the top eight and three among the top four at Canton’s Super Bowl.
Singles: Last season’s MHSAA Final was a matchup of John Glenn bowlers, and both return – junior Emily Dietz, the champion, was eighth at her Regional with a 1,183, while junior Julia Huren was second at 1,333. Total, nine of last season’s 16 match play finalists will compete again this weekend, but four of the top five Regional qualifying scores were by bowlers not part of that group – Canton sophomore Megan Macunovich (1,345), Brighton freshman Natalie Klein (1,331), Zeeland sophomore Olivia Hoeksema (1,308) and Caledonia freshman Macalin Rodriguez (1,300).
Boys Division 1
Teams: Reigning champion Detroit U-D Jesuit will be back after rolling a 3,705 to finish second at its Regional at Woodhaven Lanes. But 12 qualifiers broke 4,000 pins, with Saginaw Heritage (4,325) and Canton (4,231) topping the list. Heritage went on to place four individual qualifiers among the top 10 of that competition, led by senior Derrick Norman; his 1,569 easily was the highest Regional score in any division. Reigning runner-up Grand Haven and semifinalist Oxford both also made the field, although both finished as Regional runners-up last weekend.
Singles: Norman made the quarterfinals last season, and he’ll be joined in the field this weekend by Grand Haven sophomore Jimmy Mitchell, a semifinalist in 2014. Clarkston junior Jacob Kersten, Hudsonville senior Travis Schreer and Macomb Dakota senior Justin Taylor also are back after making last winter’s match play, Kersten as a Regional champion last weekend. Flint Carman-Ainsworth junior Jordan Nunn would’ve been at any other Regional, with his 1,400 placing second to Norman at Lansing’s Royal Scot.
Girls Division 2
Team: This follows a similar theme as Division 1, with reigning champion Flint Kearsley seeking its third championship in four seasons and entering as a Regional winner – although with only the sixth-best score from last weekend. Warren Regina (3,645) topped the list, with Grand Rapids Northview (3,591), Charlotte (3,517), Bay City Western (3,517) and Tecumseh (3,492) also joining Kearsley (3,490) as winners. Western, last season’s Finals runners-up, then placed four among the top five in the singles standings with co-champs in juniors Alexia Richard and Storm Butler.
Singles: Kearsley returns two of last year’s 16 match-place qualifiers including semifinalist Hannah Ploof, a junior, who won her Regional rolling 1,140. Regina sophomore Madchen Breen will return for her second Finals after rolling the highest Regional score in any division – 1,267 – with Coldwater senior Patricia Neely posting the second-highest in Division 2 at 1,182. Kearsley senior Dani Doolan, Charlotte junior Malorie Kiplinger and West Branch Ogeamw Heights senior Riley Griffin also are among qualifiers who made Finals match play in 2014.
Boys Division 2
Team: Ortonville Brandon was the lone qualifier to break 4,000 pins at a Division 2 Regional, its 4,403 more than 70 pins better than anyone else in the division after it made match play but fell to eventual champion Kearsley in the Quarterfinals last season. Kearsley also won a Regional title last weekend at 3,971, the second-highest score in Division 2, and with junior Chad Stephen and senior Anthony Kelley making the Singles Finals.
Singles: Stephen and Trenton senior David Owens were quarterfinalists last year, and they’ll be joined in the field by four more 2014 match play qualifiers: Kelley, Marysville senior Tyler Fields, Parma Western senior Andrew Mulliken and Jackson Northwest senior Brian Lewis. Fields rolled a division-best 1,388 to win his Regional at Westland’s Oak Lanes, while Bay City Western junior Dylan Brown rolled a 1,355 to win at Monitor Lanes in Bay City and come in with the division’s second-highest singles pinfall.
Girls Division 3
Team: Ishpeming is storming back into the Finals after making its first championship match and finishing runner-up to Croswell-Lexington last season. The Hematites had a Division 3-best Regional score of 3,410, with Jonesville next-highest winning at 3,385 at Monroe’s Nortel Lanes. Three of Ishpeming’s five bowlers from last season’s run are back and also made the Singles Finals – seniors Kaylee O’Connor and Kassy Harsila and junior Kassey Kytola.
Singles: Corunna junior Hannah Eldridge finished first in the 2014 qualifying block and made the Semifinal, and she’ll return this weekend after qualifying 10th at her Regional. Croswell-Lexington senior Katie LaPorte and Standish-Sterling junior Dayna Schmidt also will be back from last season’s match play, Schmidt as a Regional champion last weekend. Dundee sophomore Breanna Johnson (1,155) and Leslie senior Tiffany Hills (1,117) were the high scorers at Regionals for this division; neither made the Finals a year ago.
Boys Division 3
Team: Fremont is the reigning champion and has won two of the last three seasons, but will have some heavy competition after qualifying second from its Regional. Jackson Lumen Christi (3,937) and Armada (3,909) both won Regionals to pace Division 3 after both falling in last season’s Quarterfinals. The favorites will be keyed by standouts; Fremont is led again by senior Sam Brandt, last season’s high roller for his team in the Team Final and then Singles Final champion. Lumen Christi has a collection of strong seniors including Zach Ulicny, the reigning Singles Final runner-up. Reigning Division 4 champion Jonesville qualified third behind Lumen Christi and Flat Rock at Nortel Lanes.
Singles: Last season’s finalists will be joined this weekend by four more who made the 2014 match play: Essexville-Garber senior Chase Badalamenti, a returning semifinalist, plus Portland junior Marcus Zinn, Wyoming Godwin Heights junior Zac Vos and Lumen Christi senior Matt Nicoson. Cheboygan senior Matt Duffiney won his Regional by nearly 150 pins with a division-best 1,331, and Romulus Summit Academy freshman Ryan Wright burst on the scene with a 1,275 to win his tournament.
Girls Division 4
Team: Vandercook Lake, Sandusky and Rogers City have dominated Division 4 since its creation in 2010, with Vandercook Lake the two-time reigning champion and owner of four MHSAA titles total. But the Jaykawks posted only the second-highest Regional score (3,538), with St. Louis rolling a 3,545 to edge Ithaca by a mere eight pins at Mount Pleasant’s Riverwood Resort. Rogers City (3,483) again was a Regional champion after finishing Finals runner-up a year ago, and Burton Bendle (3,409) also broke 3,400 to win its Regional by nearly 400 pins.
Singles: Although all four of last season’s semifinalists graduated, seven match play qualifiers are again in the field. Sandusky senior Keri Malloy, Unionville-Sebewaing senior Kyleigh McCarthy and Rogers City junior Rebecca Bannasch and junior Alana Wirgau all bowled in the quarterfinals last season, while Hanover-Horton junior Emma Davis, St. Ignace senior Sharman Colegrove and Oscoda senior Paige Huebel also made the Round of 16. Clinton junior Miranda Porath and Sandusky junior Leslie Williams made the Finals but missed match play in 2014, but they’re back with the top Regional scores in the division of 1,143 and 1,121, respectively.
Boys Division 4
Team: Three teams broke 3,900 to win Regional titles – Sandusky (4,057), St. Charles (3,988) and Hanover-Horton (3,923). St. Charles, winner of the first Division 4 title in 2009, is led by sophomore Kyle Tuttle, last season’s Singles Final champion. Reigning team champion Jonesville is in Division 3 this season and runner-up Ithaca didn’t qualify, but Sandusky was a semifinalist a year ago and also had three make the Singles Finals led by junior Brett Hancock.
Singles: This session of the entire weekend might have the most returning star power. Joining Tuttle are Rogers City junior Bailey Budnik, the 2013 Singles champ, and St. Louis senior Zach Fenby, last winter’s runner-up. Riverview Gabriel Richard junior Austin Kraemer made the semifinals last season and won his Regional last weekend with a division-best 1,372. Hanover-Horton senior Alex Wyckoff, Kalamazoo Hackett senior Zack Isaacs, Galesburg-Augusta senior Joshua Wayne and St. Louis senior Jeffrey Fisher also are back from last season’s match play. Pewamo-Westphalia senior Chase Thelen didn’t make last season’s Finals – but did break 1,300 as well last weekend to win his Regional.
PHOTO: Rogers City’s Bailey Budnik was the Division 4 Singles champion in 2013 and returns as a contender this weekend.