Gobles' Brunner Repeats as D4 Champ, Lumen's Kremer Begins Reign
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 5, 2022
BATTLE CREEK – Gobles junior Morgan Brunner admitted she had some nerves entering Saturday’s Division 4 Singles Finals at M-66 Bowl, and really all season. The expectation after winning last year’s championship had followed her.
But Brunner justified all the anticipation, entering match play as the fourth seed and repeating as the Division 4 girls champion with a 408-380 win over Bronson senior Idalia Hernandez in the final.
Jackson Lumen Christi junior Jackson Kremer also earned the opportunity to know life as a reigning champion. He entered match play as the third seed, started strong and then sweated through a cool streak before finding his stroke again in defeating Grass Lake senior Clayton Weir 441-398 in their title match.
“I got into match play, and I usually get a little more competitive in match play,” said Brunner, who became just the third repeat girls champion in 19 seasons of MHSAA Bowling Finals. “I definitely missed some spares that could’ve helped me, but I just tried to stay in a good mood and a good attitude and keep doing what I was doing.
“I went through a lot of ball changes in match play, and found one after they re-oiled that was good. (But) just having a good attitude really helped me with shot making.”
Brunner had rolled games of 223 and 212 during qualifying to earn that fourth seed, one behind Hernandez, who broke 200 three times during qualifying with a high of 230. Allen Park Cabrini junior Jordan Downham was first in qualifying, and Maple City Glen Lake junior Chloe Crick was second.
Brunner opened match play with a 216 and added a 213 and 224 in her next two wins. Hernandez won the first regular game of the final 220-198, but Brunner’s 210-160 advantage in the rematch sealed the repeat.
She joined Tecumseh’s Jordan Richard (2012-13) and Vandercook Lake’s MacKenzie Johnson (2018-19) as back-to-back Finals winners.
Kremer opened qualifying with a 278 and added a 224 in his fifth game to move on to match play as the third seed, while Weir rolled games of 227 and 223 on the way to advancing as the No. 4. Kremer opened match play with games of 228 and 208 to earn his way to the quarterfinals, then skated through a 341-317 victory and a 379-334 win in the semifinal as Weir rolled 432, 432 and 488 on the other side of the bracket.
But Kremer found his shot just in time, rolling 212 and 229 to edge Weir’s twin 199s in the title decider.
Kremer had reached the match play at the 2021 Final, but said he didn’t hit the lanes over the summer and had just picked up practicing again during the school year. He caught back up quickly – even if he didn’t give his skills enough credit in the moments after Saturday’s memorable win.
“Mainly just getting lucky strikes and lucky spares too – that really helped me keep going,” Kremer said. “I don’t really know.
“I thought I was going to be tired (Saturday) because of how early and how far we had to drive to get here. After that first game when I shot a 278, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s going to be good.” And then my next two games were 170s, and then I woke up and found it again.”
PHOTOS (Top) Gobles' Morgan Brunner unloads a shot during Saturday's Division 4 Singles Finals at M-66 Bowl. (Middle) Lumen Christi's Jackson Kremer attempts to pick up a spare. (Click for more from Champions Photography.)
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.”