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Grass Lake Boys, Birch Run Girls Enjoy Title Time Again
March 26, 2021
JACKSON – Grass Lake got to experience a Finals championship in Division 4 last season. And that was something they didn’t want to miss this weekend – regardless of a switch into Division 3 for this winter.
The Warriors may have faced larger opponents this time at Jax 60, but the result indeed was the same as they clinched their second-straight championship and third overall defeating Boyne City 1,357-1,179.
Meanwhile, Birch Run’s girls claimed their first championship since 2017 after finishing runner-up two seasons ago, out-rolling Armada 1,200-1,152.
“We’ve had that feeling right from the beginning of the year,” Grass Lake coach Jeff Wyers said. “These boys wanted it bad. It’s been in their system since last year.”
A year ago the Warriors entered match play as the top seed and defeated Farwell in the final by 153 pins.
Grass Lake entered match play as the second seed this time and immediately got a challenge from Portland before prevailing by 21 pins. Then came a 282-pin win over Napoleon in the semifinal before the Warriors swept both the Baker (366-329) and regular game (991-850) portions of the final.
Junior Jack Marshall led three Grass Lake bowlers over 200 in the regular game with a 238, followed by junior Brenton Cochrane with a 228 and senior Sean Wyers with a 208. Senior Michael Deming rolled a 185 to lead Boyne.
Sean Wyers is his team’s only senior.
“We wouldn’t have made it here if everybody hadn’t pitched a little bit in,” he said. “It wasn’t just one of us, it was all of us. Everybody had their time to shine.”
Marjorrie Marlett and her teammates had been waiting to enjoy their own championship as Birch Run last won when these seniors were in eighth grade in 2017.
“I’ve been waiting four years for this, and I finally got it with my team,” said Marlett, who joined the varsity as a freshman. “We were just coming in to have fun and experience states just for states – having fun and enjoying ourselves and putting up a fight and never just getting down.”
Armada took the Bakers 365-343. But Birch Run followed junior Jillian Inman’s 215 and junior Cheyenne Brown’s 180 to claim the regular games 857-787.
“It is just so fulfilling. I’m so proud of the girls,” Birch Run coach Jane Severs said. “They worked so hard and put everything into it. I’m just overwhelmed for them. Their teamwork, and they motivate each other beyond words. They had fun, and they just went out there and screamed and yelled and had a good time.”
Birch Run, the second seed, downed Hudsonville Unity Christian and Jonesville on the way to the championship match. Armada entered match play the eighth seed but eliminated Caro and then Hillsdale to advance.
Senior Samantha Dulz led Armada with a 202 regular game in the final. The runner-up finish was the highest in program history.
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No More 'Just Misses' for D2 Champions
March 1, 2014
By Sarah Jaeger
Special to Second Half
WATERFORD – What a difference a year makes.
After the 2013 Division 2 Singles Finals, Alex Ouellette from Bay City John Glenn left Century Lanes after coming in second place, vowing to return and win it all.
Fast forward to Saturday, and Ouellette is the 2014 boys champion.
"I knew if I stayed slow and made good shots, I could beat anyone and that's all I had to do," Ouellette said.
The senior cruised through the morning block, even shooting a 300 in the fourth game, and qualified first with a score of 1,463.
"I kind of didn't realize I had the front 8 because I was focused on being consistent and making good shots," Ouellette said. "Then it just came down to the 10th frame, and it was just three more strikes."
"He never really struggled throughout the day," Bay City John Glenn coach Craig Block said. "After those first couple matches when we got up there and shot the 300, I'm sure he felt on top of the world because I did."
In the first round of match play, Ouellette edged junior Anthony Kelley of Flint Kearsley by just five pins. But it was smooth sailing as Ouellette then went on to beat sophomore Chad Stephen of Kearsley in the Quarterfinal and junior Cody Wilkins in the Semifinal.
However, Warren Fitzgerald senior Alec Nunn was waiting for him in the Final to settle a score from 2013.
"He beat me out last year, and I wanted to get another chance at him again," said Nunn of his loss to Ouellette in the previous year's Round of 16. "Runner-up doesn't feel too bad, but I wanted another shot at him."
While each bowler has his unique style and form, Nunn has an uncommon approach, throwing right-handed and sliding on his right foot.
"I asked him when he first started, ‘Do you want to change?’" Warren Fitzgerald coach Rick Schultz said. "He said no, so we just worked with what he had and everything has worked out fine for Alec."
Ouellette got out to an early lead with a 248 to Nunn's 177 in the first game. Even though the second game margin was only two pins, Ouellette had too big of a lead and won his school's second singles title with a match score of 479-410.
While both boys finalists were looking for redemptions on the lanes this year, they were not the only ones.
Tecumseh senior Lauren McKowen missed making it into last year's Finals by one pin and had to watch as teammate Jordan Richard won her second straight singles championship.
But instead of setting her sites on the top prize like Ouellette, McKowen decided to take it one step at a time.
"I just wanted to take it day by day, senior year try and make it your best and that's what happened,” McKowen said.
She placed fourth in the Saturday morning qualifying block and proceeded to beat senior Alysha Sobeck of Gaylord and senior Katelynn Maxwell of Flint Kearsley in the bracket.
McKowen had to beat Richard in the semi to get in the Final. After the first of two games, only two pins separated the teammates. But in the end, McKowen was able to pull out the win 481-431.
"I am the one coach that's not shy about saying I hate singles, and it's for that reason," said Ken Richard, one of Tecumseh's coaches and Jordan's father. "It's tougher for me than most coaches because one was my daughter. But you know the girls have grown up together inside a bowling alley. This wasn't their first head-to-head match, and Lauren came out on top."
With McKowen hoping to become the fourth individual singles champion for the girls in school history, she still had to face Samantha Knight, a senior from Richland Gull Lake, a team in only its fourth year having a bowling program.
"I never really thought when I started my freshman year with our small teams that four years later I'd be here," Knight said.
Knight qualified in the 11th position from the morning but wasn't going to let one bad game get her down.
"She bowled a 133, which just plummeted her scores down," said her coach and mother, Hilary Knight. "But she found her ball, found her line and just kept on going. I know that can really throw you one way or the other, but she managed to rebound."
"Fighting in a lower seed is kind of fun," Samantha Knight added. "You're kind of an underdog."
The "underdog" took the edge in the first game and won 177-174. However, McKowen came back with a 214 in the second to Knight’s 209 to win the match by three pins.
"I still can't believe," McKowen said after the match. "I just can't believe it's true right now.”
Click for full boys results and full girls results.
PHOTOS: The MHSAA Division 2 Finals boys and girls medalists.