History Made in D1 as Senior Champs Strike
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 27, 2021
ALLEN PARK – Reigning Division 1 singles champ Izaac Goergen almost met his fate in the ninth frame of his second game in the boys semifinal Saturday at Thunderbowl Lanes.
A 3-7-9 split paved the way for Holt’s David Schaberg to reach the final. Goergren’s 233 could have been beaten if Schaberg struck out. But Schaberg left a seven-pin on his first shot in the 10th and his 245 game left him three pins short of advancing, 467-464.
“I threw three good shots in the 10th and I wanted to make him earn it if he beat me,’’ said Goergen. “I did that and was lucky enough to advance.’’
Schaberg, meanwhile, was stunned: “I wanted to stay aggressive. I thought it was down. In that situation, you have to stay aggressive.’’
Goergen emerged with an opportunity to make MHSAA Finals history – and took advantage. The Midland senior faced junior Ian Cain from Livonia Franklin in the championship and became the first Division 1 bowler (and second across all divisions) to repeat in singles, claiming his second straight title, 463-384.
“This means everything to me,’’ said Goergen. “With the pandemic and how the season went, there were things going on that weren’t in my favor.’’
In the girls division, Westland John Glenn senior Anna Maxwell, who shot a 278 in the semifinal, knocked off the top seed on her way to the final. There she faced South Lyon’s Ava Crumley, who had stopped second-seed Melanie Straub of New Baltimore Anchor Bay to advance.
Maxwell came out firing in the championship, throwing the first 10 shots for strikes to shoot a 289 and build a 54-pin lead on her way to the title, 470-389.
“The big lead gave me some room,’’ said Maxwell. “(Crumley) is a friend, so even if she won I would’ve been fine.
“This means so much considering what we have been through.’’
Cain advanced to the championship by knocking off Nick Johnson of Swartz Creek 377-331.
Goergen was the top qualifier at 1,361, 10 pins higher than Northville’s Brandon Leavitt, whose 279 in the sixth game shot him up to second in the qualifying block.
Jacob Vernier of Wyandotte Roosevelt was the final qualifier at 1,210, one pin better than Gabe Johnson of Plymouth and three more than Patrick McLetchie of Clarkston.
Despite a split in the 10th frame of his second game, Goergen advanced to the quarterfinal with a 383-371 victory over Vernier.
The toughest match pitted Franklin teammates Cain and Kenneth Kloth Jr. Cain advanced to the quarterfinal with a 399-368 win to face junior Brandon Leavitt of Northville in a semifinal.
“It was tough, especially with him being a senior,’’ said Cain. “I just concentrated on my game. The lanes are really tough.’’
Schaberg moved into the semifinal by eliminating sophomore Jermiah Swain of Hudsonville 445-308.
Nick Johnson of Swartz Creek shot 254 in his second quarterfinal game and beat Andrew Martin of Utica Ford 489-434.
Goergen reached the semifinals by eliminating Shane Legeret of Macomb Dakota 388-335.
Grace Meyer of Oxford was the top girls qualifier at 1,271, 17 pins better than sophomore Straub.
Meyer eventually met her match and fell to Maxwell in the quarterfinal, 411-282.
Meyer had eliminated Sarah Lyeria of Lapeer, 432-351, to get to Maxwell, while Straub moved past Alexis Thompson of Grand Haven, 466-365.
Belleville, the team runner-up on Friday, had two singles advance to the quarterfinal. Junior Sydney Allison eliminated Carrington Beamon of Farmington, 426-308, while teammate Asia Wells beat Kaitlyn McGovern of Midland, 352-345.
Straub, who hadn’t bowled a game under 210, beat Wells, 441-393, to advance to the semifinal to face Crumley, who had defeated Morgan Smith of Zeeland East 415-335. Allison, meanwhile, was stopped by Monroe’s Nataleigh Eagle, 368-319, in the other quarterfinal.
D4's Best Survive Close Final Matches
March 2, 2013
By Jon Malavolti
Special to Second Half
STERLING HEIGHTS – Vandercook Lake’s Malloree Ambs and Rogers City’s Bailey Budnik outlasted the competition Saturday at Sunnybrook Golf and Bowl to be crowned the MHSAA’s Division 4 bowling girls and boys singles champions, respectively.
Ambs, who defeated Oscoda sophomore Paige Huebel 375-361 in the final, was a champion for the second straight day after her Jayhawks took the girls team title Friday.
Budnik, meanwhile, fended off Jeffery Green of Burton Bentley 336-322 in an all-freshman final on the boys side.
The back-to-back days of bowling certainly didn’t slow Ambs down, yet she wasn’t necessarily planning on lasting so long. Her freshman year she advanced to the round of 16, and then on to the quarterfinals her sophomore season. So this year she said she had simply hoped to make the semifinals.
“But I got through that and made it to the finals,” she noted. “It means a lot."
Huebel exceeded her own expectations as well.
“I think it’s very awesome,” she said of reaching the final. “I didn’t even come here expecting that, but I’m really happy.”
Back on the boys side, the freshmen Finals competitors weren’t exactly sure what to expect. But that didn’t stop them from excelling.
“I’m really excited,” Budnik said. “It’s a really great honor. I must have just got lucky or something; I don’t know. The lane switching was hard to get at first, then just keeping myself from not cracking under the pressure and just taking it one stop at a time and clearing my mind.”
Green was grateful for his success, and anxious to apply the lessons learned on the day toward the future – and perhaps another run at an MHSAA title.
“It is very exciting, but it was very nerve-wracking also,” he said.
The exciting competitive drama for the day wasn’t limited to the final round.
Qualifying on the boys side was especially close. Even after six games apiece, six bowlers just missed moving on to the knockout stages by fewer than eight pins. And there was a tie for the 16th and final spot in qualifying, meaning Madison Heights Bishop Foley sophomore Michael Maruszczak and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian senior Austin Sandin would compete in a tie-breaker game. Maruszczak eventually emerged victorious.
The girls competition was tight as well, featuring a roll-off on additional ninth and 10th frames in the quarterfinals between Unionville-Sebewaing senior Kaitlin Gunsell and Vandercook Lake junior Jessica Bunch. Gunsell rolled three straight strikes to best Bunch 60-47 and advance to the semifinals, where she fell to Ambs.
Ambs becomes the first girls bowler to win singles and team championships in the same season since 2010 when Kara Richard and Tecumseh completed the achievement in Division 2.
It certainly helps to practice against some of the best competition in the state, as a pair of Ambs’ team title-winning teammates also advanced as far as the singles quarterfinals Saturday – Bunch and senior Becky Cecil.
“It feels pretty good to know that all the hard work we do during practices and all the coaching that we have helps,” Ambs said. “It pushes us a lot.”
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Vandercook Lake's Malloree Ambs prepares to roll during Saturday's Individual Finals. (Middle) Rogers City's Bailey Budnik finished as boys champion Saturday at Sterling Heights. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)