Howes, Kapanowski Lock Up 1st Titles
March 3, 2018
By Steve Gunn
Special for Second Half
MUSKEGON – After three years of varsity bowling, and zero trips to the MHSAA Finals, one might have expected Corunna's Javen Howes to just be happy to qualify this year.
But Howes did a whole lot better than that.
The senior bowler, who was the 10th and final qualifier at his Regional last week, caught fire Saturday and captured the Division 3 boys individual championship at Northway Lanes in Muskegon.
Howes defeated Portland's Jack Dalman in the tournament final, 429-317.
That score was a bit deceptive, because the match was close after the first game, which Howes won by only a 194-181 margin.
But he took command in the second game, beating Daman 235-136 to claim a comfortable victory.
"I just took my time and made sure my feet were slow and made sure I hit my mark," said Howes, an emotional bowler who's not afraid to show his excitement after throwing a strike.
Anyone watching Saturday's tournament would be amazed to learn Howes failed to qualify for the Finals in his three previous years of varsity competition.
While he admitted that was an annual disappointment, he also said it was extra motivation to make it on his last try, and do as well as he could.
"I'm glad I made it this year for the first time," Howes said. "I bowled really good today from the very start, I got lined up on my very first ball, so I knew it was going to be a good day."
Corunna coach Jason Scott noted that Howes had a lot of high scores throughout the tournament.
"He was very solid all day long," the coach said. "He had a 255 game, a 235 game and a 268 game in one of the rounds. He had multiple games with a lot of strikes.
"He was very confident. We tried to keep him calm and in a good mood all day long, and it worked. He was tough to beat."
The other seven boys bowlers who made the quarterfinals and won medals were Dalman, Justin Wolffis of Muskegon Orchard View, Devon Wert of Perry, Hunter Peterson of Ishpeming, Ryan Day of Gladwin, Isaac Solis of Adrian Madison and Kyle Nohel of Sanford Meridian.
Solis and Nohel were semifinalists.
Unlike Howes, Algonac's Shelby Kapanowski is a veteran of the Finals. This was her third trip in four years, but she never did particularly well before Saturday – finishing 44th as a sophomore and 23rd as a junior.
But Kapanowski's fortunes flipped dramatically at this year's tournament. She defeated Birch Run's Tessa Birchmeier 372-320 in the final to capture the championship.
Unlike the boys final, this outcome was never really in doubt. Kapanowski took command with a 194-167 win in the first game, then sealed up the title with a 178-153 victory in the second.
"I was nervous in the first round of match play, but as the day went on I found my shot and the lanes never broke down on me, so I was able to handle it very well," said Kapanowski, a senior.
Algonac coach Chris Viney may have been more excited than Kapanowski about her championship.
"Earlier in the season, in back-to-back tournaments, she lost her match play by one pin," Viney said. "It was rough, but we kept saying that it's OK, it was good experience. We told her that bad things are happening right now, but good things will happen later, and they did.
"Every year she got closer. This year we got her in more tournaments and got her more experience. She constantly got better and better and better. She's a winner. She has tenacity. She works hard."
The other seven girls medalists were Birchmeier, Kendyl Hofmeister of Essexville Garber, Madilynn Kieling of Livonia Clarenceville, Ashley Hoskins of Leslie, Lynsey Blonshine of Stanton Central Montcalm, Kayla Kern of Wyoming and Megan Wilkins of Ishpeming.
Kern and Wilkins were semifinalists.
Click for full boys results and girls results.
D3 Champs Earn Teams' 1st Singles Titles
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
March 7, 2020
JACKSON — Make no mistake: Logan Teubert's cool demeanor masks a competitive fire that rages within.
Consider that when he got ahold of the bracket for the Division 3 Singles Bowling Finals at JAX 60, he had his mom fill out his name all the way to the championship.
It proved prophetic as the Jonesville junior rolled out to a 48-pin advantage in the first game of the Final and withstood a midgame rally by Capac junior Kaden Braun in the second game to win 369-349.
Teubert was the first Jonesville boy to win an individual title and the first Comet to claim one since 2011 when Lynsey Molinaro, who remains on the coaching staff, won.
“It’s awesome. I’ve been waiting for this, I finally got to do it and I did it,” Teubert said. “Today I had a rough couple games, got back in the cut and just started throwing strikes.”
Teubert shot 204 in the first game of the Final, his only open frame a missed 10-pin in the fifth after three straight strikes. He clawed his way to a 165 in the second game that included back-to-back splits in the eighth and ninth frames.
Braun struggled to find traction and had three open frames for a 156 in the first game, but pounded a four-bagger in the third through sixth frames of the second game to get Teubert’s attention. A split in the ninth thwarted the comeback, and Braun finished with 193.
Teubert appeared undaunted throughout the Finals, calmly adjusting his glasses in between shots.
“Don’t let his outward appearance fool you; he’s pretty confident,” Jonesville coach Matt Molinaro said. “He stayed focus, he stayed hungry, but he tried to let it slip away because he bowled not to lose instead of bowling to win. So then we got him regrouped, refocused and then he shut the door.”
He had a decided advantage in support, as his backers turned JAX 60 into a 60-lane version of his 12-lane home house of L&J Lanes. It also helped that Teubert has bowled at JAX 60 frequently in tournaments and for matches in the Cascades Conference.
“(The fan support was) awesome. It helps so much,” Teubert said. “The lanes were different today than any other day, but it didn’t affect my performance that much.”
Teubert qualified 10th after the six-game qualifying round with 1,201, a score boosted by games of 242 and 255. He beat Boyne City senior Jack Wicker 391-343, then dispatched Cheboygan senior Dawson Campbell 403-393 thanks to a double in the 10th of the second game for 234. In the semifinals, he turned away Hudsonville Unity Christian senior Kurtis Montsma 370-358.
Teubert praised the Jonesville coaching staff afterward.
“They’re awesome. I couldn’t get any better coaches,” he said. “They’ve made me who I am today.”
The admiration is mutual.
“He’s a phenomenal bowler and he’s worked very hard on his game, so I’m not too surprised that (he won),” Jonesville assistant coach Matt Davis said. “He’s been calling himself a state champion since the beginning of the year.”
Will he be calling himself a two-time champion after next season?
“I guess we’ll find out,” Teubert said.
On the girls side, Big Rapids senior Hope Thebo surprised herself and her coach with a Finals victory in defeating Caro senior Baylee Hutchinson 406-378.
Big Rapids coach David Nawrot said Thebo averaged about 160 in Central State Athletics Association play.
“During Regionals, she was just steadfast. Top game was 167, bottom game was 157,” Nawrot said of Thebo, who qualified for the Girls Golf Finals all four years of her high school career. “I think her golf background helps. Being in that tournament definitely helps with this.”
Thebo rolled eight strikes in the first game of the Final, including seven of the last eight shots, for a 223 opener to Hutchinson’s 155. Hutchinson answered with her own 223 that included a five-bagger, while Thebo battled some timing issues that she said were the result of the positive start in the first game.
“Coming in, I was just trying to qualify and do the best I could from there,” said Thebo, who finished with a 183 game. “After I slowed myself down, I was good.”
Thebo played basketball as a freshman, finished 42nd in the Regional two years ago and was 12th last season before claiming Big Rapids’ first individual Finals trophy.
Thebo qualified eighth with a six-game score of 1,142. Over her four matches, she cleared 200 in five of the eight games. She beat Flat Rock senior Jasmine Carroll in the opener 372-348, then defeated top seed Karissa Manifold of Hillsdale 437-401 before coming back to top Livonia Clarenceville senior Madilynn Kieling 350-328.
Click for full girls results and boys results.