Juniors Thrive in Sweeping D2 Finals
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 7, 2020
WATERFORD – Warren Woods Tower bowling coach Craig Geml isn’t bashful about proclaiming what a bright future Noah Tafanelli has in the sport.
“He’s definitely going to bowl at a high-level college program,” Geml said of his junior standout.
Anyone at Century Bowl who witnessed Tafanelli’s performance Saturday at the MHSAA Division 2 Singles Finals could certainly see that likely will be the case.
Tafanelli dominated from start to finish, earning the top spot out of the qualifying block and staying hot from there, winning the title with relative ease.
Tafanelli didn’t have a score lower than 213 nor a margin of victory less than 46 pins on the way to his first title.
“The first couple of rounds, I was nervous,” Tafanelli said. “But I got on my pace the last couple of rounds.”
In the final, Tafanelli beat Grand Rapids Northview senior Dan Frey 494-410. That followed a 466-409 win over Northview freshman Kyle Pranger in the semifinals, a 466-366 win over Lowell senior Collin Clark in the quarterfinals and a 439-393 win over Chelsea junior Luis Carvallo in the round of 16.
“My sophomore year, I placed 11th,” Tafanelli said. “It helped me a lot. Just recognizing the format and recognizing the people around.”
On the girls side, another junior took home a Finals title for the first time.
Flint Kearsley’s Megan Timm found a groove in the elimination round after finishing 15th out of the qualifying block, eventually beating Carleton Airport freshman Ryan Giese in the final, 374-353.
Timm held a 182-141 lead after the first game before holding off a hard-charging Giese, who won the second game 212-192.
But it wasn’t enough to topple Timm, who left the alley with tears of joys less than a day after leaving in tears of sorrow after Kearsley’s team saw its run of sixth straight titles come to end with a semifinal loss.
“I couldn’t tell you how I feel,” Timm said. “I can’t believe it just happened. I don’t believe it happened. I just worked hard and made my spares.”
Timm’s run began with a 355-327 win over Cedar Springs senior Omani Morales in the round of 16, then continued with a 343-329 win over Bay City John Glenn sophomore Julia Struck in the quarterfinals.
Timm then ran up against Woods Tower freshman Kayla Tafanelli, Noah’s sister, in the semifinals, earning a 390-363 victory to advance to the final.
“She’s been great all season long,” said Kearsley coach Rob Ploof. “She got a new ball in the first (part) of February and that’s the ball she won a state title with. My nephew drilled it up for her. She’s just a great kid and deserves that.”
Both Noah Tafanelli and Timm will prepare next for an offseason of figuring out college plans and planning for repeat opportunities in 2021.
Tafanelli was the first boys bowler from Woods Tower to win an MHSAA Finals title, while Timm was Kearsley’s third girls bowler to win it all.
Click for full girls results and boys results.
Unforgettable Afternoon Nets Traverse City Christian Boys' 1st Finals Title
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2024
MUSKEGON – Lunch may not have been sitting too well with members of Traverse City Christian’s boys bowling team Friday afternoon.
The Sabres struggled, by their standards, during the qualifying block of the MHSAA Division 4 Final at Northway Lanes and didn’t know if they’d even make match play.
They felt much better before dinner time. Traverse City Christian ripped through bracket play and captured the first Finals title in the school’s boys bowling history, capping the run with a three-games-to-one victory over Jonesville in the championship match.
About 90 minutes later, Traverse City Christian’s girls team seized the state title for a Sabres sweep.
“When (the boys bowlers) went into lunch, we didn’t even know if we made it into the (bracket) – the final eight – because they weren’t doing so hot,” Traverse City Christian coach Andy Radtke said. “I was really disappointed because they worked so hard. To me, that was the hugest thing.
“And then to come out and shoot the 256 Baker right off the bat, I mean, it changed the narrative.”
Traverse City Christian shot 256 in its first game of a Quarterfinal sweep against Houghton Lake. The Sabres shot 256, 200, and 193 in the quarters. In a 3-1 Semifinal win over St. Charles, the Sabres went 201, 200, 201, and 169.
In the Final, Traverse City Christian and Jonesville alternated Baker game wins. The Sabres took the first (180-169) and third (194-161) and the Comets won the second game (196-181). TCC won the decisive fourth game by the slimmest of margins, 200-199, when the last Jonesville bowler threw a decent ball but left the 4-6-7-9-10 pins in what bowlers call the “Greek Church.”
“That last shot was unbelievable. That was still a good shot and maybe a seven-count was what we needed (to win the fourth game), but with the Greek Church, that was brutal,” said Jonesville coach Matt Molinaro, whose 2018 squad captured the Division 3 title at Northway Lanes. The Comets won a Division 4 championship in 2014 as well.
“I had a couple of guys that were struggling,” Molinaro said. “They couldn’t get through it. Then it was too late in the game to try and sub out. … I really thought we were going to be OK. After that third game, I grouped them up and said, ‘Hey, you know we’re winning this, right?’ (The bowlers responded) ‘Yeah, we’re winning.’ And then we came out and they answered. They did everything they had to do.”
Brent Wheat, the “mechanics guy” on Traverse City Christian’s coaching staff and Radtke’s son-in-law, wasn’t certain at the time what the Sabres needed to do to pull off the fourth game.
In fairness to Wheat, he hustles back and forth between boys and girls competitions and he was trying to keep an eye on Traverse City Christian’s girls squad that was taking on Jonesville in a Semifinal.
“It took a minute to process because we thought that we weren’t going to win that game (game four), and then (the Jonesville bowler’s) ball went unfortunately a little heavy. And then we were doing the math, trying to figure it out, and then it clicked, ‘Oh, my gosh, it was one pin,’” Wheat said. “There’s this elation down there, all these happy thoughts, and I have to come down to the girls. We’re in a battle with Jonesville in the Semifinals for the girls.”
Traverse City Christian was the final of eight squads to make it out of the 16-team qualifying block. The Sabres totaled 3,107 pins in qualifying rounds. Houghton Lake finished first in qualifying at 3,472.
Jonesville was second in qualifying at 3,377. In best-of-five match play, Jonesville beat Riverview Gabriel Richard in the Quarterfinal (3-1) and Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central in the Semifinal (3-0).
Traverse City Christian’s team featured two seniors, one junior, one sophomore, and two freshmen, which makes Wheat pretty optimistic about the future as well.
For Sabres senior Tristan Lhamon, the time was now to realize the dream.
“This means a lot. These are some of my best friends, and I get to do it with them. It’s an amazing thing, and I love it,” Lhamon said. “We are really good at persevering. We have to battle some of the top D-1 teams, and we are so bonded by Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior, all of us, and we work together, we fight, and we’re really good at it.”
Wheat called the Traverse City Christian bowling program “a family business.”
Business was really good Friday.
“My in-laws and I started doing this 16 years ago,” Wheat said. “Our first year here, we took one boy, he was in ninth grade, and we said, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be cool to make it some day?’ And then we won one of these with the girls over COVID and it was like, ‘Gosh, this is unreal. We never thought that it was even possible.’ And then a dream happens today … I’m speechless, really.”