Kearsley Boys Take Turn as Champions, Sparta Girls Claim 1st Finals Win

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 3, 2023

WATERFORD – Since the last time the Flint Kearsley boys bowling team won a state championship in 2015, the girls program had captured six. 

The boys are obviously honored to train alongside the girls and celebrate their championship success, but it’s easy to understand why the Kearsley boys wondered when it would be their time again. 

That day came Friday at the Division 2 Team Finals.

The Kearsley boys broke an eight-year championship drought, defeating New Boston Huron —another past winner in 2019 — in the championship match by a score of 1,455-1,338. 

This was also the first time the boys won a Finals championship without the girls winning one in the same year. 

“They earned every bit of it,” Kearsley head coach Bart Rutledge said. “They worked harder than any team, and went out and got it done.”

Kearsley didn’t take the easy route, first qualifying fifth to earn a matchup with 2022 champion Grand Rapids Northview in the quarterfinals.

Kearsley prevailed, 1,345-1,315, and then defeated Tecumseh in the semifinals, 1,401-1,357. Tecumseh was the top seed out of the qualifying block.

In the championship match against New Boston Huron, Kearsley took a healthy 55-pin lead after the first Baker game, added 31 pins to that after the second Baker game, and then also claimed the regular game to win comfortably overall. 

“This year, 1 through 7, we were solid,” Rutledge said. “In the past, it was maybe 1 through 4. This year, we had seven guys we could work in.”

Huron was led by Donnie Jacobs, who bowled games of 300 and 298 in match play.

“We set goals at the beginning of the year,” Chiefs head coach Larry Collins said. “We marked off our checklist today. The boys are disappointed, but they’ve got nothing to be disappointed about. They lost to a very good Kearsley team.”

Sparta's girls celebrate their Division 2 Finals championship.

While the boys side was a matchup of previous champions, the girls tournament ended with two teams trying to win titles for the first time. 

That honor went to Sparta, which outlasted South Lyon East in the championship match by a narrow margin of six pins, 1,123 to 1,117. 

“We didn’t have a lot of high games, but we were very consistent,” Sparta head coach Barb Orlikowski said. “We’ve been working on how to get your spares and stuff, and it worked today.” 

Sparta held a 310-264 lead after the two Baker games, and held off a charging South Lyon East team that collected an 853-813 advantage in the regular game.

But it wasn’t enough to overtake Sparta. 

South Lyon East advanced to the Final despite being in only its second year of existence as a program. 

“I’m real proud of them,” South Lyon East head coach Gerald Raymor said of his team, which consists of six seniors. “They came out last year and I knew I didn’t have much time with them, so I showed them how to throw outside the pattern. They bowled their butts off today.”

Sparta finished fourth out of the qualifying block, then earned a 1,157-1,067 win over Goodrich in the quarterfinal before taking a 1,164-1,098 win over Charlotte in a semifinal. 

Orlikowski said her team has qualified for the Team Finals five of the past seven years and advanced to a quarterfinal last year, and that experience seemed to pay off this time. 

“I think the girls really got a lot of confidence in themselves,” Orlikowski said. “They knew they could do it. They weren’t intimidated by the other bowlers like they were last year.”

The noteworthy news on the girls side before the championship match was that Flint Kearsley, which entered having won eight of the previous nine titles and was seeking its third straight, were eliminated in the quarterfinal round by Charlotte. 

Kearsley was the top seed out of the qualifying block, but was downed by Charlotte in the quarterfinals by six pins, 1,187-1,181.

Division 2 Final Results - Boys | Girls

Performance of the Week: Holton's Tuff Scott

December 16, 2022

Tuff ScottTuff Scott ♦ Holton
Junior ♦ Bowling

In just his second year of organized bowling, Scott rolled a Holton school-record 248 during a Dec. 7 match against Ludington. He added a 191 score as the Red Devils defeated the Orioles 29-1. Scott broke the record by three pins, besting past teammate Bo Larabee’s 245 rolled last season.

Scott, a two-handed bowler, is averaging 220 pins per game this season. He caught on fast in his debut last winter, and finished 13th at his singles Regional – just 22 pins from qualifying for the MHSAA Division 4 Final. His team could also take that step this season after finishing fifth in Regional competition last season; the Red Devils also return Finals singles qualifier Chase Albright among others.

@mhsaasports 🎳POW: Tuff Scott #performanceoftheweek #bowling #record #schoolrecord #congrats #holton #reddevils #MHSAA #highschoolsports #tiktalk #interview #TikTok#mistudentaid #fyp @tuff scott ♬ Beat Automotivo Tan Tan Tan Viral - WZ Beat

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2022-23 Honorees

Dec. 9: Macey Fegan, Standish-Sterling basketball - Report
Dec. 2:
Treyton Siegert, Gladwin football - Report
Nov. 24:
Lily Witte, Dexter diving - Report
Nov. 17:
Navea Gauthier, Shelby volleyball - Report
Nov. 10:
Derek Huisman, Holland Christian soccer - Report
Nov. 3:
Thomas Westphal, New Baltimore Anchor Bay cross country - Report
Oct. 27:
Justin Wickey, Colon football - Report
Oct. 20:
Owen DeMuth, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood tennis - Report
Oct. 13:
Mia Melendez, Ann Arbor Greenhills golf - Report
Oct. 6:
Shawn Foster, Grand Ledge football - Report
Sept. 30:
Hannah Smith, Temperance Bedford swimming - Report
Sept. 22:
Helen Sachs, Holland West Ottawa cross country - Report
Sept. 15:
Nina Horning, Lake Orion volleyball - Report
Sept 8:
Arturo Romero, Muskegon Oakridge soccer - Report
Sept. 1:
Austin King, Midland Dow tennis - Report
Aug. 25:
Olivia Hemmila, Troy Athens golf - Report

(Photos courtesy of the Holton boys bowling program.)