Kearsley Girls Repeat with Rivalry Win, Northview Boys Claim 1st Title
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 4, 2022
CANTON – It’s hard to create rivalries in bowling with how fickle the sport can be and how different teams win so often. But the Flint Kearsley and Mason girls programs have appeared to start a nice rivalry in Division 2.
Two years ago in the semifinals, Mason ended Kearsley’s six-year run as state champion en route to winning it all.
Last year, Kearsley avenged that loss, beating Mason in the championship match to reclaim the throne.
The team portion of the 2022 MHSAA Division 2 Finals turned out to be a three-peat, with Kearsley and Mason once again squaring off in the championship match.
This one ended up going to Kearsley, which rallied from a 25-pin deficit after the two Baker games to earn a 1,178-1,143 victory over the Bulldogs and claim its seventh Division 2 Finals title in eight years.
“I do know the long history between Mason and Kearsley,” said Hornets first-year head coach Kailee Tubbs as she and her team wiped away tears of joy during the celebration. “I think it’s one of those things where we really look forward every year to facing them.”
Kearsley beat Mason 850-790 in the regular game to prevail, with Lydia Boggs setting the pace with a 191. The Hornets finished first in the qualifying block and stayed hot through the final to earn a wire-to-wire victory.
“I just wanted them to stay loose,” Tubbs said. “The biggest thing was having them relax.”
Mason head coach Russ Whipple said it’s been a lot of fun establishing a rivalry with a program like Kearsley, but that it just wasn’t meant to be for his team in the regular game.
“We were right there at the end and didn’t have a couple of things fall our way,” Whipple said. “I don’t think either team scored exceptionally well that last game. It was just one of those things, and it’s how it goes.”
In the boys competition, Grand Rapids Northview won its first Finals title in what also was a wire-to-wire victory.
The Wildcats finished first out of the qualifying block and kept their rhythm throughout, earning a 1,287-1,229 win over Tecumseh in the championship match.
“We’ve made it to match play the last three years and been knocked out in the first round,” Northview head coach Harold Klukowski said. “This one is special. I brought the same exact team back from last year and the state didn’t recognize the guys. We came from unranked to No. 1.”
Just like the Kearsley girls, Northview rallied after trailing going into the regular game.
Tecumseh held an eight-pin lead after the two Baker games, but Northview won the regular game 929-863 with David Frey at 217 leading three Wildcats above 200.
“Experience and trust,” Klukowski described as the difference this year. “The guys didn’t bite, and they didn’t bicker. They listened to the coaches, and they executed. It was a grind in the Bakers. The guys struggled to find their shot early. After that, they settled in and made good shots.”
Tecumseh was making its second appearance in the championship match in four years after also finishing runner-up in 2019.
Despite coming up short of a title, there’s a lot of reason for optimism for Tecumseh with a sophomore-dominated lineup and only one senior.
“We were in the final four last year, so another step closer,” Tecumseh head coach Eric Wigner said. “We’ll just keep working at it, and hopefully next year will be our year.”
The Kearsley girls earned a 1,125-1,109 win over St. Clair Shores Lake Shore in a quarterfinal before defeating Carleton Airport in the semifinals, 1,264-1,220.
The Northview boys downed 2021 champion Dearborn Divine Child in the quarterfinals, 1,460-1,331, before earning a 1,347-1,323 win over Jackson Northwest in the semifinals.
PHOTOS (Top) The Flint Kearsley girls team huddles after repeating as Division 2 champion Friday. (Middle) The Grand Rapids Northview boys celebrate their first title. (Click for more from Champions Photography.)
Hillsdale's Manifold Strikes Early, Strikes Again to Close Championship Run
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
March 2, 2024
JACKSON — In the first game, Chloe Manifold showed she can make spares.
In the second game, she showed she could strike.
Put them together, and the Hillsdale High School senior walked out of Jax 60 on Saturday with the Division 3 Singles Finals championship.
Manifold had eight spares in the first game of the championship for a 180 before a ball change turned those spares into strikes in the second game. She opened that with a five-bagger and eventually settled with 226 to defeat Flint Powers Catholic senior and top seed Elizabeth Teuber 406-387.
“It means the world to me,” Manifold said. “I went into today feeling confident. My dad sat with me all day, encouraging me. It’s an incredible feeling to see the work I put so much into pay off.”
If she was feeling confident coming into the day, her first game sent the confidence meter into overdrive. Manifold opened the six-game qualifying session with 11 of 12 strikes, the only “blemish” a single-pin spare in the third frame, to tie her high game of 279.
She rode the hot start to the second seed with a total of 1,272 — behind only the 1,357 posted by Teuber. Manifold defeated Fremont senior Sophia Romine 404-288 in the first round, then topped Armada senior Kenzi Nieman 423-335 in the Quarterfinals. She earned a spot in the championship match with a 388-354 victory over Clinton senior Paige Shankland.
In the first game of the championship, Teuber outstruck Manifold 5-2, but Teuber was stung by four open frames, all splits, and finished with 162 to trail by 18. In the second game, with a different ball, Manifold struck six times and picked up three single-pin spares before opening in the 10th to allow Teuber a chance to strike out and win.
Teuber left a wobbly 2-pin on her first effort of the 10th and was denied her second individual title after winning as a freshman and finishing runner-up two years ago.
Manifold credited the ball change — and her father, Lance — for carrying her to victory.
“He’s had such an incredible impact on me,” Manifold said. “All season he believed in me, taking me to lessons, helping me truly find it within myself to be the best version of me. I can’t thank him enough. I owe it all to him.”
Teuber reached her third career individual championship match by beating Three Rivers freshman Jayna Larson 418-314 in the first round and Dundee junior Abigail DeBruyne 361-336 in the Quarterfinals. She faced teammate and fellow senior Lillee-Ann Jacobs in the Semifinals and won 404-332.
Manifold’s championship capped a four-year stretch of her qualifying for the Singles Finals. As a freshman, Manifold reached the Quarterfinals before falling to her sister, Karissa, who was a senior.
She failed to make match play her sophomore year before making it to the Semifinals last year and falling to the eventual champion, Onsted’s Sydney Nichols, who is also Manifold’s best friend.
Manifold would not be denied in her final shot at a title.
“This year has been a knockout season for me,” she said. “Everything has been lining up well. I’ve been putting in so much time on the lanes, so to see it pay off is awesome.”
Manifold said she’d like to bowl collegiately but has not decided on a destination.
“I love bowling and want to continue it for as long as I can,” she said.