Kearsley Girls Return to Top, Divine Child Boys Earn 1st Title
By
Jason Schmitt
Special for MHSAA.com
March 26, 2021
WATERFORD – The journey began a long time ago for the Flint Kearsley girls bowling team.
Nearly 10 years for some of the team’s seniors.
It didn’t begin when they entered high school four years ago. It began with a bus ride from Dowdall Elementary School to Richfield Bowl back in the second grade.
“I definitely started bowling for Kearsley when I was at Dowdall, in second grade,” senior Allison Robbins said. “It was fun. And now it’s my last year (at Kearsley) and it’s going to be hard to leave.”
Richfield offers an after-school bowling program for the Dowdall students. It busses the kids over to the bowling alley and offers the future Hornets a chance to get a head start on the competition. And it definitely has paid off.
Kearsley topped the competition at the Division 2 Finals on Friday at Century Lanes in Waterford, defeating reigning champion Mason, 1,186-1,166, in the title-clinching match. It was the school’s eighth Finals championship since 2012.
“We have the after-school program and a middle school program,” first-year head coach Kevin Shute said. “It really gets the ball rolling. By the time they’re freshmen, they’ve got years of bowling under their belt. They already know what they’re doing. It’s just a matter of going out and executing.”
Shute’s team executed from start to finish Friday afternoon. The Hornets were the top-seeded team out of block qualifying, shooting a 3,440, nearly 300 pins better than second-seeded Mason. They defeated Bay City Western in the round of eight before knocking off St. Clair Shores Lake Shore in the semifinals, 1,321-1,065.
Kearsley led Mason by 55 pins after the two Baker games and rolled a clean first frame (five strikes) to get off to a good start in the regular games. Seniors Megan Timm and Emilea Sturk rolled games of 190 and 188 to help their team hold on for the victory.
“It feels really good, especially beating the team that knocked us out last year,” Robbins said, wiping away tears after winning her third Finals team title in four years. “It’s great to be able to get that redemption and show that we are better bowlers than we were that day.”
Despite trailing after the Baker games, Mason did not give up. The Bulldogs collected marks in their first eight frames of the individual game and were within striking range entering the 10th frame. The 2020 champions were led by senior Grace Ann Whipple, who shot a 237 to lead all bowlers in the championship match.
Mason shot a 3,160 in qualifying and defeated Melvindale and Whitehall en route to the final.
Kearsley will graduate five seniors, all of whom will be bowling in college. Allison Eible will be bowling at Valparaiso University, Rhyan Langdon-Yaklin at Cleary University, Robbins at Tusculum University, Sturk at Florida A&M University and Timm at Trine University.
On the boys side, Dearborn Divine Child rallied past Chelsea to claim its first-ever MHSAA Finals championship. Entering match play as the 3-seed, the Falcons defeated sixth-seeded Grand Rapids Kenowa Hills by 28 pins in the round of eight, then edged out second-seeded Tecumseh by just three pins, 1,385-1,382, in the semifinals.
At that point coach Nick Ploucha’s team was staring at a matchup against fourth-seeded Chelsea, which was fresh off an upset win over top-seeded and reigning champion Jackson Northwest.
The Bulldogs rolled Baker games of 220 and 190 to take a 74-pin lead over Divine Child into the regular games.
“There are a lot of teams that scream and yell, hoot and holler, and we just kind of wait our turn,” Ploucha said. “We knew we were 74 pins down but we were patient and we began chipping away at the lead. The kids were dynamite. You could feel them start to move the locomotive, a little bit every frame, and they finished it.”
Sophomore Andrew Carl bowled a 231 to lead the comeback, while junior Paul Scheuher and senior Noelle Jackson rolled games of 226 and 210 as the Falcons shot a team score of 1,022. Seniors Adam Thompson and Shane Green shot 181 and 174 in their team’s win.
Divine Child shot 3,545 in qualifying play, while Chelsea shot 3,442.
Just six years ago, Ploucha inherited a team that was returning zero bowlers.
“We’ve told the kids over the years to continue to be patient,” Ploucha said. “Last year, we wanted to just make it to the state Finals. We tried to have a good time this year, we wanted to qualify (for match play). Once we qualified, we just said, ‘Let’s see where this takes us.’ ”
Knop Finishes Frankenmuth Boys' Weekend Sweep with Singles Win
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
March 2, 2024
JACKSON — Three frames into the game, Mayson Knop was in a pickle.
The Frankenmuth High School senior had already opened the frame prior and was staring at a monstrosity of a split — the 3-4-6-7-9-10 — and the prospect of digging an early hole against a bowler who had just shot a two-game series of 499.
Knop lined up, sent his ball toward the pins and slapped all six down. He then struck on eight of the next nine shots for a 237 game and a 62-pin lead that he rode to the Division 3 Singles Finals championship Saturday at Jax 60.
“I thought (the split conversion) was pretty big,” Knop said. “I didn’t know how the rest of the game was going to play out, but I knew that every pin counted.”
Knop needed just about every pin as Gladstone junior Matt Meyer clawed back after his opening 175 game but could ultimately not come up with the strikes he needed as Knop finished the second with 157 for a two-game total of 394 to Meyer’s 364.
Knop threw a strike in the 10th frame of the second game to seal it, and the emotions that had been building over two days that saw Frankenmuth sweep the team and individual trophies spilled over.
“I can’t even describe it,” Knop said. “Yesterday we went out and won team states, and it took a team effort. I’ve never in my entire life of bowling been more focused in a game (than the individual Final). It’s an incredible feeling, there’s no word to describe it.”
Coach Ron Krueger came up with a word: composure. Krueger said Knop joined the team as a sophomore and was a “raw” two-hander, but he soon inserted Knop into the anchor position and the experience he gained there showed up this weekend.
“The young man has worked incredibly hard; he bowls four days a week,” Krueger said. “He kept his composure. It’s a senior thing. When you get out here, there’s so much pressure and he kept his composure.”
Knop qualified 10th for match play after six qualifying games, starting with 224 and 247 and finishing with a total of 1,205. Teammate Miles Paetz was the top seed at 1,325, and Liam Liddle made it 3-for-3 Eagles in the top 16 by qualifying fifth with 1,241.
Knop defeated Lake Odessa Lakewood senior Phillip Butler in the first round 397-327, then advanced to the Semifinals with a 404-328 win over Croswell-Lexington freshman Joshua Gunderson.
He reached the Finals after overcoming an early deficit and defeating Milan sophomore Kendel Carpenter 411-385. After getting up early against Meyer, Knop found the going rougher in the second game of the Final, opening in three of the first seven frames before finishing strike-spare-strike-spare to secure the victory.
Meyer was the ninth seed after shooting 1,215 for the six games of qualifying. A one-handed bowler with massive revolutions on his resin ball — a stark contrast to the many two-handed bowlers throwing urethane — Meyer flawlessly advanced through the bracket with a 400-306 victory over Allegan junior Anderson Zoch, a 414-363 win over Paetz and a monstrous 499-309 victory over Midland Bullock Creek senior Anthony Davis.
Meyer shot games of 265 and 234 against Davis, by far the highest two-game set of match play. Davis’ 446 in the Quarterfinal over Grand Rapids Catholic Central junior Dom Danneffel’s 433 was second-highest in bracket play.
Knop said he tried picturing himself open bowling alone at Stardust Entertainment Center in Saginaw to calm himself, and the trick worked. He plans to bowl collegiately at Concordia University. Absent that, he said he’ll bowl PBA regional events with the ultimate goal of bowling on the PBA Tour.
For now, he plans to relish what was a dream weekend on the lanes.
“It’s been amazing. I love my team,” he said. “They’re amazing bowlers and amazing teammates. It’s a perfect way to end my last season of bowling.”