Powers Freshman, Clarenceville Junior Find Winning Shots
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
March 27, 2021
JACKSON – Elizabeth Teuber’s first MHSAA Singles Finals seemed similar to a lot of tournaments she’s bowled over the years.
But the next generation of one of Flint’s best-known bowling families set herself up Saturday for some intriguing opportunities at the high school level over the next three seasons.
The Powers Catholic freshman – whose grandfather was a state Hall of Famer in the sport and whose family co-owns a bowling center – finished her first Chargers season with a dominating run to the Division 3 championship at JAX 60.
After qualifying for match play as the second seed, Teuber won her first three matches by 75, 65 and 139 pins before defeating Corunna senior Bridget Ryon 418-366 in the final. After rolling two games of 200 or more across the six-game qualifying block, Teuber topped 200 in six of eight match play games with a high of 233.
“I didn’t think I was really going to do this good. The first game I struggled, but after that I found my shot and it was easier,” Teuber said. “I bowl a lot. I bowl three or four days a week, and when I do, I practice – I don’t try to bowl for score. I try to get better, and so I think that’s what helped.”
Livonia Clarenceville junior Jacob Johnson still has a season to go, but added a crowning achievement as well to his first three already full of highlights.
Johnson has been on a tear over the last eight days – on March 20, he won his second Regional singles title (to go with his first as a freshman) with the highest score of any bowler at any Division 3 tournament that day. On Saturday, he averaged 221 in qualifying to finish first in the block at Jax 60, then 206 in match play capped with a 396-373 win over Belding junior Trenton Altman in the final.
Johnson’s first two trips to the Finals had ended with an upset loss in the first round of match play as a freshman when he was seeded second, and then in qualifying last season.
“I’ve been trying to find a look. Our home house is really tough and I couldn’t really find a look, so I just kept drilling bowling balls and drilling bowling balls over and over again to find what works,” Johnson said. “I finally found three or four balls that worked. After yesterday we bowled our team event, finished seventh, I brought a ball in from the car, changed one out before today, and it really paid off.
“I thank my dad. He left to bowl a state tournament, and I had one job today – to win, and I finally did it. It took a couple of years, and I finally did it.”
Teuber had finished second in qualifying to Flat Rock senior Alyssa Kmiotek, who was two pins better at 1,150, while Hillsdale senior Karissa Maniford was third at 1,145 and Ryon fourth at 1,130 after she closed with a 213 game.
Ryon won her first two matches by 26 and 24 pins before rolling a 206 and 214 in a 112-pin semifinal win.
Johnson won his first two matches by 61 and 83 pins, but had to fend off Boyne City senior Michael Deming in the semifinal, 407-403. Altman, meanwhile, had qualified sixth and won his first matches by 79, 134 and 45 pins before running into Johnson. Altman won their second game 194-190, but Johnson’s 206-179 margin in the first made the difference. Altman rolled games of 255 and 265 during his run.
In Newest Bowling Role, Myers has EGR Boys Rolling
By
Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com
March 12, 2021
EAST GRAND RAPIDS – Hunter Myers is performing a rare double role in athletics this winter.
The Vicksburg High School graduate is the first-year varsity bowling coach at East Grand Rapids, while also competing as a collegiate bowler.
The 21-year-old Myers is a junior on the Aquinas College men’s bowling team.
His opportunity to take the reins of the program occurred while interning for Pioneers’ athletic director Tim Johnston.
“He lost his bowling coach, and he brought me in and asked if I would take it,” Myers said. “I thought that would be a great idea, and I thought I could help out a lot and try to make things a little better.”
Myers inherited a boys squad that had struggled in recent years. East Grand Rapids won only one match in 2019 and was 6-14 last season.
This season was put on hold by the pandemic as high school sports were shut down in early November. But bowling was one of the first sports to return in January, and it’s currently been a season to remember as the Pioneers are experiencing a turnaround that few expected.
“Things weren’t going very good for them, so I was looking forward to helping them in any way I could,” Myers said. “It’s been an amazing experience, and I can’t complain one bit. I’m doing it for the kids, because when everything got shut down I didn’t even know if I would have a team.
“We had a girls team of seven and 18 guys came out so I was able to pick six and we’ve run with it ever since. I love the kids, and everything has been going well.”
The boys team is currently 9-5-1 on the season after a loss to conference leader Byron Center on Wednesday.
That setback hasn’t diminished the vast improvement made by the Pioneers’ starters. Each bowler has made giant strides and improved his averages by 30-50 pins.
“I just got blessed with a good team with kids who are competitive and had some basics down,” Myers said. “They just needed some fine tuning, and now their averages have increased by a lot.”
East Grand Rapids has been led by junior Corbin Olsson, who boasts a 201 average.
Olsson averaged around 170 last season, but has seen his pin total rise through hard work and the addition of an experienced fresh face at the helm.
“I thought it was going to be good to have someone like him coach us because he has experience bowling in tournaments and bowling in high school and college, so he knows what it’s like,” Olsson said. “Last year was a pretty rough season, but with the new coaches and some new kids on the team it has definitely helped.
“Coach has helped us with positioning, as far as where to stand and aim the ball. He also helps us to stay positive and have a good mental attitude toward the game.”
Junior Finn Moher is averaging 189, while the other juniors include Gavin Bishop (173), Cameron Brandstadt (176) and Michael Columbo (167).
Beau Stancil (151) is the lone senior.
Myers said he is pleasantly surprised by the team’s success.
“I didn’t know we would be doing as well as we have,” he said. “Now we’re third in the conference and we’re looking pretty good for Regionals coming up.”
While Myers has provided fresh insight to his team, he said his bowlers have dedicated themselves to getting better.
“They are putting in a lot of time on the lanes this year because they see what they can do, and they go out on their own and bowl together on the weekends,” he said. “We have two practices a week where they all work hard for an hour and a half, and we work on picking up spares and figuring out oil patterns as to what their ball is doing.”
Moher said Myers is showing the team different aspects of bowling that they didn’t know prior to his arrival.
“Just learning how to adjust to different lane conditions and how to move when our shot is not working,” he said. “He’s given us some confidence in ourselves and we’re starting to win, which has helped a lot.
“Our first Bakers game is usually pretty good, but then the second one we don’t do as well. Individually we do really well, and I’m already looking forward to next year because I think we’re going to be really good with basically everyone coming back.”
Myers visited his former school for EGR’s first match, competing against his father James, who is the coach at Vicksburg.
Hunter won family bragging rights as the Pioneers rolled to a 26-4 win.
“My dad coached me in high school, and I called him and set up a match down there,” Myers said. “That was the first big surprise of the season, and that was a sweet victory for me.”
Myers said the parental support has been satisfying during the course of the season as East Grand Rapids has overcome past struggles en route to respectability.
“They think I’m some kind of wizard who made their bowlers really good, but they had it in them the whole time,” Myers said. “It’s just that nobody has really tapped into it.”
The Pioneers will compete next weekend at Regionals in Comstock Park.
“I think we have a shot at doing pretty well, and we’re definitely going to do a lot better than last year,” Olsson said. “It feels good to be on a winning team instead of one that loses all the time, and we all get along as a team. It’s been fun.”
Dean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for four years after serving at the Grand Rapids Press and MLive for 16 years along with shorter stints at the Ionia Sentinel and WZZM. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Allegan, Kent and Ottawa counties.
PHOTO: Hunter Myers, far left, is in his first season leading the East Grand Rapids boys bowling program. (Photo courtesy of the EGR bowling program.)