Roll Offs Decide D1 Championships
March 2, 2013
By Greg Chrapek
Special to Second Half
MUSKEGON – The MHSAA Division 1 Finals at Northway Lanes in Muskegon were not a place for the faint of heart Saturday.
In both the girls and the boys divisions, the eventual champions needed to win a roll off en route to winning a singles bowling title.
For Grand Ledge junior Barbara Lawson, her roll off came in the Semifinals against Nicole Mikaelian of Macomb Dakota. After battling to a 334-334 tie, Lawson was on her game in the roll off as she won 48-26 to make it into the championship match.
“That match was really scary,” Lawson said. “I was worried in that one.”
With that behind her, Lawson started her championship match in high gear and never let her foot off the pedal. She turned back senior Alyssa Meade of Macomb L’Anse Creuse North 419-323. Lawson won game one 200-121 as she rolled strikes in four of the first five frames and marked in all but one frame.
Lawson snuffed out any hope of a comeback by Meade in the second game as she opened with four straight strikes en route to a 219- 202 win.
“It feels awesome,” Lawson said. “I felt I got a little lucky, but I threw the ball well all day.”
“It helped getting the big lead in the first game,” she added. “It was kind of all bonus points after that.”
Lawson just missed making the Finals match play last season as she finished 17th in qualifying, one spot short. This time, she finished 12th in the opening block.
Meade, who finished third in qualifying, reached the finals by turning back Heather Baur of Davison 349-312. A senior who has made three trips to the Finals, Meade was proud of reaching the last match of the day and capping off a memorable high school bowling career.
“I’ve been to states three years and this was the first time I qualified for the finals,” Meade said. “It was my goal the last four years to make it to the finals, and this means a lot to me. This has been a great experience for me. High school bowling has made me a new person. I have so many memories and it was such a great experience. I fell a little short today, but this is what I worked for and no matter what I am proud of myself.”
If Jeff Pietryka of Clinton Township Chippewa Valley High School didn’t have a nickname coming into the Division 1 Boys Final, he certainly could’ve left with one.
Cardiac Kid would be one appropriate moniker for Pietryka, who lived on the edge Saturday, but came away with the championship.
Pietryka gave the packed house at Northway Lanes plenty of chills and thrills as he wound his way to a victory in a roll off against Alex Zarbaugh of Belleville.
“It was my goal to win it before the season,” Pietryka said. “It was definitely a tight match at the end, but a couple of breaks went my way.”
Pietryka’s title match with Zarbaugh was a see-saw struggle with both bowlers getting on hot streaks, but neither able to pull away. Pietryka won the first game 180-166, marking in all but one frame and totaling seven spares.
Adding to the tension of the match was the fact that Pietryka was battling a physical problem and needed to have his arm massaged between frames.
“It was the first time it popped up,” Pietryka said. “I was able to work through it after a while. It was a kink in a tendon in my arm that would cause a couple of my fingers to cramp up.”
Pietryka started the second game strong, but was unable to shake the determined Zarbaugh, who would not let him expand on his lead. Zarbaugh posted a strike in the fourth frame, and after a spare in the fifth, rolled three consecutive strikes to take a 21-point lead in the eighth frame and a seven-pin overall lead.
Pietryka, however, continued to battle away and posted strikes of his own in the sixth, seventh, ninth and 10th frames.
Pietryka still held the overall lead going into the 10th frame, but the door was open for Zarbaugh to tie the match. With a spare in the 10th, Zarbaugh needed a strike to tie, and he delivered to the roar of the crowd.
The match then went to a two-frame roll off. Pietryka rolled a strike in his first frame, and Zarbaugh countered with a spare. Zarbaugh then opened the next frame with a strike but left one pin standing on his next roll, finishing the frame with a spare and a score of 40.
Pietryka answered with a strike on his next ball and then fell nine pins and finished with a strike for a 49 to win the roll off and the title.
“It was a back and forth match the whole way,” Pietryka said. “We were probably never more than 20 pins apart.”
The title match was just the capper on a thrilling day for Pietryka, who virtually walked a tight rope to the championship match. Pietryka made the match play with little room to spare, as he finished 13th in qualifying with a 1,225 total, nine pins above 17th place and falling short.
Pietryka won his round of 16 and quarterfinal matches with room to spare, but his semifinal match with Brad Wozniak, the No.-1 seed from Traverse City West, was as close as it gets. Pietryka edged Wozniak 377-373 but needed to throw strikes on both of his first two balls in the 10th frame.
“I always love to bowl under pressure,” Pietryka said. “I bowl in the anchor spot for my team and I love having the pressure on me.”
For Zarbaugh, coming up just short was a disappointment, but it could not dampen what had been a tremendous tournament run.
“You can’t end it any better then in a roll off,” Zarbaugh said. “He won it fair and square. I came into this tournament hoping to qualify for the finals, and I made it all the way to the championship match. I exceeded all my goals, and next year I want to come back and do it even better.”
A junior, Zarbaugh finished third in qualifying with a 1,261 total. Zarbaugh reached the finals by turning back Derek Nyenhuis of Wyoming 394-373 in the semifinals.
Click for full girls results and boys results.
Girls Top 8, from left-to-right: Alyssa Meade, Macomb L'Anser Creuse North; Heather Baur, Davison; Madalyn Klein, Walled Lake Western; Shamonica Simon, Flint Carman-Ainsworth; Alicia Babicz, Lake Orion; Nicole Mikaelian, Macomb Dakota and Barbara Lawson, Grand Ledge.
Boys Top 8, from left-to-right: Jack Herndell, Howell; Jacob Kersten, Clarkston; Zach Schneider, Grandville; George Wade, Jackson; Brad Wozniak, Traverse City Central; Derek Nyenhuis, Wyoming; Alex Zarbaugh, Belleville; and Jeff Piertryka, Clinton Twp Chippewa Valley.
Mother/Daughter Pair Powering Gobles Bowling's Growth
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
December 14, 2021
GOBLES — When it comes to high school bowling, Morgan Brunner and Alexis Diamond are perfect examples that the team sport is for anyone.
Brunner, a junior who began bowling when she was 3 years old, is the reigning MHSAA Division 4 girls singles champion.
Diamond, a senior, started bowling this year and has no experience other than birthday bowling parties.
In spite of the vast difference in experience, both are integral parts of the Gobles bowling team.
They also are the only girls on the boys team.
For the second-straight season, there was not enough interest to field a girls team, so Brunner and Diamond joined the five varsity male bowlers.
“When I first started bowling, I had to bowl against boys because in the U12 division in tournaments, we couldn’t get enough girls, so I’m kinda used to it,” Brunner said.
“It does help me because boys usually score higher, so it makes me work harder and harder.”
Diamond, who also is a member of the marching band, said bowling is similar in that it is not a gender-specific sport.
“The boys have embraced the girls as their own, and I think it’s made our girls better bowlers,” coach Karrie Brunner said. “Even though we do have a little bit of disappointment (because there is not a full girls team), it is fun to work with the boys, too.”
The Brunners, mother and daughter, were instrumental in starting the team.
When Brunner was a freshman, no bowling team existed at the high school.
“I promised Morgan that if she wanted to bowl in high school, I would coach her,” her mom said.
Athletic director Chris Miller gave the go-ahead, and a bowling team was born.
Interest in the girls team lasted just one year, so last year Morgan Brunner also bowled with the boys during the regular season. Girls are allowed to bowl on the boys team and then switch to the girls postseason as long as they compete in a minimum number of regular-season girls competitions.
At Regionals, “I was pretty much my own team,” the junior said. “I competed in individuals with the girls, which made me able to go to states and gave some of the freshmen (boys) who never bowled a chance to bowl at Regionals.”
Brunner made the most of her run at the state tournament.
Seeded third, she bested the sixth, second and top seeds for the title.
“I don’t think it really matters where you’re seeded,” she said. “If you work hard and get through all the matches, you should be good.
“You can come from the bottom and make it to the top.”
That experience has helped her become a better bowler, she said.
“Throughout my whole season so far, it’s taught me not to give up, even if you have a low game,” Brunner said.
“Stay positive throughout the day because that’s something I did at state, too, and it helped me.”
Having her mother as her coach is nothing new.
Her mom and dad, Scott, have coached her since she was a preschooler.
Her dad runs Scott Brunner’s Pro Shop at Continental Lanes in Portage, and when she was very young, “I’d go to the pro shop with my dad all day, so I would bowl all day,” Morgan Brunner said.
“I started bowling competitively at 9 or 10. I’ve just stuck with it since.”
During all those years, her mom, dad and grandpa Bill Keirns have been her three main coaches.
However, bowling every week with mom as a coach is a bit different than in tournaments.
“It’s mostly good,” Morgan Brunner said. “She knows what I’m working on and what I have to work on or if I need help on something.
“If I need something different and I don’t know what, she can help me with that. She tries to keep me positive.
“She knows everything about my game,” Brunner continued. “Even if she sees one thing that’s different, she’ll point it out and I’ll be like …” she said, shaking her hand.
Karrie Brunner said she is thankful for the bonding time with her daughter.
“I know sometimes it’s hard to have Mom around cramping your style, but I love that we get this bond and get to do this together,” she said.
“Her dad and I both coach her when she bowls individual events, but this just adds to the bond. To get to watch her become a leader on the team is really fun.”
Talking about wins and losses at home is a no-no.
“We have rules in our family that it stays on the lanes no matter what happens, whether it’s individual or team,” Karrie said.
“Scott and I had to develop that for our games, so we taught the girls that. She has to leave it at the bowling center.”
With no bowling center in Gobles, the team’s home house is Revel & Roll West in Kalamazoo, about a half hour away.
“It does pose some challenges, especially for the kids, but it was the best choice for us,” Brunner said. “We work with the kids if they can’t make it or need rides.”
New bowlers like Diamond have added to a worthwhile coaching experience.
Working with Diamond, “it’s fun,” Brunner said. “You’re teaching somebody to love the game that they can do when they graduate, when they get older.”
One area Diamond hopes to improve is “keeping my arm straight. It has a mind of its own,” she said.
Eric Phillips and James Goerke are the only other seniors on the team, and Oskar Wood is the lone sophomore. Juniors include Nolan Vanhorn and Owen Nuyen.
Brunner uses all seven bowlers in a match, subbing out so everyone has a chance to bowl.
The key to this year’s team is camaraderie, the coach said.
“The boys get along great and with the girls, I think they’re finally getting into their own skin,” Karrie Brunner said. “They’ve done it a couple years now, so everybody’s getting comfortable and they’re getting that desire that we can actually win.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Morgan Brunner is returning for Gobles this winter after winning the Division 4 singles championship last season. (Middle) From top down, Gobles coach Karrie Brunner, Morgan Brunner and Alexis Diamond. (Below) Morgan Brunner warms up before a recent match at Revel & Roll West in Portage. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)