Salem Boys, Davison Girls Rule Division 1

March 1, 2013

By Greg Chrapek
Special to Second Half

MUSKEGON – Being the best bowling team in the city of Plymouth is saying something.

With two boys bowling teams from Plymouth reaching the elite eight of the MHSAA Division 1 Bowling Final, the city stamped itself as one of the best for bowling in the state. For the Plymouth Salem boys, adding the Division 1 title meant that not only were they the best in Plymouth this year, but the best Division 1 team in all of Michigan.

Salem claimed the Division 1 team title at Northway Lanes by defeating Saginaw Heritage 1,388-1,258 in the championship match. While Salem has reached the MHSAA Finals three of the last five seasons, this year it reached the pinnacle.

“This feels awesome,” Salem coach Kathie Hahn said. “I can’t explain it. I’m so proud of the boys. There are three schools on our ground, and two of them qualified for state, Canton High School and us. To win state was awesome to say the least.”

While Salem won by more than 100 pins in the final match against Heritage, the road was a difficult one. Salem won a dramatic quarterfinal by defeating Roseville 1,356-1,350 in a match that came down to the final frame.

Salem senior Kevin Williams picked up the deciding spare in the 10th frame to give Salem the win and send it on to the semifinals.

“This was very special,” Williams said. “I made it to state as a freshman, but things did not go so well. This year we had a great team and it was a blast. The key for us was keeping our heads up and not getting down on ourselves, and picking up spares.”

After surviving the quarterfinal match, the Wildcats then met Jackson High in the semifinals. Salem started strong and continued to bowl strong all the way through as it defeated the Vikings 1,386-1,172.

Heritage earned its way into the final match by defeating hometown Muskegon Mona Shores 1,292-1,209 in the other semifinal. Salem came out strong against Heritage and built on the lead as the match played out.

“We struggled to pick up spares all day, but in the last few matches we really started to pick them up,” said aptly named Salem senior Jimmy Bowling. “Every one of our bowlers but one shot over 200 in the final game against Heritage. We are a close team, and we are all good friends away from bowling. We are all like a family on this team.”

Steven Cadwell led Salem with a 213 game in the finale while Williams rolled a 207 and Tyler Snyder a 204.

No matter which team won it was going to be a first as neither Salem nor Heritage had won an MHSAA bowling championship before.

“It was kind of an unbelievable day,” Heritage coach Todd Hare said. “We started out bowling really well today. We had good rotations and we came out of qualifying as the number one seed. We just fell a little short in the last match.”

Derrick Norman led Heritage with a 193 in the finale while Tyler Sutt rolled a 192.

While Division 1 had a new boys champion, it saw a repeat champion on the girls side as the Davison bowling powerhouse produced a second consecutive title.

Despite losing five seniors from last year’s squad, the Cardinals re-tooled in hopes of making it back to the Finals.

“At the beginning of the season, not many people expected us to defend our state championship,” Davison coach Albert Torok said. “We lost five seniors from that team, but we had a lot of talent stepping up. We prepared ourselves all year for this. We entered tournament after tournament and progressed day after day, and all that hard work paid off.”

Davison defeated Walled Lake Central 1,347- 1,189 in the title match.

“This is 10 times better then last year,” said Heather Baur, one of three seniors on this year’s team who also were part of last year’s title win. “It’s exciting because the seniors did something that no one else had done. The biggest thing that helped us was just filling frames. Our coach tells us if you fill frames, you win games.”

Davison reached the final match by defeating Sterling Heights Stevenson 1,306- 1,224 in the semifinal and Westland John Glenn 1,256-1,178 in the quarterfinal.

“This feels awesome,” Davison senior Jennifer Phillips said. “It feels so great to win it again. I couldn’t be any more proud of my teammates. Last year after we won it, we knew we wanted to come back and try and win it again.”

Walled Lake Central defeated Macomb Dakota 1,215-1,139 in their semifinal, and Muskegon Mona Shores 1,187-1,144 in the quarter.

Brianna Palarchio rolled a 194 to lead Walled Lake Central in the Final. Sydney Brown rolled a 234 for Davison, and Brooklyn Greene added a 202.

Click for full girls results and full boys results

No 'Just Missed' This Time as GR Christian Champ Heerema Rolls Perfection

By Dean Holzwarth
Special for MHSAA.com

December 14, 2023

GRAND RAPIDS – Zeke Heerema had come close to perfection so many times before.

West MichiganThe Grand Rapids Christian senior bowler wasn’t going to let another opportunity slip away.

Heerema rolled his first 300 game Saturday during the Grand Rapids Christian Invitational at Park Center Lanes.

“I had gotten really close a lot of times,” Heerema said. “So I was really excited when it happened. I’ve been trying to do this for a while now, and I’ve gotten so close. I was just ecstatic, and honestly, it was almost a sigh of relief finally doing it.”

Heerema’s close calls included a 279 “countless times,” and at last year’s MHSAA Division 2 Final he recorded a 289 en route to winning the singles title over Tecumseh’s Owen Williams by a narrow margin, 388-382.

As he had done so many times before, Heerema found his rhythm early Saturday in the quest for 300 and began racking up strikes.

He avoided the slip-ups that had plagued him in earlier attempts.’

“I obviously realized after the fourth or fifth frame that it’s starting, and it happens all the time,” Heerema said. “I kind of thought at some point I would mess up because I always do. I always get really close and then mess up late.”

This time, however, there would be no miscues.

And he wasn’t doing it alone. He had his teammates and a crowded bowling center anxiously watching every shot as he got deeper into the game.

“The pressure started building a lot, and whenever I would throw a shot, the whole place would be silent,” Heerema said. “I honestly didn’t think I would get it until the 11th shot. And then I struck there, and thought I just have to get one more. I was pretty confident in the last one.”

Ironically, Heerema's last ball was the one he felt the least amount of anxiety throwing.

“Honestly, I think I felt the least pressure on the last shot for some reason,” he said. “I felt really nervous the last part of the game and then it got to the last shot, and I don’t know, I kind of knew I was going to make it.”

Grand Rapids Christian's Zeke Herrema bowls during a match.Grand Rapids Christian coach Dan Vander Ploeg said it was a “joy” to witness his team captain roll his first 300 game.

“Zeke is a dedicated and loyal person with a great work ethic,” Vander Ploeg said. “He has an inner drive and a competitive thirst which pushes him towards success.”

Heerema, whose previous best was 10 consecutive strikes in a game, was overwhelmed by the support.

“I'm glad I did it with my family there as opposed to being at practice, and my brother, Levi, once had a 300 in practice,” Heerema said. “I think it was pretty sweet to have my parents there and some of my friends.”

Heerema entered this season with heightened expectations after last year’s Finals title run, but he’s taking it in stride.

“I feel like there is a little bit of added pressure, but honestly I try not to really think about that,” he said. “I’m just going out there and bowling every day, trying to win conference and Regionals, and then hopefully repeat.”

Heerema is the leader of a youthful Eagles squad.

“We have some talent and some young kids who have promise,” Heerema said. “I’m trying to work with them every day in practice to try and improve them and improve our team and hopefully make a run at it this year and in years to come.”

Heerema attributes his success to a consistent routine.

“I try to do the same thing before every shot,” he said. “When I’m grabbing my ball or setting my feet up, and then I've worked a lot on trying to get my mechanics to be consistent. That’s probably the biggest part, keep your mechanics the same on every throw and that’s what's going to lead to consistency.”

All four Heerema brothers have competed in the sport. The oldest, Nolan, bowled as a senior in high school, while Elijah and Levi both bowl collegiately at Cornerstone University.

“My brother Elijah taught me how to throw in eighth grade, and that’s when I started to take it seriously and joined the team,” Zeke Heerema said. 

Grand Rapids Christian athletic director Jason Heerema took pride in watching his youngest accomplish a feat that was long overdue.

“As a dad, I have watched him bowl many times and nearly get 300,” he said. “So I always enjoy it, and I’m hopeful, but I don’t get too high or too low, which is likely part of being an athletic director. 

“I am very proud of him in these days of specialization to be able to play at a high level in three sports. He gives great effort in whatever he does, and I’m grateful for that.”

In addition to bowling, Zeke Heerema was a starting wide receiver and long snapper for the football team. He also was the starting center fielder for the baseball team, which won the Division 2 championship in the spring.

Dean HolzwarthDean Holzwarth has covered primarily high school sports for Grand Rapids-based WOOD-TV for five 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 and video courtesy of the Heerema family.)