Tuttle Wins 3rd, Fish Strikes 1st in D4
March 5, 2016
By Mark Meyer
Special for Second Half
LANSING – Kyle Tuttle is the undisputed, three-time heavyweight champion of Division 4 bowling in the state of Michigan.
The junior’s victory Saturday in the Singles Final at Royal Scot, 418-381 over Luke Cantrell of Genesee, contained very little of the drama that surrounded last year’s one-pin survival against Ethan Sobczak of Bad Axe.
Tuttle started the first game against Cantrell with strikes in four of the first five frames en route to a commanding 225-192 lead.
“I try not to put myself in situations where I have to dig out of a hole,” said Tuttle, the only three-time singles champion in MHSAA history. “I try to make as many quality shots as possible, and make ‘em all count.”
St. Charles coach Mark Faupel watches Tuttle not so much in amazement but as in admiration.
“He really battled today,” Faupel said. “It might not have showed on the scoresheet, but his hand was sore from a lot of bowling this weekend. Our team made it to the Finals (on Friday), and today he comes back and bowls another full day.
“But, he’s used to it, and he really enjoys it.”
Tuttle, the second seed behind freshman Korey Reichard of Vandercook Lake after the morning qualifier, rattled off match play victories over Logan Hughes of Sandusky (479-353), Tucker Hemmila of L’Anse (419-388) and Austin Kraemer of Riverview Gabriel Richard (392-346) to reach the Final.
Cantrell, a sophomore and the ninth seed after qualifying, reached the Final by defeating Blake Gulick of Ithaca (393-318), Reichard (426-371) and Isaac Solis of Adrian Madison (346-332).
“A bit less hectic this year,” said Tuttle, who practices at least five times a week while also working at Crooked Creek Lanes in Saginaw. “I had things going pretty well this weekend and was able to stay out of trouble.”
Senior Brianna Fish of Vandercook Lake made the big shots when they counted most by striking out in the 10th frame to defeat Alana Wirgau of Rogers City 350-344 in the Division 4 girls championship match. Fish lost the first game of the Final, 181-158, but didn’t reach for the panic button.
Fish’s coach, Todd Reichard, helped her relax and “bowl her game” despite trailing at the midway point.
“Coming into the tournament, I certainly didn’t expect to make it this far,” said Fish, who was seeded third after qualifying and then defeated Rachel Forest of Galesburg Augusta (412-373) in the round of 16, Erica Jones of Sandusky (342-339) in the Quarterfinals and Hayley Sigafoose of Ithaca (363-314) in the Semifinals. “As I went along I gained confidence and felt pretty good going into the Finals. I didn’t get started quite the way I wanted to but it worked out well at the end.”
Wirgau, a senior, worked her way through the bracket as the fourth seed by defeating Shai’erica Gould of Flint Beecher (442-420, including a 49-27 tiebreaker), Lillian Warner of Vandercook Lake (384-380) and Jasmine Lowe of St. Louis (378-357).
Reichard complimented his senior champion for her persistence and practice.
“We worked hard on our 10-pin and spare drills,” Reichard said, “and Brianna showed that, although she struggled at times early in the season, she was willing to put in the work on her game and became a much better bowler by the end of the season.”
Click for full boys results and girls results.
PHOTO: Vandercook Lake's Brianna Fish claimed her first MHSAA title at Royal Scot on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Vandercook Lake athletic department.)
Kearsley Boys Take Turn as Champions, Sparta Girls Claim 1st Finals Win
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 3, 2023
WATERFORD – Since the last time the Flint Kearsley boys bowling team won a state championship in 2015, the girls program had captured six.
The boys are obviously honored to train alongside the girls and celebrate their championship success, but it’s easy to understand why the Kearsley boys wondered when it would be their time again.
That day came Friday at the Division 2 Team Finals.
The Kearsley boys broke an eight-year championship drought, defeating New Boston Huron —another past winner in 2019 — in the championship match by a score of 1,455-1,338.
This was also the first time the boys won a Finals championship without the girls winning one in the same year.
“They earned every bit of it,” Kearsley head coach Bart Rutledge said. “They worked harder than any team, and went out and got it done.”
Kearsley didn’t take the easy route, first qualifying fifth to earn a matchup with 2022 champion Grand Rapids Northview in the quarterfinals.
Kearsley prevailed, 1,345-1,315, and then defeated Tecumseh in the semifinals, 1,401-1,357. Tecumseh was the top seed out of the qualifying block.
In the championship match against New Boston Huron, Kearsley took a healthy 55-pin lead after the first Baker game, added 31 pins to that after the second Baker game, and then also claimed the regular game to win comfortably overall.
“This year, 1 through 7, we were solid,” Rutledge said. “In the past, it was maybe 1 through 4. This year, we had seven guys we could work in.”
Huron was led by Donnie Jacobs, who bowled games of 300 and 298 in match play.
“We set goals at the beginning of the year,” Chiefs head coach Larry Collins said. “We marked off our checklist today. The boys are disappointed, but they’ve got nothing to be disappointed about. They lost to a very good Kearsley team.”
While the boys side was a matchup of previous champions, the girls tournament ended with two teams trying to win titles for the first time.
That honor went to Sparta, which outlasted South Lyon East in the championship match by a narrow margin of six pins, 1,123 to 1,117.
“We didn’t have a lot of high games, but we were very consistent,” Sparta head coach Barb Orlikowski said. “We’ve been working on how to get your spares and stuff, and it worked today.”
Sparta held a 310-264 lead after the two Baker games, and held off a charging South Lyon East team that collected an 853-813 advantage in the regular game.
But it wasn’t enough to overtake Sparta.
South Lyon East advanced to the Final despite being in only its second year of existence as a program.
“I’m real proud of them,” South Lyon East head coach Gerald Raymor said of his team, which consists of six seniors. “They came out last year and I knew I didn’t have much time with them, so I showed them how to throw outside the pattern. They bowled their butts off today.”
Sparta finished fourth out of the qualifying block, then earned a 1,157-1,067 win over Goodrich in the quarterfinal before taking a 1,164-1,098 win over Charlotte in a semifinal.
Orlikowski said her team has qualified for the Team Finals five of the past seven years and advanced to a quarterfinal last year, and that experience seemed to pay off this time.
“I think the girls really got a lot of confidence in themselves,” Orlikowski said. “They knew they could do it. They weren’t intimidated by the other bowlers like they were last year.”
The noteworthy news on the girls side before the championship match was that Flint Kearsley, which entered having won eight of the previous nine titles and was seeking its third straight, were eliminated in the quarterfinal round by Charlotte.
Kearsley was the top seed out of the qualifying block, but was downed by Charlotte in the quarterfinals by six pins, 1,187-1,181.