Better Than Perfection: Brown Follows Team Runner-Up Finish with Singles Championship
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 2, 2026
ALLEN PARK — Grandville senior Ethan Brown has bowled five perfect games during his young life, incredible given bowling just one might be the highlight of many people’s careers.
It’s hard to believe Brown could do something that felt even better than all five of those perfect games combined. But he did just that Monday at the Division 1 Singles Bowling Finals.
Brown closed out his high school career by winning his first individual championship, finishing it off with a 419-384 victory over Salem junior Andrew Fsadni in the deciding match.
When asked if the title felt better than all those perfect games, Brown flashed a wide smile.
“A lot better,” he said.
Brown and the rest of his Grandville teammates went to bed Sunday night a little down after suffering a loss in the team championship match to Dearborn Unified. However, Brown quickly refocused and said getting far as a team paid big dividends for him during the individual tournament.
“Coming in here yesterday gave me a great idea of what to do today,” he said. “I really think yesterday helped me prepare for today. You just have to keep a level head. The more you keep your head clear, the better.”
Brown was trailing in the early frames of the championship match but caught fire from there, bowling five straight strikes to take a 30-pin lead into the second game.
Following an open frame early in the second, Brown got hot again, rolling six straight strikes to create a deficit too large for Fsadni to overcome.
“At first, my ball wasn’t really coming back,” Brown said. “I talked to my coach, and we made an adjustment. Thankfully it was the right one. We just moved more right and tried to keep it a little inside to try and control that pocket and move that 10 (pin) out.”
Grandville head coach Nick Watkins said Brown was an important bowler on Grandville’s Division 1 championship team two years ago and has been relied on as the anchor bowler for most of this year.
“A heck of a bowler who was believing in himself,” Watkins said. “This year, he stepped up in his leadership role as a senior and helped out the team. He taught himself a lot more. I just couldn’t say any better words about a kid to have on the team.”
Brown was the No. 9 seed out of the qualifying block and started his run with a narrow 380-374 win over St. Clair Shores Lakeview freshman Drew Dimuzio in the round of 16.
Brown then ran into a familiar foe in the quarterfinals, junior teammate Cash Pulcifer, who was the top seed out of the qualifying block.
Brown earned a 469-418 victory.
“We told them, ‘Whoever wins better go win this one,’” Watkins said. “He did exactly his job.”
Brown went on to earn a 437-423 win over Detroit U-D Jesuit senior Emory Stone in the semifinals.
For Fsadni, it marked a second-straight trip to match play after losing in the quarterfinals last year.
“I brought one of my urethane (balls) out, and I don’t normally throw it a lot,” Fsadni said. “But it looked great in practice, and I said, ‘You know what? I’m just going to bring it in here.’
“I had a great day. This was my goal all along was to be top two. Beat last year, because I have one more year to beat the last two years.”
The only sad part for Fsadni was that his team had six seniors whom he looked up to throughout his high school career. Next year, he’ll be the senior everyone seeks to follow.
“I’d never be here if it wasn’t for my team,” he said. “My goal (next year) is to get the underclassmen to find love for this sport.”
Seeded No. 2 out of the qualifying block, Fsadni first earned a 489-383 win over Muskegon Mona Shores senior Skyler Bosch in the round of 16. He then earned a 427-390 win over Troy Athens freshman Noah Magoian in the quarterfinals and a 405-388 triumph over Grand Blanc senior Lucas Knowles in the semifinals.
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MHSAA Winter Sports Start with Extended Basketball Schedules, New Wrestling Weights
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
December 13, 2022
The addition of two games to basketball regular-season schedules and a new series of wrestling weight classes are likely the most noticeable Winter 2022-23 changes as an estimated 65,000 athletes statewide take part in 13 sports for which the Michigan High School Athletic Association sponsors postseason tournaments.
Girls gymnastics and boys ice hockey teams were able to begin practice Oct. 31, with the rest of those sports beginning in November – including also girls and boys basketball, girls and boys bowling, girls competitive cheer, girls and boys skiing, Upper Peninsula girls and boys and Lower Peninsula boys swimming & diving, and girls and boys wrestling.
A variety of changes are in effect for winter sports this season, including a several that will be noteworthy and noticeable to teams and spectators alike.
Basketball remains the most-participated winter sport for MHSAA member schools with 33,000 athletes taking part last season, and for the first time, basketball teams may play up to 22 regular-season games. This increase from the previous 20-game schedule allows more games for teams at every high school level – varsity, junior varsity and freshman.
Another significant change has been made in wrestling, as the majority of boys wrestling weight classes have been adjusted for this season in anticipation of a national change coming in 2023-24. The updated boys weight classes are 106, 113, 120, 126, 132, 138, 144, 150, 157, 165, 175, 190, 215 and 285 pounds. Only 215 and 285 remain from the previous lineup. There is also one change to girls weight classes, with the 255 class replaced by 235 to also align with national high school standards.
A series of notable changes will affect how competition takes place at the MHSAA Tournament levels. In hockey, in addition to a new classification process that spread cooperative and single-school programs evenly throughout the three playoff divisions, the MHSAA Tournament will employ two changes. The Michigan Power Ratings (MPR) will be used to seed the entire Regional round, not just the top two teams, and prior to the start of Semifinals, a seeding committee will reseed the remaining four teams in each division with the top seed in each then facing the No. 4 seed, and the No. 2 seed facing No. 3.
Bowling also will see an MHSAA Tournament change, as the Team Regional format will mirror the long-standing Team Final with teams playing eight Baker games and two regular games at both levels. And as also applied during the fall girls season, there is a new qualification process for divers seeking to advance to Lower Peninsula Boys Swimming & Diving Finals. In each of the three divisions, each Regional will be guaranteed 10 qualifiers for the Finals, with six more “floating” qualifier entries to be distributed to the Regionals that have one of the previous year’s top six returning Finals divers in their fields. If a team changes division from the previous season, any floating top-six spots are added to the six already allowed in the school’s new division.
A gymnastics rules change provides an opportunity for additional scoring during the floor exercise. A dance passage requirement was added in place of the former dance series requirement to encourage creativity and a more artistic use of dance. The dance passage requires gymnasts to include two Group 1 elements – one a leap with legs in cross or side split position, the other a superior element.
In competitive cheer, the penalty for going over the time limit in each round was adjusted to one penalty point for every second over the time limit, not to exceed 15 points. The new time limit rule is more lenient than the past penalty, which subtracted points based on ranges of time over the limit.
The 2022-23 Winter campaign culminates with postseason tournaments, as the championship schedule begins with the Upper Peninsula Girls & Boys Swimming & Diving Finals on Feb. 18 and wraps up with the Boys Basketball Finals on March 25. Here is a complete list of winter tournament dates:
Boys Basketball
Districts – March 6, 8, 10
Regionals – March 13, 15
Quarterfinals – March 21
Semifinals – March 23-24
Finals – March 25
Girls Basketball
Districts – Feb. 27, March 1, 3
Regionals – March 7, 9
Quarterfinals – March 14
Semifinals – March 16-17
Finals – March 18
Bowling
Regionals – Feb. 24-25
Finals – March 3-4
Competitive Cheer
District – Feb. 17-18
Regionals – Feb. 25
Finals – March 2-3
Gymnastics
Regionals – March 4
Finals – March 10-11
Ice Hockey
Regionals – Feb. 20-March 1
Quarterfinals – March 4
Semifinals – March 9-10
Finals – March 11
Skiing
Regionals – Feb. 13-17
Finals – Feb. 27
Swimming & Diving
Upper Peninsula Girls/Boys Finals – Feb. 18
Lower Peninsula Boys Diving Regionals – March 2
Lower Peninsula Boys Finals – March 10-11
Wrestling – Team
Districts – Feb. 8-9
Regionals – Feb. 15
Finals – Feb. 24-25
Wrestling – Individual
Districts – Feb. 11
Regionals – Feb. 18
Finals – March 3-4
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.3 million spectators each year.