Cadillac Boys Rolling in Debut Season
January 17, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Jeremy Moore had wanted to get a bowling program going at Cadillac High School for a while.
It appears the Vikings picked the perfect time to give it a roll.
More than a month into its first season, Cadillac’s boys bowling team is undefeated and already the champion of the Big North Conference, winning the lone tournament on the league schedule Dec. 2 in what also was the Vikings’ season – and program – debut.
They edged host Gaylord 338-324 in the championship match that afternoon and have yet to be defeated, earning the MHSAA/Applebee’s statewide “Team of the Month” for December.
“We’ve had our core varsity team. These six guys bowled together in youth leagues for several years,” Cadillac coach Jeremy Moore said. “A couple of them are my nephews, and all of their parents bowl.
“We had high hopes. But when we went in and won (the Big North), now we know they’re really good.”
Cadillac will compete in Division 2 during the MHSAA Tournament, and it wouldn’t be shocking if the Vikings found their way into the first state rankings released Friday by the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association.
If not, it could just be a matter of the good word continuing to get out. Cadillac also bowls in the Greater Northwest Bowling Conference with a number of schools from the northwestern corner of the Lower Peninsula (including others from the BNC), and has yet to be challenged. The Vikings are winning their matches by an average score of 28-2.
All six are juniors or sophomores. Sophomore Kyle Vermilyea is averaging a team-high 224, followed by juniors Tyler Campbell (193), Brandon Foster (191) and sophomore Korbin Keller (190). Sophomore Kyle Perry adds a 176 average, and junior Brennen Dagner has been effective in limited frames as the team’s sub.
Moore, who works at The Pines bowling center in Cadillac, worked with first-year athletic director Fred Bryant (formerly of Newberry) to add boys and girls programs this season. Moore coaches both.
As noted above, he knew he’d have talent on the boys team. Multiple Vikings had won Junior Gold youth events downstate in the past, and two of his bowlers had competed well against members of the Lowell team that won the MHSAA Division 2 championship last winter. (Cadillac’s girls, meanwhile, entered the season with far less experience but are a solid 4-2 and took fifth in the BNC tournament.)
There have been small adjustments to make for high school bowling. Cadillac is learning the Baker format a bit on the fly – in a Baker game, all five bowlers take turns bowling a frame with two turns per game apiece – but that’s hardly slowed them down. They’re looking forward to continuing to see where they fit among Michigan’s high school elite as the season progresses, especially when the pressure gets higher during Regionals late next month.
Not new is how much Moore’s tight-knit group enjoys competing. But now the Vikings are getting to show their talents while representing their school.
“Up here there’s not a lot to do, so they’ve spent a lot of time in bowling alleys. They had a lot of games under their belts before high school started,” Moore said.
“They’re just always amped up in practice, always pushing each other. These guys have bowled together in youth leagues, and they’ve been friends a long time. They’re always together, wherever they go.”
Past Teams of the Month, 2017-18
November: Ottawa Lake Whiteford football - Report
October: Beaverton volleyball - Report
September: Shepherd girls golf - Report
PHOTOS: (Top) A Cadillac bowler starts a frame during competition this season. (Middle) The Vikings celebrate a Big North Conference championship in their first event as a high school program. (Photos courtesy of the Cadillac athletic department.)
Standish-Sterling Proves Again that 'Everyone Loves a Comeback Story'
By
Jeff Bleiler
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2025
JACKSON — A match for the ages deserved a finish like the one witnessed by bowling fans at JAX 60 on Friday.
And the Standish-Sterling and Croswell-Lexington high school bowling teams delivered.
Needing a mark in the 10th frame of the deciding fifth game of the Finals championship, Standish-Sterling senior Zach Bell stared down the 4-pin and toppled it, sending his team and its fans into a frenzy that only happens during a come-from-behind Finals victory. It was also the school’s first Finals trophy in bowling.
Bell’s mark completed a comeback in the game and the match as Standish-Sterling won the first 197-174, lost the next two 220-198 and 246-213, and won the final two 191-138 and 175-168 in the best-of-five match.
“It’s huge. I knew we could do it all year; it’s just a matter of getting it done,” said coach Shayne Leamon, in his 15th season at Standish-Sterling.
Getting it done has been an issue for Bell in the past, but not Friday. Bell, whose nickname since he was 2 is Zoomer — known to the point it’s stitched on the back of his jersey instead of Zach — had no open frames during the final match.
“It’s great being out here. I was nervous especially coming down to the wire and the 10th frame,” he said. “You can’t get enough of the show. All the spectators loved it, everyone loves a comeback story. We were down 2-1, and we came back and won it all. It’s great. This team’s amazing.”
Bell might have fellow senior Kyler Cook to thank. Cook, an individual Finals qualifier all four years as a Panther, threw nine of 10 strikes during the five-game championship.
Bell, Cook and Quinten Leamon represent the team’s triumvirate of seniors and the heart of the program. They were freshmen in 2022 the last time the Panthers made the Finals when they lost in the semifinals to eventual champion Gladwin. Quinten’s brother, Donovan, was a senior on that team.
“It’s nothing like I’ve ever felt before,” Cook said. “We came close my freshman year, and this year we were able to get the job done.”
The Panthers qualified fifth out the 16 with a total of 3,260 for the eight Baker games and two team games. They went the distance in a five-game quarterfinal victory over last year’s runner-up Milan.
Standish-Sterling lost the first game in the semifinal against top seed Blissfield before storming back to take the next three and set up the championship.
Croswell-Lexington earned the third seed at 3,339 and had a relatively stress-free route to the final. The Pioneers lost only one game in sidelining Gladwin and Midland Bullock Creek to reach the championship.
They gave the Panthers all they wanted in the first three games, especially the third when they had eight strikes including a five-bagger and appeared in firm control of the match. After an open-filled fourth game, the Pioneers responded by taking a 20-pin lead in the sixth frame of the fifth game.
Anchor bowler Joshua Gunderson, a sophomore who was unflappable throughout the day, struck on his first shot of the 10th then left the 4-6-7-10 split.
“I couldn’t be any more proud of these guys,” said Colton Burns, one of three coaches on the Pioneers staff. “Very, very young team, so very proud. We’re not losing anyone this year, so we’ll be back hopefully. Just gotta keep their spirits up.”
Gunderson, who shot 1,489 to win his individual Regional last week, will be joined in the individual Finals on Saturday by teammates Carter Ramage, a junior, and Brady Burns, a sophomore.
Blissfield was the qualifying leader by 141 pins over Muskegon Oakridge and swept Wyoming Kelloggsville before losing to Standish-Sterling. Oakridge fell to Bullock Creek 3-1 in the quarterfinals.