Campbell, Betts Believed Then Achieved

By Steve Vedder
Special for MHSAA.com

March 2, 2019

MUSKEGON – Trusting the process led to a stunning ending to Dawson Campbell's season. 

In fact, if you had asked the Cheboygan junior a few months ago if winning a Division 3 individual bowling championship was a possibility, Campbell's answer would have been a resounding no.

"Not a chance, no way," he said after accomplishing just that with a 427-363 win over Hopkins' Brenden Gossman in Saturday's championship match at Northway Lanes.

It's not that Campbell hasn't had success in the past. He was a two-time Finals qualifier heading into the season, but failed to advance past the qualifying stage his freshman and sophomore years. So what's the difference between those two tournaments and Saturday's? Campbell, seeded No. 6 among the 16 finalists, said it was a matter of trusting a grueling process that includes bowling 30 games a day, seven days a week for the last three years.

Campbell said the work left him more of a finished product. Proof of that, he said, came after he converted tough back-to-back 2-8 and 2-4-8-10 shots in the quarterfinal. It was that sort of success under pressure that led Campbell to believe he could win a Finals championship.

"After that I felt I had a chance," said Campbell, who averaged 188 across four match wins. "It just kinda happened. It shows if you put in enough practice, you can win and that one day you could become a state champion.

"I feel real happy, amazed. But I've put in the work. At the end of the day, it's part of my life."

Jenna Betts of Clare won the girls title with a 418-305 win over Lainey Meader of Coloma.

Like Campbell, Betts had minimal success in previous Finals tournaments, also never making it past the qualifying round. And also like Campbell, Betts believed winning the Division 3 championship was likely beyond her grasp.

"I had no reason whatsoever," she said of possessing title hopes. "But you have to believe in yourself and do the things you need to do to win."

Betts said much of her confidence came from Clare coach Kelli Dingo, whose chief work with her junior bowler was teaching fundamentals such as how to hold a ball and how to incorporate movement with her shot. The rest, Dingo said, was up to Betts.

"I taught her to bowl, not tell her," Dingo said. "She was very open (to coaching). Everyone knows she's an excellent bowler, and they expect a lot from her. She used to overthink the process; now she just bowls."

Betts, who also plays volleyball and runs track at Clare, said two things which struck home for her this season were gaining confidence and the ability to bowl consistently. Both were on display in winning Saturday, she said.

"I was very consistent. They weren't really high scores, but I was consistent," she said of averaging a 194 in her four wins. "You're going to have some high and low games, but confidence is a key."

Betts said her work with Dingo left her with the confidence she belonged among the top bowlers in Division 3.

"I think the past couple weeks that's grown by leaps and bounds, believing in myself," she said. "I feel incredibly happy now. Coach has given us all confidence, not just me. She's given us what we need to do well."

Click for full girls results and full boys results.

Gift of Bowling Keeps Giving as Eisenhower's Harnden Pursues Championship Repeat

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

January 30, 2025

Birthday parties usually feature the best gifts for the person celebrating the birthday. But in this case, the best gift might have ended up going to one of the party’s attendees. 

Greater DetroitBack when he was in fifth grade, current Utica Eisenhower senior bowler Dylan Harnden was invited to a birthday party at Shelby Lanes in Shelby Township by friend and current Eisenhower bowling teammate Kingston Corpuz.

That day, they celebrated Corpuz – and Harnden received the gift of being introduced to bowling. 

“That was his first time bowling, and he basically got the bug that he wanted to bowl,” he said Dylan’s father and current Eisenhower coach Mark Harnden. “From that point forward, he just kind of wanted to get better and better.”

The last couple of years, it can be argued that there’s been no better high schooler in the state.

Last year as a junior, Harnden captured the Division 1 Singles Finals title after also winning his Regional. Naturally, he was named to the all-state Dream Team by the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association.

This season, Harnden completed a unique career trifecta by winning the individual title at the Macomb County championship. 

“I can say that I’ve won that tournament along with other great Macomb bowlers who have won that tournament,” he said. “It was great to see myself winning it.”

In addition, Harnden is sporting a 222 average — one pin below his average last year — and has scholarship offers in tow from two prestigious college bowling programs, St. Ambrose University in Iowa and Trine University in Indiana. 

Not bad for someone who didn’t know anything about the sport until that birthday party invite roughly seven years ago.

“It only took me maybe about a half year to a year to get the hang of everything and get really good,” Harnden said. “It was interesting at first.”

In addition to winning the state title last season, Harnden as a sophomore in 2023 finished first out of the qualifying block at the Division 1 Final but ended up falling to eventual champion Brendan Riley of Waterford Mott in the quarterfinal round. 

This year, Harnden’s big objective has been continuing to master mental aspects of the game. 

“A lot of things this year compared to last year is the same stuff, except for trying to expand my knowledge,” he said. “Knowing how to transition better, knowing what balls to go to and trying to hit different shots. Just expanding knowledge mainly from last year to this year just so if I encounter new scenarios, I can use it better.”

Mark Harnden said Dylan when he was younger tried a one-handed bowling style, but quickly discovered that going with the two-handed style was a better fit for him.

“It allowed him to bowl with a heavier bowling ball,” he said. “As you know, heavier balls don’t tend to deflect off the pins.”

This year, not only could Dylan Harnden be a contender to win another Singles Finals title, but he has a decent shot of being part of a team champion thanks to a merger. 

The Utica and Eisenhower bowling programs joined forces as one this year, something Mark Harnden said was talked about for a while due to low participation numbers experienced by both programs.

“We’re trying to really allow two programs to survive in the downside until more kids get interested in bowling,” he said. 

What the merger has created is a pair of powerful combined Utica-Eisenhower programs.

The girls team now features contributors from last season’s Macomb Area Conference Red and White champions joined together as one, with returning all-state bowlers Ava Mazza (sophomore, Utica) and Sophia Matheson (senior, Eisenhower) atop an incredibly deep lineup.

For the boys, what was the outstanding duo of Harnden and Corpuz has turned into a terrific trio, with sophomore Marco Mazza joining the fray. Ava and Marco Mazza are twins whose father, John, bowled professionally.

Keith DunlapKeith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.

(Photo of Dylan Harnden courtesy of the Harnden family.)