D4's Best Survive Close Final Matches
March 2, 2013
By Jon Malavolti
Special to Second Half
STERLING HEIGHTS – Vandercook Lake’s Malloree Ambs and Rogers City’s Bailey Budnik outlasted the competition Saturday at Sunnybrook Golf and Bowl to be crowned the MHSAA’s Division 4 bowling girls and boys singles champions, respectively.
Ambs, who defeated Oscoda sophomore Paige Huebel 375-361 in the final, was a champion for the second straight day after her Jayhawks took the girls team title Friday.
Budnik, meanwhile, fended off Jeffery Green of Burton Bentley 336-322 in an all-freshman final on the boys side.
The back-to-back days of bowling certainly didn’t slow Ambs down, yet she wasn’t necessarily planning on lasting so long. Her freshman year she advanced to the round of 16, and then on to the quarterfinals her sophomore season. So this year she said she had simply hoped to make the semifinals.
“But I got through that and made it to the finals,” she noted. “It means a lot."
Huebel exceeded her own expectations as well.
“I think it’s very awesome,” she said of reaching the final. “I didn’t even come here expecting that, but I’m really happy.”
Back on the boys side, the freshmen Finals competitors weren’t exactly sure what to expect. But that didn’t stop them from excelling.
“I’m really excited,” Budnik said. “It’s a really great honor. I must have just got lucky or something; I don’t know. The lane switching was hard to get at first, then just keeping myself from not cracking under the pressure and just taking it one stop at a time and clearing my mind.”
Green was grateful for his success, and anxious to apply the lessons learned on the day toward the future – and perhaps another run at an MHSAA title.
“It is very exciting, but it was very nerve-wracking also,” he said.
The exciting competitive drama for the day wasn’t limited to the final round.
Qualifying on the boys side was especially close. Even after six games apiece, six bowlers just missed moving on to the knockout stages by fewer than eight pins. And there was a tie for the 16th and final spot in qualifying, meaning Madison Heights Bishop Foley sophomore Michael Maruszczak and Muskegon Western Michigan Christian senior Austin Sandin would compete in a tie-breaker game. Maruszczak eventually emerged victorious.
The girls competition was tight as well, featuring a roll-off on additional ninth and 10th frames in the quarterfinals between Unionville-Sebewaing senior Kaitlin Gunsell and Vandercook Lake junior Jessica Bunch. Gunsell rolled three straight strikes to best Bunch 60-47 and advance to the semifinals, where she fell to Ambs.
Ambs becomes the first girls bowler to win singles and team championships in the same season since 2010 when Kara Richard and Tecumseh completed the achievement in Division 2.
It certainly helps to practice against some of the best competition in the state, as a pair of Ambs’ team title-winning teammates also advanced as far as the singles quarterfinals Saturday – Bunch and senior Becky Cecil.
“It feels pretty good to know that all the hard work we do during practices and all the coaching that we have helps,” Ambs said. “It pushes us a lot.”
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Vandercook Lake's Malloree Ambs prepares to roll during Saturday's Individual Finals. (Middle) Rogers City's Bailey Budnik finished as boys champion Saturday at Sterling Heights. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Hudsonville Girls Celebrate 1st Title, Salem Boys Take Championship Step
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
March 26, 2021
ALLEN PARK – The bowling season that almost wasn’t saw a first-time champion and a 2020 runner-up take the next step Friday at the Division 1 Team Finals at Thunderbowl Lanes.
Hudsonville’s girls earned their first Finals title in this sport by defeating Belleville in their championship match, while the Salem boys clinched their third team title against Macomb Dakota after finishing runner-up to Utica Eisenhower a year ago.
Dakota previously won Division 1 in 2011 and 2012. But Salem – the champion in 2017 and 2013 – ledfrom start to finish to capture the 2021 title.
Salem’s boys led 347-315 after the Baker round, and the Cougars would need a big game in singles to wrestle away the lead.
Connor Rogus came through with a 259, but it wasn’t enough as Zander Craft’s 253 and Brendan Chorian’s 227 paced the champs to a 1,404-1,309 win.
“We had our lows and our highs, but we started striking in the finals,’’ said Craft. “My shot was there for the entire finals. I shot 221, 223, 253 so I had a good look all day.’’
Hudsonville’s girls had fallen behind 301-297 going into singles play, but their ability to make shots proved to be the difference as it captured the school’s first bowling title. Belleville had eight straight opens during singles play and couldn’t stay in contention.
McKenna Hendrickson, the only senior in the Hudsonville lineup, was in tears after her team came through with the 1,149 to 1,122 win.
“This was my last game, and I wasn’t worried,’’ said Hendrickson. “The girls knew what to do. I’ve lost so much this year because of the COVID. I didn’t even have a prom. This is such a great way to go out. It means so much.’’
Brownstown Woodhaven dominated the boys qualifying round with a score of 3,530 to finish first ahead of Waterford Kettering’s 3,399, which was just three pins better than Salem’s 3,396.
Woodhaven’s run was short-lived. Belleville, the eighth seed, jumped out to an early lead in the Baker format, and the Tigers were great in singles, eliminating the top seed, 1,312 to 1,151.
Dakota had used a 1,030 in the last game of team qualifying to jump into fourth place as three Macomb Area Conference schools – Dakota, St. Clair Shores Lakeview and Utica Ford – made the top eight. Belleville squeaked into eighth with 3,228, 19 pins better than Holt.
Dakota defeated Lakeview, 1,208-1,159 to face Belleville in the semifinals. In the other semi, Salem – which had eliminated Plymouth 1,419-1,208 – took on Waterford Kettering, which had bounced Utica Ford 1,309-1,286.
Dakota sophomore Dylan Maurer shot 276 in the semifinals to lead the Cougars to a 1,499-1,398 victory over Belleville. Salem advanced to the final with a 1,306-1,277 victory over Kettering.
In the girls division, Westland John Glenn was the high qualifier at 3,316 to outdistance Davison at 3,243.
Glenn avoided any possible upset in the first round by extending its Baker lead in singles play, taking out eighth seed Salem, 1,320-1,032. Belleville advanced to the semifinals with a convincing victory over Zeeland, 1,204-1,153. Davison, a perennial threat, eliminated Holt, 1,290-1,111, to advance to the semifinal against Hudsonville, which pounded Midland 1,189-1,101.
The westside school prevailed in the semis, dousing second-seed Davison 1,335-1,250 as Hendrickson led the winners with a 248 score.
Hudsonville became the third straight Division 1 girls champion from the Ottawa-Kent Conference.