D4's Best Win in Dramatic Fashion
March 4, 2017
By Dick Hoekstra
Special for Second Half
LANSING – It took the third highest series of bracket play to do it, but Bronson sophomore Brandon Hyska eliminated three-time reigning champion Kyle Tuttle of St. Charles 482-456 in a Quarterfinal match and went on to capture the Division 4 individual championship in boys bowling Saturday at Royal Scot Lanes.
In the girls Final, senior Kendra Schuitema of Ravenna bowled strikes in frames 5-10 and an extra frame to pull away from senior Paige Kortz of Napoleon and also earn an individual title.
Hyska, the No. 2 seed after morning qualifying, rolled his best series of 487 in the first round of bracket play to set up the match with the No. 7-seeded Tuttle.
“He was making good shots so I had to keep making good shots,” Hyska said. “We were both striking. It was a high-scoring match. I knew he would put up a good fight. So I knew I had to put up a good score to beat him.”
Tuttle was disappointed, especially after his St. Charles team lost by just 13 pins in a team Semifinal a day earlier.
“Qualifying was a grind after starting off with a 154, but I slowly came back from that,” Tuttle said. “That was a good match (with Hyska). I missed a spare on a 10-pin in the first game. I could have won in the 10th, but I 2-8-10ed. That’s what it came down to was bad shots. But he bowled well with a 482.”
Hyska then defeated No. 3-seeded sophomore Korey Reichard of Vandercook Lake 318-268 in a Semifinal and No. 1-seeded senior Chase Elkins of Grass Lake 453-377 in the Final.
“I got off to a good start, and had a 50-pin lead,” Hyska said. “So I had to stay clean, make strikes and spares, and throw good shots.”
Hyska felt he could be a contender after throwing the best score of 1206 of the six Division 4 regionals the previous weekend. He also had the experience of making the final 16 as a freshman a year ago before losing in his first match of bracket play.
“I knew I had a good chance to come out here, do what I can do, and shoot good scores,” Hyska said.
Schuitema, on the other hand, never expected her success.
“I was a champion at Regionals last year, but I never thought I would be a state champion,” she said.
She placed fifth at her Regional this year and came into bracket play as the No. 7 seed after morning qualifying.
“Coaches just kept saying you can beat any girl here,” Schuitema said. “I didn’t believe it, but I did it. What a way to end up senior year.”
She defeated No. 10-seeded Melissa Steinbis of Bad Axe 369-313, and then No. 2-seeded Mackenzie Johnson of Vandercook Lake 419-402. Johnson’s series was the third best of the day, but Schuitema managed to throw her best series to beat her. Then she overcame a 10-pin deficit to edge Jennifer Stratton of Hudson by just eight pins at 360-352 in a Semifinal and recorded her second-best series of 410 to earn the title.
Schuitema started to believe she could win it all with the Semifinal victory. But it wasn’t until the sixth frame of her second game, which was the second of her seven straight strikes, that she felt she had it won.
Kortz, who held a slim 172-167 lead after the first game of the Final, qualified fifth and defeated the No. 12 seed Victoria Ivey of Beaverton 367-323, No. 13 seed Chasta Ganski of Rogers City 373-348, and then No. 1 seed Shaierica Gould of Flint Beecher/Mount Morris 364-305 to make the Final.
“I was mainly focusing on not showing my emotions, and getting my spares, because the lanes are getting harder,” Kortz said. “I got a couple bad breaks that were mentally tough. At the end, she found out what line to shoot. I was still struggling to find the line.
“I wanted to leave it all on the table my senior year. I made it to state two previous times, but never made the cut.”
Elkins finished fourth in a Regional won by Hyska, but secured the No. 1 seed Saturday by 27 pins after morning qualifying. He defeated No. 16 seed Drake McFarland of St. Charles 482-318 with his best series of the day, and then won two super close matches. He edged No. 9 seed Cody Johnson of Sandusky (who was coming off a spectacular 526 series) 469-461 in a Quarterfinal and No. 5 seed Chase Castro of Beaverton 413-407 in a Semifinal to reach the Final.
“I actually missed more opens in those two games than I did all day,’ Elkins said of the Final. “I think the nerves got to me, and the adrenaline. But I’m happy with my performance today.”
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Bronson sophomore Brandon Hyska with his supporters Saturday. (Middle) Ravenna senior Kendra Schuitema stands with her supporters at Royal Scot.
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.