ALLEN PARK — Even as his team was struggling until about February, Dearborn Unified boys bowling coach Paul Marcon could still sense greatness brewing.

“In the regular season, we lost seven matches in our league by 20 pins or less,” Marcon said. “You could see it coming. They were going. I just knew.”

On Sunday, the whole state knew as well. 

Dearborn Unified completed a hot final month of the season in the best way possible, claiming its first MHSAA Finals championship by sweeping Grandville in the Division 1 title match at Thunderbowl Lanes.

Dearborn was unstoppable in the Final, earning a 220-212, 226-149, 204-173 victory in a matchup between the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds out of the qualifying block. 

“It feels outstanding,” said Dearborn senior Christian Lamb, who was the individual champion at his team’s Regional. “This was my dream coming into my freshman year. To finish my senior year with a win, it’s phenomenal. We just believed in ourselves competing against these teams.”

After placing seventh out of qualifying, Dearborn began its journey in match play with a sweep of Wyandotte Roosevelt in the Quarterfinals. 

The most nerve-wracking match of the day for Dearborn was in the Semifinals, when it trailed Hudsonville 2-1. 

But Dearborn pulled out an 187-183 win in the fourth game to force a fifth, and won that 203-188 to get into the championship match. 

“We didn’t win a lot during the regular season, but we had a lot of faith and a lot of confidence coming into this tournament,” Lamb said. 

Grandville was making its second appearance in the championship match in three years after winning it all in 2024. 

The Bulldogs were in 11th place going into the second and last regular game of the qualifying block, but rolled a 1,009 in that game to net the No. 8 seed by 26 pins ahead of Clarkston.

Fully energized by qualifying, Grandville knocked off top-seed and neighboring school Jenison in the Quarterfinals, 3-1, before sweeping traditional power Davison in the Semifinals. 

After losing a close first game to Dearborn, Granville just couldn’t get it going over the last two.

Still, Grandville head coach Nick Watkins couldn’t have been happier with how his team performed.

“They didn’t miss and we had a couple of open (frames),” Watkins said. “We had such a great time. My boys won it in 2024 ,and my girls won it in 2025. This is my first time taking second and I tell you what, I’m just as happy having this as I was the other ones. Watching these kids grow and have the experience today was amazing.”

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