Ithaca, Sandusky Top Tough D4 Contenders

March 5, 2016

By Mark Meyer
Special for Second Half

LANSING – The Division 4 runner-up banner hanging in the Ithaca gymnasium served as a reminder for coach Dan Macha and his bowlers.

A gentle reminder that there was still some work to be done in order to climb that final step toward an MHSAA girls bowling championship.

“We finished second in 2010 after having finished third in the Regional, just like we did this year,” said Macha, now in his eighth year with the program. “We didn’t want a repeat. We wanted to come here (Royal Scot) and finish the job.”

The Yellowjackets won their first MHSAA Finals bowling title in school history Friday afternoon by defeating rival New Lothrop by three pins in the championship match, 1,141-1,138.

“When we were up 50 pins after the two Baker games we felt pretty good,” said senior captain Channing Gulick, “but we knew we had to stay focused. We know them (New Lothrop) and how they bowl, and they weren’t going to make it easy for us in the final game.”

Gulick, who played the role of super-sub all season long, bowled what Macha called “an incredibly clutch game” in the final game of the qualifying round to vault the Yellowjackets into the second seed for the match play Quarterfinals. Gulick rolled a 229 – 80 pins above her average – to help Ithaca leapfrog five spots prior to the start of match play.

And when freshman Bethany Slater struggled in the first three frames of the Final against New Lothrop, Gulick came off the bench to complete a 160 game. Junior Hayley Sigafoose – who reached the Semifinals as an individual on Saturday – led Ithaca with a 176 in the championship match. Sigafoose had plenty of support from Shannon Whitaker (161), Heidi Seeley (154) and Arianna Woodrow (139).

New Lothrop worked its way to the championship match with victories over top-ranked Vandercook Lake in the Quarterfinals (1,178-1,081) and Sandusky in the Semifinals (1,142-1,125). Kelsey Moore led all bowlers in the championship match with a 236 while teammate Mattie Stewart rolled a 171.

“I think Coach (Macha) might have been a little concerned after we finished third at the Regional, but we knew we had the potential to turn it around here,” Slater said. “We had a lot of confidence and very little drama all season long.”

Macha said team unity played a big part in the MHSAA championship run.

“Trust Everyone and Myself (TEAM), that’s what we preached,” said Macha. “The coaches trusted each other and so did the girls. I could not be more happy or proud of what we accomplished.”

For Sandusky senior Brett Hancock, the path to his team’s first MHSAA title since 2005 was a smooth and laughter-filled ride, built around inside jokes shared by teammates and a mutual respect for their talent and ability on the lanes.

“You don’t think about it (state title) too much when you’re bowling,” Hancock said, “but then you wake up the next day and realize you’re the state champion. That’s a pretty good feeling, no question about it.”

Sandusky’s route to the title match victory over St. Charles (1,331-1,233) went directly through Bad Axe, a team with which the Redskins had split two previous matches this season.

“We lost to them at Regionals so it was definitely time to make up for it,” Hancock said. “We were feeling good all day, cracking a few jokes and staying loose.”

Hancock, who averaged 211.5 during the season, rolled a 266 in the final game of the Quarterfinal match against Niles Brandywine. Hancock’s only regret was not striking out in the 10th frame. However, junior teammate Cody Johnston completed his 10th frame triple to roll an identical 266 and give the Redskins the momentum they needed heading into the Semifinal match with Bad Axe.

“We had a very good week of practice and we were as ready as we were going to be,” said Johnston, whose older brother Tyler won the Division 4 singles title in 2012. “Our starting five all averaged 200 or better this season, so we knew we had the talent to win it if we concentrated on filling the frames.”

Senior Logan Hughes led Sandusky with a 245 in the championship victory over St. Charles, while Hancock and Johnston rolled 207 and 194, respectively.

Sandusky coach Jeremy Johnston, Cody’s father, singled out Hughes and freshman Dakota Pallas as key contributors to the victory over St. Charles.

“We put Dakota in the lineup because one of our regular starters was struggling,” Johnston said, “and he responded by doing exactly what we needed. Logan’s 245 gave us a strong game at the top of the lineup, and so it all worked out well.”

St. Charles junior Kyle Tuttle, who won his third straight singles title Saturday, led his team with a 214 in the championship match. St. Charles had advanced to the Final with a Quarterfinal victory over third-seeded St. Louis (1,213-1,184) and a Semifinal win over second seed Vandercook Lake (1,442-1,297).

Johnston, head coach since 2009, was an assistant coach for Sandusky’s runner-up finishes in 2004 and 2008.

“We thought coming out of Regionals that we had a pretty shot to win it all,” Johnston said, “but you still have to execute the shots when they count. This team had good chemistry, and they fed off each other. When we needed a strike or big shot to get us going, we got it.”

Click for full boys results and girls results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Ithaca girls bowling team. (Middle) Sandusky boys bowling team.

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.)