From JV as Junior to Finals Champ, Patrick Caps Improbable Rise with Dream Finish
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2026
WATERFORD — Under normal circumstances, this would have been the most pressure-packed shot in the life of St. Clair Shores Lake Shore senior bowler Devin Patrick – and also maybe the most pressure-filled shot any bowler has faced this season.
The only thing was that Patrick had no idea the magnitude of it, even if everyone else watching with bated breath did.
Mired in the Division 2 singles championship match against New Boston Huron junior Hunter Wyszynksi, Patrick in the 10th frame needed a mark and then four pins to win the title after Wyszynski finished his day with three strikes and a spare over the ninth and 10th frames.
With the whole building watching after the girls final ended just moments before Patrick started his 10th frame, mouths dropped and gasps were heard after Patrick’s first ball, which knocked down just seven pins and left a tricky spare that saw the 10, 6, and 9 pins still standing.
The scenario was simple: Pick up the spare, or finish second to Wyszynski.
Patrick stepped up and got the spare, drawing more oohs and ahs from the crowd. He then delivered a strike to prevail by seven pins over Wyszynski and wrap up the title, although he had no clue that was the case.
Patrick had a 252-220 lead after the first game, and ended up with a 210 in the second game after Wyszynski bowled a 235.
“I thought I already lost it,” Patrick said. “I didn’t know I needed to make that spare. I just made it. I had no idea. Then I remembered I was up by (32) pins from the last game. When everyone congratulated me (on the spare after the match ended), I was like, ‘Wait a minute, was that big?’”
Lake Shore boys bowling coach Jim DeLong said he knew exactly what Patrick needed to win going into 10th frame, but by design didn’t tell him.
“I do the math in my head all the time, but I didn’t want him to know nothing,” DeLong said. “I wanted him to just be loose and hit a good shot. He had enough pressure on him, instead of ‘I have to make this. I have to make this.’ He stayed pretty calm all day. We were working on his breathing and just keeping him in the moment without getting ahead of himself.”
The story gets even better on a couple of fronts. One, Patrick said he had a dream about winning the state championship the night before.
“I dreamt of it the night before when I went to sleep,” he said. “I dreamt about winning it in the exact same way. Not the exact same spare, but the same way.”
Not only that, but this was Patrick’s only full year on varsity after bowling primarily on the JV team his first three years of high school.
“It’s my only (full) year on varsity, it was my last year of high school bowling, I made it to states and won it,” he said. “It’s a Hollywood story. I was on JV for three years.”
Seeded No. 14 out of the qualifying block, Patrick beat Flint Kearsley junior Chase Parr by five pins in the round of 16, Adrian junior Aiden Voelkle in the quarterfinals and Bay City John Glenn senior Cody Minor in the semifinals by 10 pins.
Until the final, Wyszynski was the top bowler all day, starting when he finished as the top seed out of the qualifying block.
Wyszynski beat Portland freshman Wyatt Spear in the round of 16 and the Macomb County champion, Warren De La Salle Collegiate senior Jacob Fester, in the quarterfinals to set up a highly-anticipated semifinal matchup with Kearsley senior Jameson Vanier.
Vanier has been the anchor bowler for Kearsley over the last three years and is a Mr. Bowling Award candidate, but Wyszynski earned a 514-357 win.
Wyszynski bowled well in the final, but just simply fell victim to tremendous shot-making by Patrick.
“I was able to force him to mark,” he said. “I hit some good shots and some unfortunate breaks for me. But it felt good to be able to force him to mark in the 10th frame.
Lindsley Rolls Some Perfection Into Vassar's Inaugural Bowling Season
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
February 18, 2026
Bowling was brand new to Vassar High School this season. It was also brand new to all but one of the bowlers on the team.
“None of them had touched a ball (competitively) before our first practice on November 14,” Vassar coach Kevin Lindsley said.
So, imagine Lindsley’s surprise when his team qualified for the match play portion of the boys Big Thumb Conference Championships – and finished among the top six of the league tournament this past weekend.
“Oh yeah, the first thing I asked, and I was kind of being funny, was ‘Do you guys give out Coach of the Year?’” Lindsley said. “We just took a team that had never touched a bowling ball three months ago and placed. As soon as my son bowled his 300 (at the league singles tournament Jan. 31) and they announced it, the first thing people said was, ‘Vassar has a bowling team? When did they get a bowling team?’”
The Vulcans are entering their first postseason Wednesday and Thursday in the Division 4 Regional at Monitor Lanes in Bay City. The team competition is Wednesday, and the singles on Thursday.
They will be rolling for a spot in the Division 4 Finals on Feb. 27 and 28 at Skore Lanes in Taylor.
“My son, Zander, we’ve always bowled and he knows a lot of kids from Genesee County that he grew up with, and they’re all starting to bowl in high school,” Lindsley said. “He wanted to bowl, and I wanted him to bowl in high school, so last year I took it upon myself to try to start a team. We tried to get a team last year, but it didn’t work out. With me getting out there more and a little more word of mouth, this year it worked out way better.”
A total of eight bowlers came out for the program’s inaugural year: seven boys and one girl. And even more important for the future of the program, five of those eight – Zachary Nott, Bradley Dantzer, John Adams, Zander Lindsley and Maci Noyce – are freshmen. There are also three seniors in the program: Caeleb Partridge, Devin Patterson and Edman Wood.
With the numbers to start a team, and a home alley at Brentwood Lanes in Caro, Kevin Lindsley then had to help them become bowlers.
“A couple weeks before the season, I took them to get new balls, and they were used balls, but we got them all cleaned up, professionally fitted, drilled new holes,” Lindsley said. “They all got a ball, bag and shoes. Basically, what I coach or teach them is from my experience. I teach them the details of bowling, to read lane conditions, angles, spare systems, wrist technique, for, basically like you do for any sport. Then, when you actually get to competition, when you put somebody across from you, you say, ‘OK, now go out and outscore them.’ It’s a totally different feeling than when you’re just having some pizza and beers and chucking balls and high-fiving and giggling with your friends.”
One bowler who was not starting from scratch in November was Zander Lindsley, who has been bowling since he was 5 years old.
In his first high school season, he took the lanes by storm, bowling the aforementioned 300 game on his way to the Big Thumb Conference individual title. It was the first 300 game of his life.
“I didn’t even realize that I was at the 10th frame and had 10 strikes in a row,” he said. “I was just bowling to bowl. It hit me right away when I did it. I turned around and saw my dad and he was so pumped. We chest-bumped. Everyone was yelling and screaming, it was awesome.”
Amazingly, Zander had to come down from the high of a perfect game and win more matches to become the conference champion.
“He said it was very hard and that he was pretty exhausted after the 300,” Kevin Lindsley said. “It took a lot out of him. And another thing, his dad is his coach, so I’m literally behind the lane talking him through this. Once it did happen, we were kind of emotional about it. It did add a little exhaustion to the task.”
Zander now has his eyes set on bigger postseason goals.
“Well, first I’m trying to qualify for Regionals and qualify for states,” he said. “And hopefully win states.”
That would be quite a cap on a first season that has already exceeded expectations in Vassar, but one the Lindsleys are hoping is just the beginning of bigger things for Vulcans bowling.
“Fingers crossed, yes,” Zander said.
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Vassar bowling coach Kevin Lindsley, right, and son Zander pose for a photo during the program’s inaugural season. (Middle) Zander Lindsley holds up the bracket after winning the Big Thumb Conference boys singles championship Jan. 31. (Photos courtesy of the Vassar bowling program.)