Loy Norrix Hopes to Roll to MHSAA Finals
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
February 16, 2016
KALAMAZOO — Three years ago, 12-year-old Trevor Morgan became the youngest bowler in the Kalamazoo area to throw a sanctioned 300 game.
So far Morgan hasn’t duplicated the feat except in practice, but the sophomore is the top scorer on his Loy Norrix team with a 202 average.
After starting the season with a 1-2 record, the Knights rallied to a second-place finish in the Southwest Michigan High School Bowling Conference’s top division this season, winning their last five matches.
Portage Northern (8-0) won the division.
As teams head into the MHSAA Division 1 Regionals Feb. 26-27 at Royal Scot Golf and Bowl in Grand Ledge, Morgan has two goals: He hopes to return to the MHSAA Finals as an individual, and he would be thrilled if the team also qualified.
“It would be awesome,” he exclaimed. “We have Connor (Thomas) who’s a junior and Bailey (Brandt) who’s a sophomore and didn’t bowl last year.
“Trentin (Hohler) is a newcomer and I’d love to go to states this year as a team. It would be awesome.”
Morgan missed the final cut by four pins last year, but the experience was eye-opening.
“I learned that there’s a lot of other good bowlers out there,” he said. “I’m not the only one.
“I know I can bowl around here, but I got there and bowled against all those kids who are seniors and who have been bowling just as long, if not longer, than I have.”
Morgan started bowling at age 2, but his father would not allow him to use the bumpers.
“He would stand out there, put his finger on second arrow and say ‘Hit my finger, hit my finger,’” he said.
Although he’s bowled in junior leagues and tournaments, Morgan said he loves the excitement of high school bowling.
“In high school, I feel my team supports me,” he said. “We all support each other. In junior leagues, it’s like go up, throw a shot, turn back around, high five.
“On the team, we get loud. You throw a strike, you get loud. You just get pumped up. You’re basically bowling for yourself in junior leagues.”
Experienced leaders at the top
All of that experience led to coach Mike Brandt naming Morgan captain last year as a freshman and this year as well.
“It’s not so much because of how he bowls, but how he acts and helps out,” said Brandt, who has coached the team for almost six years.
He took over midseason when his son, Zach, was a freshman and the team had no coach.
“I’ve been a (United State Bowling Congress) certified coach for about 20 years, so I knew how to coach,” Brandt said. “I just didn’t know that much about high school.
“Zach is (now) an assistant and he’s helped me build the program. All five years, either boys or girls finished first or second in league.”
Brandt said he doesn’t like to cut anyone from the team because, “I have what I call a practice squad. I feel if I cut kids, they have no chance to get better.
“Once I know a match is won, I pull the starters as soon as I can and let the others play to give them the experience.”
He also starts each practice with stretching exercises and drills such as a bowler’s approach.
“I stress fundamentals and spare shooting,” he said. “I’m a very big spare-shooting coach.”
With no seniors and just one junior among the starting five, Brandt knows he has a young team but has seen improvement throughout the season. He also knows the challenges of regional and state competition.
“There are a lot of nerves,” he said. “The east side of the state is huge. It’s very difficult to beat those guys.”
Thomas’ 185 average is second-best on the team while Brandt, the coach’s son, is third at 181 and Hohler, a sophomore, fourth at 151.
Currently, freshman Steve London (139) bowls in the fifth spot.
Others on the team are seniors Haruto Kumasaka and Seth Harding; sophomores Peyton Spinney and Harry Norder and freshman Brandon Worden.
“Trevor probably has the most experience and a willingness to win,” the coach said. “He and Bailey are probably the best at that.
“When they’re up there, even if they’re in a bad mood, they give it their all.”
It’s a team game
Once in high school, the teens had to learn a new form of bowling: Baker games where the first person bowls the first and sixth frames, the second bowls the second and seventh, and so on.
Morgan usually bowls the fifth and 10th frames.
“I like (Bakers),” he said. “I think it’s a challenge because you have to put five guys together who have to collaborate. You have to watch the person in front of you bowling.
“I normally bowl anchor and Bailey’s in front of me, so I can base off what the oil pattern is doing for Bailey and he bases off the guy before him and so on.”
In league competition, bowlers have two regular and two Baker games, but in Team Regionals it’s three regular and six Baker.
“I keep them going, make them bowl more games than they want,” the coach said. “These next two weeks, they’ll bowl more games than they ever had in practices. I’m very much into drills.
“My philosophy is we work in practice so we can have fun on the lanes on Saturdays. You have to have fun because this is a game. If you’re not having fun, there’s no use doing it.”
Thomas, who has bowled on the team all three years and is usually the leadoff bowler, said for the team to qualify for the Finals, “it’s going to take a lot of spares and a lot of people focusing in and actually committing to making it.”
It’s Bailey Brandt’s first year on the team, but having his dad as his coach is nothing new: “He’s been my coach my entire life,” he said.
Hohler is also in his first-year on the team, sparked by some friends from his junior league team.
“They were bowling on the team at Portage Central and Portage Northern,” he said. Unfortunately for him, “We lost to both of them this year.”
Coach Brandt said Hohler has improved a lot.
“We made a lot of changes with him, and he’s stepped up,” Brandt said. And that’s one of the reasons Hohler likes the high school league.
“It’s more organized, and you learn a lot more,” he said. “I started out bowling straight, and now I’m hooking it.”
Thomas also enjoys high school bowling.
“Your teammates can hold you up when you’re not having a good day,” he said. “Even if you don’t take your point, you can help toward the total team score.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Trevor Morgan works through a drill during a recent Loy Norrix practice. (Middle) Coach Mike Brandt, Trevor Morgan, Connor Thomas. (Below) Bailey Brandt rolls during one of the team's practice drills. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)
Finals Preview: Regulars' Roll Call
February 27, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
The boys and girls sides of this weekend’s MHSAA Bowling Finals could follow distinctly different storylines with team competition set to begin Friday.
Regulars like Davison, Tecumseh, Vandercook Lake and Sandusky are among favorites again in the girls competition. The boys tournaments appear much more wide open with a number of unranked teams looking good to make runs at titles.
All Team Finals are Friday, and Singles Finals are Saturday. Click for the full list of girls qualifiers and boys qualifiers, and come back to Second Half all weekend for coverage from all four Finals sites.
Girls Division 1
Team: Davison, the champion the last two seasons and top-ranked this winter, rolled last weekend’s highest Division 1 Regional score of 4,004 – 243 pins better than the next highest contender. Back from last season’s championship team are Singles Finals qualifiers Kailee Tubbs and Brooklyn Greene, but Davison also is bolstered by Regional champ and freshman Taylor Davis, another freshman qualifier in Kalee Johnson and one more qualifier in junior Taylor Brown. Flint Carman-Ainsworth and Sterling Heights Stevenson are ranked Nos. 4 and 3, respectively, in the latest coaches poll, and both cleared 3,700 pins at their Regionals, while No. 2 Macomb Dakota also qualified.
Singles: Dakota senior Nicole Mikaelian ascended from the 16th spot in qualifying at last season’s Final to finish individual runner-up, and she’ll be back among the contenders. Freshman Davis and Canton’s Meghan Macunovich both won Regionals and the latter’s 1,282 the highest individual score in Division 1. Walled Lake Central senior Ashley Bickel and Macomb L’Anse Creuse North sophomore Samantha Gainor joined those two among others in breaking 1,200 to win Regional titles.
Boys Division 1
Team: Top-ranked and reigning champion Salem did not qualify for the Finals, opening up this field considerably. No. 2 Macomb Dakota, the champion in both 2011 and 2012, posted last weekend’s top Regional score regardless of division, 4,341. Clinton Township Chippewa Valley with 4,273 and Sterling Heights Stevenson with 4,272 had the next highest Regional scores in the state – finishing second and third, respectively, behind Dakota at that tournament.
Singles: Last season Quarterfinalists Jack Herndel of Howell and Jacob Kersten of Clarkston are the only ones of that top eight who qualified again this season, Herndel as a Regional champ. Sterling Heights Stevenson junior Anthony Taormina put up the division’s highest score of 1,404, with Flint Carman-Ainsworth senior Jordon Nunn next at 1,375. Nunn made the Finals match play last season.
Girls Division 2
Team: Top-ranked Tecumseh is looking to regain the title after winning three straight from 2008-10. Its score of 4,017 was the best at any Regional, regardless of division, and four seniors qualified for the Singles Final as well with Lauren McKowen’s 1,320 the highest Regional individual score in the state. Flint Kearsley, the 2012 champion, posted last week’s second-highest Regional score of 3,664 and qualified five individuals – all seniors or juniors – for the Singles tournament.
Singles: Reigning champion Jordan Richard, another of the Tecumseh seniors, finished runner-up to her teammate McKowen at the Regional. Both made the individual Semifinals in 2013, as did Kearsley junior Kayla Emmendorfer, who also will return. Only three of the top 14 match play qualifiers last season were seniors, and 10 of those 11 who were not are qualified to bowl this weekend.
Boys Division 2
Team: Reigning champion Sturgis and top-ranked Marysville both won their Regionals last weekend, with Taylor Kennedy – which just missed the Finals Quarterfinals last season – putting up the division’s top Regional score of 4,037. No. 4 Flint Kearsley should be back in the mix after also winning its Regional, but unranked Bay City John Glenn is the most intriguing after winning its Regional with a 3,803 and then qualifying three seniors for the individual tournament.
Singles: John Glenn senior Alex Ouellette helped key that team effort and won the singles Regional title, and he might be the favorite after finishing Finals runner-up in 2013. Only two others in Division 2 posted higher Regional scores – Warren Fitzgerald senior Alec Nunn threw a 1,445 and looks tough after making match play last season, while Dearborn Heights Annapolis senior Leon Hutchcraft rolled a 1,348 to win his Regional.
Girls Division 3
Team: No. 4-ranked Richmond posted the division’s highest Regional score of 3,667 to win a tournament that also included top-ranked Croswell-Lexington, which did qualify as a third-place finisher. Reigning champion Battle Creek Pennfield also qualified as a Regional champion, and unranked Standish-Sterling is an intriguing contender after joining Richmond as the only Division 3 teams to break 3,600 last weekend.
Singles: Alma senior Hannah Chase made the Quarterfinals last season and looks poised to finish an outstanding career with one last run after posting the division’s’ highest Regional score of 1,242. Caro junior Adreanna Jackson and Ishpeming senior Katlynne Carlson, both also Quarterfinalists last weekend, are back. Richmond senior Noelle Scheuer, the best non-senior in last season’s qualifying block, qualified again, a couple spots back of senior teammate Payton Dickson, who put up an impressive 1,225 to win that tournament.
Division 3 boys
Team: Unranked Ishpeming is looking to finish a title run after rolling the best qualifying block at last season’s Final by 100 pins but falling in the championship match by 30. The Hematites won their Regional with the second-highest score in Division 3, 4,085. The top score in Division 3 belonged to another unranked team, Corunna, which rolled a 4,174 to win its Regional by 473 pins over top-ranked Armada.
Singles: All but four of last season’s 16 match play participants were seniors, but Fremont junior Sam Brandt is back after making the Semifinals last season, while senior teammate Jeremy Pikaart won last weekend’s Regional after making the Quarterfinals in 2013 and Ishpeming senior Matt Kilberg qualified again after also making last year’s quarters. Five Division 3 qualifiers broke 1,300 at Regionals, led by Pinconning senior Calvin Kerr at 1,374.
Division 4 girls
Team: Reigning champion Vandercook Lake and reigning runner-up Sandusky have finished some combination of first and second each of the last three seasons. So of course they are ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, again. Sandusky posted the division’s best Regional score of 3,716, with Vandercook Lake one pin off at 3,715 – so another classic could be inevitable. Unranked Ravenna, another Regional champion rolling 3,399, is an intriguing possibility to join the favorites.
Singles: Vandercook Lake senior Malloree Ambs defeated Oscoda junior Paige Huebel by only 14 pins in last season’s Final, and both are back – Ambs as a Regional champion with a score of 1,244, 98 pins better than the next best in Division 4. Rogers City junior Rebecca Bannasch also was a Semifinalist last season, and she won her Regional by 21 pins.
Division 4 boys
Team: Reigning champion Riverview Gabriel Richard was one of eight Davison 4 teams that broke 3,700 pins at Regionals – but Gabriel Richard finished only second to Jonesville, which rolled 3,788. No. 6 Ithaca and unranked Kent City were the only teams to break 3,800 pins as both won their Regionals. Neither of those two nor Jonesville qualified for the Finals in 2013.
Singles: A pair of freshmen rolled off in last season’s championship match, with Rogers City’s Bailey Budnik the eventual victor. He’s back this season, with another sophomore – Lakeview's Ryan Finup – bowling the division’s best Regional score of 1,231. Three freshmen – St. Charles' Kyle Tuttle, Sandusky’s Cody Johnston and Hanover-Horton’s Zach White – also won Regional titles.
PHOTO: Vandercook Lake’s Malloree Ambs watches one of her shots during last season's Division 4 Singles Final. She’s back in an attempt to repeat as champion. (Click to see more at HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)