Ploof Legacy Grows, Robison's Begins
March 5, 2016
By Bill Khan
Special for Second Half
CANTON — Flint Kearsley's first family of bowling has its second MHSAA individual champion.
Senior Hannah Ploof closed out a championship-laden high school career by winning the Division 2 individual title Saturday at Super Bowl, beating Wayland sophomore Sydney Urben, 385-336.
One day earlier, Ploof was part of her third team championship. As dominant as Kearsley's girls have been in recent years, they've never had a team championship and individual winner in the same year.
Until now.
"This weekend is perfect," Ploof said.
Ploof is coached by her parents, Robert and Pam, who have guided the Hornets to four team titles in the last five years. One year before that streak began, Lindsay Ploof was the individual champion in 2011.
"Lindsay's a big influence on her," said Robert Ploof, the team's head coach. "She's here rooting her on today. It's been awesome. Hannah is just a good kid. She's been a team captain every year. She's president of the National Honor Society. I can't believe she's mine. I give all the credit to her mom; mom definitely did it."
Hannah advanced through the qualifying round at the MHSAA Finals all four years, but didn't reach the championship match until Saturday. She lost 393-342 to Madchen Breen of Warren Regina in the round of 16 last year after coming in as the No. 5 seed. She made the Semifinals in 2014, only to lose 378-322 to Samantha Knight of Richland Gull Lake. As a freshman, she lost 411-371 to Mikki Mathews of Jackson Northwest in the round of 16.
"It was definitely not an easy thing to do," Ploof said. "I've been working for four years for this, so it paid off. We try to bowl a lot of tournaments. As you saw, our team is pretty successful. Being in these types of situations, I'm used to it now."
Ploof dominated during her six qualifying games, averaging 218 to take the top seed by 146 pins over Breen. Urben was the third seed, 153 pins behind Ploof, reaching the Final with a 389-302 victory over Breen.
The degree of difficulty increased for Ploof after qualifying, however. She trailed Makayla Lancioni of South Lyon East, 198-159, after one game in the Round of 16. Ploof responded with a 224 in the second game to win, 383-353.
After a 420-323 victory over Jamie Bleiler of Jackson in the Quarterfinals, Ploof escaped with a 401-384 victory over Kayla Wild of Tecumseh in the Semifinals.
"In the Semifinals, she had a strike to win and she put it there," Ploof said. "There's nothing you can do about that. It's up to whatever. She left a 10 pin. It should not have stood. She should have won that one. I think everybody has those."
Ploof went up against a bowler with MHSAA championship experience, but in another sport. Urben was a .418 hitter as a freshman on Wayland's Division 2 championship softball team last spring. In bowling, she was 22nd in qualifying at the MHSAA Tournament last year, 35 pins out of the 16th and final qualifying berth.
"I'm just really surprised I made it this far, because there are so many good bowlers here," Urben said. "It's a really good experience to have going into the future. I learned adjustments. I learned how to stay consistent. I'll just practice harder next year and hopefully get back to the same spot where I was, and hopefully win it."
In the boys tournament, Sturgis junior Austin Robison won the championship with a 427-399 victory over Melvindale sophomore Marcus McClain in the Final.
Both bowlers made it to the Final despite no experience in the MHSAA individual tournament. Robison didn't advance through Regionals last year, while Melvindale didn't even have a team last season.
"I cut myself short in Regionals, which actually fueled my fire and made me want to come back and bowl my own game," Robison said. "I was in the cut most of the day, then I just threw myself out of it, throwing bad games. Every year I improve. After last year, it hurt me. I had to better myself and come back stronger than ever."
Robison was fourth after six qualifying games with a score of 1,292, a 215 average. Plainwell senior Trevor Millard led a field of 60 bowlers through qualifying with a score of 1,386, a 231 average.
Robison eliminated Millard in the Semifinals, 412-373. Robison's closest matches were his first two, as he beat Byron Center junior David Northouse, 383-364, before winning 394-373 over New Boston Huron senior Cody Farr in the Quarterfinals.
"Usually pressure like that doesn't get to me," Robison said. "It somewhat did, because it's the state championships. I bowl better under pressure than just regular bowling."
Sturgis coach Terry Smith concurs with Robison's self-assessment.
"The only thing the pressure does is makes him focus on what he's doing," Smith said. "Instead of just going out there and winging it, he knows every shot is going to count. He's a lot more coachable in a situation with pressure than he is when we're just shooting team games, because he thinks he can get away with his carry. When it comes down to every shot's going to matter, it helps him focus."
McClain came out of qualifying in sixth place with a score of 1,255, a 209 average. He knocked off defending champion Chad Stephen of Kearsley in the Semifinals, 397-325. In his other matches, McClain won 448-387 over Sparta senior Derek Austin in the Round of 16 and 433-331 over Coldwater senior Shawn Johnson in the Quarterfinals.
Robison had a 226-208 lead over McClain after the first game of the final match. Robison closed it out with a 201-191 advantage in the final game.
"This is the first year our school had a high school team," McClain said. "We just talked to the A.D. Last year I bowled in tournaments, anything I could bowl, and practiced."
Click for full boys results and full girls results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Davison’s Hannah Ploof receives a hug from her mother, Pam, after winning the Division 2 individual title. (Middle) The Ploof family: Pam, 2011 individual champion Lindsay, Robert, Hannah. (Below) Sturgis champion Austin Robison stands with his coach, Terry Smith.
Feeding 'Drive to Win,' Loy Norrix Grad Morgan Impresses with Strong USBC Showing
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
July 10, 2025
KALAMAZOO — Trevor Morgan received an unexpected bonus when he joined Scott Brunner’s Old School Scratch League at Continental Lanes several years ago.
The youngest on the team at the time, the 2018 Loy Norrix High School graduate said the fun part about bowling with those guys is that they have all bowled with or against his mom Nikki Randall McGruder, his stepdad Ed McGruder and his dad Randy Morgan.
“Now I get to hear all these fun stories involving my parents and my stepdad,” Trevor laughed.
Morgan added that teammates Brian Cooper, Mark LaBarge and Joe Gates were the guys he looked up to when he was a teen working as a food runner at the bowling alley. Another young bowler, Adam Rowlson, has since joined the team.
“These (original guys) are all guys that 10 years ago I was like, ‘Hey, these guys strike,’” Morgan said. “‘I want to be like them one day.’ And now I’m bowling against them and striking with them. Pretty cool.”
Pretty cool is also a good way to describe Morgan today.
The personable 25-year-old was one of more than 100 Kalamazoo area bowlers who have been traveling to Baton Rouge, La., for the USBC Open Championships, competing in team, doubles and singles divisions.
The tournament, from March 1 to July 28, features more than 11,600 five-person teams from around the country.
While Morgan said his team did not do well, he and Trevor Millard are currently 97th in doubles. As an individual, Morgan sits in eighth place with a 778 score.
“When I left there (May 19), I said I was hoping to stay in the top 20,” he said. “Since it’s been a month and a half, now I’m really hoping I can hold on to top 10.
“I bowled in a higher division with a lot of PBA pros bowling. It’s pretty cool to look at the list and go, ‘Hey, I beat some of these guys who were on TV this past year.’ I didn’t get to see them, I didn’t get to bowl against them, but I’m ahead of them.”
Growing up bowling
Continental Lanes has been Morgan’s second home since he was 2 or 3 years old, when his dad took him bowling but would not let him use the bumpers.
“He’d run down there and put his finger on the second arrow (of the lane) and say hit my finger,” Morgan said. “I tried every time to hit that finger. Sooner or later, I got better at it and was able to do it.”
Not only did he get better, but he bowled his first sanctioned 300 at age 12, becoming the youngest to bowl the perfecto in the Kalamazoo area, a record that still stands.
Things have changed quite a bit since then.
Although he had no sanctioned 300s in high school, his current total is more than 20, including eight two seasons ago and seven last season.
“This past year, I shot 299 then 300 in back-to-back games, which was pretty cool,” he said. “But I don’t have one yet that tops that first one. That is a memory that will never be forgotten.”
Morgan still has the special ring signifying his very first 300 game, although now it fits just his little finger.
He also has a ring for his first 800 series, an 801 bowled Sept. 13, 2018.
He has added more since then and recorded five of them last season when he threw an 846, his highest to date.
Besides his scratch league, one of the few in the state, Morgan also competes on the DDS team of former high school friends Collin Rickey, Jared Edgerton, Antar Howard and Alex Hale at Continental.
Friends since elementary school, Morgan became ordained so he could officiate Rickey’s wedding last month.
“I met Jared through Collin,” Morgan said. “They bowled together at Gull Lake High School and were a part of my team Saturday mornings as a youth team.
“Antar we knew from bowling tournaments like Michigan Junior Masters. Alex went to Gull Lake, and I got to bowl against him for two years. A group of 25 (to) 30-year-olds bowling every week is a fun one.”
As for DDS, “We are the Dumb Dumb Squad,” Morgan said. “My stepdad Ed named us that 10 or 15 years ago, so we’ve just lived up to the name and keep doing it.”
Dream Team
At Loy Norrix, Morgan competed in the MHSAA Division 1 Boys Bowling Singles Finals three of his four years, but his team did not qualify.
“My senior year, I lost in semis,” he said. “I led qualifying, won my first match, won my second match, lost to Matt Buck from Rockford by five pins. At least I lost to the eventual winner.”
In spite of that defeat, Morgan was named to the 2018 Detroit Free Press Dream Team with Genesee’s Luke Cantrell, Wyandotte Roosevelt’s Gabe Cassise, Adrian Madison’s Isaac Solis, Davison’s Brandon Kreiner and Lowell’s Carson Clark.
Morgan said the banquet was nice, “but the fun part was that everybody who was part of the Dream Team was there.
“Those were all people that I actually bowled Michigan Junior Masters events with, so we all knew each other. I still run into most of those people today when I bowl tournaments.”
When bowling became too stressful during high school, Morgan took out his frustrations on the golf course, something he still does.
“I was never very good (at golf), never made states (in high school). I never did anything great,” he said. “I used golf as ‘I know I’m not good, so let me get better' as opposed to bowling where ‘I know I’m good; how can I get better?’
“Golf was always my fallback. A lot of times I took the entire summer off from bowling.”
Although Morgan had several bowling scholarship offers from colleges, he said he attended Kalamazoo Valley Community College but soon decided college was not for him.
Instead he started working for his uncle, Mark Randall, who owns BoxDrop, which sells mattresses and furniture with stores in Battle Creek – where Morgan works – and Kalamazoo.
He and Caitlyn Ankli live in Kalamazoo with their two corgis, but Morgan still has a fleeting thought.
“I still have that kid desire to go give it a whirl on the PBA Tour,” he said. “I understand just as much as everybody else that life happens and I’ve built a life, I have bills to pay.
“I can’t just take 10 weeks off from work and say, ‘I’m going to bowl.’ Do I want to? Sure. If I had the time, I would certainly give it a whirl.
“At this moment, I’m pretty content with where I’m at: bowling two nights a week, a lot of little local pop-up tournaments to keep in the swing of things. I still have the drive to win.”
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PHOTOS (Top) At left, Trevor Morgan poses for a photo with his third-place medal at the 2018 MHSAA Finals, and at right Morgan bowls this summer. (2) Morgan wears his 300 ring earned when he was 12, and his 800 series ring from 2018. (3) The DDS team, from left: Alex Hale, Antar Howard, Morgan, Collin Rickey and Jared Edgerton. (Bowling and ring photos by Pam Shebest; all others courtesy of Trevor Morgan.)