Seniors Standouts Cap Careers with D1 Wins
By
Jason Schmitt
Special for MHSAA.com
March 2, 2019
ALLEN PARK – The minute she saw the match play draw at Saturday’s Division 1 Bowling Singles Finals, Oxford’s Megan Armbruster’s eyes lit up. She had already mentally circled a name on her half of the draw.
A year ago Armbruster’s dreams of winning an individual championship were dashed by Jenison’s Lauren Slagter, who ousted Armbruster in the first round of match play. It’s something that did not sit well with the Wildcats senior. So when she saw a potential semifinal matchup at this year’s Finals, she was all in.
“(Slagter) had knocked me out last year and I was upset,” Armbruster said. “After I won the quarterfinal match here today, I noticed that I had to play her and I just wanted to get revenge.”
She certainly got her revenge, and then went on to defeat St. Clair Shores Lake Shore sophomore Dani Decruydt in the title match, 416-367, at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park.
“It feels so awesome to finish my career off like that,” said Armbruster, who was seeded 12th out of the qualifying round. “It was super quiet out there, and my legs were shaking, but I didn’t feel my nerves at all. I just kept throwing the ball, staying super calm and shooting the ball one at a time.”
Armbruster collected four strikes in her first five frames of the final and did not have an open frame the entire first game. She led Decruydt by 34 pins after Game 1 and calmly pulled away for the first Finals singles bowling title in Oxford history.
“I’m especially proud of Megan. Her brother (Eric) bowled for me when she was like in the sixth grade,” said her coach, J.R. Lafnear. “She saw her brother bowl … and she fell in love with the sport.
“So she began working with us. Her mom and the rest of her family are outstanding supporters of our program. For her it’s special.”
Armbruster defeated Taylor’s Abigail Bird in her first match of the day before ousting Flushing’s Evelyn Cano in the quarterfinals.
Decruydt was the seventh seed after six games of qualifying action. She defeated Farmington-Harrison’s Carrington Beaman in her first match and followed it up with wins over Holt’s Gabriella Van Horn and Jenison’s Anna Bartz to reach the Final.
“Dani never gets too high or too low,” said her coach, Jeff Villasurda. “The great thing about Dani is that nothing ever really fazes her. Nothing’s too big for her. So she wasn’t really fazed by what was going on out there. The other girl just made a couple extra shots.”
Over on the boys’ side, Brownstown Woodhaven senior Jeff Lizewski went out in style, catching fire at just the right time.
After piecing together a mediocre qualifying block score of 1,210 – good for just the 15th seed – Lizewski averaged a 222 over eight games of match play, capping things off with a 453-322 victory over Jenison senior Nick Slagter.
Lizewski strung together five straight strikes to open the final and never really had to look back.
“I came out of qualifying 15th, and I started off real bad. I didn’t have a good look at all in the first game,” said Lizewski, who reached the quarterfinal round last year as a junior. “I made a big ball switch, and I threw it until I came home with a win.”
Lizewski, who will be bowling at the University of Wisconsin at Whitewater next year, narrowly edged the 2-seed, Abery Thomas of Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, in his first match, 445-440. He then got past Macomb Dakota’s Kyle Finn, 443-435, in the quarterfinals and downed Salem’s John Hall, 433-325, in the semifinals.
Slagter defeated Saline’s Dallas Casey and Walled Lake Central’s Nick Casagrande and Jarrod Willbur in his next two matches to reach the final.
“If there was one person I’d want to lose to over there it would be Lizewski,” said Slagter, who wrapped up his high school career Saturday. “I have bowled against him in some out-of-season tournaments, and he’s filthy.
“I feel like I bowled great this weekend. I tried my best in the team event yesterday, and we fell just a little short in making the cut. But today, I did fall a little short in the championship match but I’m really happy overall. I had fun.”
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
Swartz Creek Girls Complete Championship Climb with Historic Sweep
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2025
WATERFORD —Swartz Creek girls bowling coach Mike Vanderkuur has never had to look far to try and emulate the state’s gold standard.
Ever since starting the middle school bowling program for Swartz Creek 12 years ago and taking over as head coach of the high school team seven years later, Vanderkuur has soaked up everything league rival and neighbor Flint Kearsley did en route to winning nine Division 2 titles over the last 11 seasons.
“It’s always been my goal to do what Kearsley has done,” Vanderkuur said. “It was definitely where I wanted to get to.”
Vanderkuur and Swartz Creek arrived Friday during the Division 2 Team Final at Century Bowl, finishing first out of the qualifying block and then rolling to its first championship.
The Dragons finished their run with a three-game sweep of Cedar Springs in the final, winning 148-138, 223-115 and 201-196 in the best-of-five Baker game format.
Vanderkuur and his bowlers were obviously emotional afterward, reflecting on the fact they spent years together through the middle school program and on the high school team working for this moment.
“Every one of these girls besides two started in sixth grade,” Vanderkuur said. “They’ve stuck, stuck and stuck all the way up.”
As it advanced, Swartz Creek felt like it was destined for a championship match against Kearsley, but the bracket didn’t pan out that way.
In the semifinals, Cedar Springs earned a four-game win (146-162, 172-157, 188-158, 175-148) over Kearsley to set up the matchup with Swartz Creek, which defeated Sparta 210-148 in the fifth game of a semifinal match.
But in its first appearance in the championship match, Cedar Springs couldn’t muster the same energy against Swartz Creek.
“Honestly, I just think our girls ran out of steam,” Cedar Springs head coach Crystal Morales said. “I think the energy was pretty much out. It kind of fell apart at the end.”
Swartz Creek had a score of 3,337 out of the qualifying block, well ahead of No. 2 seed Bay City John Glenn’s total of 3,196.
The Dragons then earned a four-game win over Mason in the quarterfinals.
Swartz Creek was a bit surprised to not see Kearsley in the championship match, but didn’t let up against Cedar Springs.
“I dreamt of it,” said Swartz Creek senior Kaidance Gates-Leonard. “I wish the older girls (before) would have made it. But we do good every year, and we deserve it.”
Morales said the main goal for her team was to make it out of the qualifying block, and Cedar Springs managed to do that by 74 pins as the No. 7 seed.
The Red Hawks then got hot, starting with a four-game win over John Glenn in the quarterfinals before knocking off Kearsley.
“After the first individual game, I didn’t think we were in the cut,” Morales said. “That last (individual game), we pulled a 934, and I was like ‘We might have just pulled ourselves in this.’
Kearsley was the third seed out of the qualifying block and defeated Three Rivers in the quarterfinals in four games.
Sparta recorded a five-game win over New Boston Huron in the other quarterfinal.