Unforgettable Afternoon Nets Traverse City Christian Boys' 1st Finals Title
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
March 1, 2024
MUSKEGON – Lunch may not have been sitting too well with members of Traverse City Christian’s boys bowling team Friday afternoon.
The Sabres struggled, by their standards, during the qualifying block of the MHSAA Division 4 Final at Northway Lanes and didn’t know if they’d even make match play.
They felt much better before dinner time. Traverse City Christian ripped through bracket play and captured the first Finals title in the school’s boys bowling history, capping the run with a three-games-to-one victory over Jonesville in the championship match.
About 90 minutes later, Traverse City Christian’s girls team seized the state title for a Sabres sweep.
“When (the boys bowlers) went into lunch, we didn’t even know if we made it into the (bracket) – the final eight – because they weren’t doing so hot,” Traverse City Christian coach Andy Radtke said. “I was really disappointed because they worked so hard. To me, that was the hugest thing.
“And then to come out and shoot the 256 Baker right off the bat, I mean, it changed the narrative.”
Traverse City Christian shot 256 in its first game of a Quarterfinal sweep against Houghton Lake. The Sabres shot 256, 200, and 193 in the quarters. In a 3-1 Semifinal win over St. Charles, the Sabres went 201, 200, 201, and 169.
In the Final, Traverse City Christian and Jonesville alternated Baker game wins. The Sabres took the first (180-169) and third (194-161) and the Comets won the second game (196-181). TCC won the decisive fourth game by the slimmest of margins, 200-199, when the last Jonesville bowler threw a decent ball but left the 4-6-7-9-10 pins in what bowlers call the “Greek Church.”
“That last shot was unbelievable. That was still a good shot and maybe a seven-count was what we needed (to win the fourth game), but with the Greek Church, that was brutal,” said Jonesville coach Matt Molinaro, whose 2018 squad captured the Division 3 title at Northway Lanes. The Comets won a Division 4 championship in 2014 as well.
“I had a couple of guys that were struggling,” Molinaro said. “They couldn’t get through it. Then it was too late in the game to try and sub out. … I really thought we were going to be OK. After that third game, I grouped them up and said, ‘Hey, you know we’re winning this, right?’ (The bowlers responded) ‘Yeah, we’re winning.’ And then we came out and they answered. They did everything they had to do.”
Brent Wheat, the “mechanics guy” on Traverse City Christian’s coaching staff and Radtke’s son-in-law, wasn’t certain at the time what the Sabres needed to do to pull off the fourth game.
In fairness to Wheat, he hustles back and forth between boys and girls competitions and he was trying to keep an eye on Traverse City Christian’s girls squad that was taking on Jonesville in a Semifinal.
“It took a minute to process because we thought that we weren’t going to win that game (game four), and then (the Jonesville bowler’s) ball went unfortunately a little heavy. And then we were doing the math, trying to figure it out, and then it clicked, ‘Oh, my gosh, it was one pin,’” Wheat said. “There’s this elation down there, all these happy thoughts, and I have to come down to the girls. We’re in a battle with Jonesville in the Semifinals for the girls.”
Traverse City Christian was the final of eight squads to make it out of the 16-team qualifying block. The Sabres totaled 3,107 pins in qualifying rounds. Houghton Lake finished first in qualifying at 3,472.
Jonesville was second in qualifying at 3,377. In best-of-five match play, Jonesville beat Riverview Gabriel Richard in the Quarterfinal (3-1) and Saginaw Nouvel Catholic Central in the Semifinal (3-0).
Traverse City Christian’s team featured two seniors, one junior, one sophomore, and two freshmen, which makes Wheat pretty optimistic about the future as well.
For Sabres senior Tristan Lhamon, the time was now to realize the dream.
“This means a lot. These are some of my best friends, and I get to do it with them. It’s an amazing thing, and I love it,” Lhamon said. “We are really good at persevering. We have to battle some of the top D-1 teams, and we are so bonded by Jesus Christ, our Lord and savior, all of us, and we work together, we fight, and we’re really good at it.”
Wheat called the Traverse City Christian bowling program “a family business.”
Business was really good Friday.
“My in-laws and I started doing this 16 years ago,” Wheat said. “Our first year here, we took one boy, he was in ninth grade, and we said, ‘Man, wouldn’t it be cool to make it some day?’ And then we won one of these with the girls over COVID and it was like, ‘Gosh, this is unreal. We never thought that it was even possible.’ And then a dream happens today … I’m speechless, really.”
Better Than Perfection: Brown Follows Team Runner-Up Finish with Singles Championship
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
March 2, 2026
ALLEN PARK — Grandville senior Ethan Brown has bowled five perfect games during his young life, incredible given bowling just one might be the highlight of many people’s careers.
It’s hard to believe Brown could do something that felt even better than all five of those perfect games combined. But he did just that Monday at the Division 1 Singles Bowling Finals.
Brown closed out his high school career by winning his first individual championship, finishing it off with a 419-384 victory over Salem junior Andrew Fsadni in the deciding match.
When asked if the title felt better than all those perfect games, Brown flashed a wide smile.
“A lot better,” he said.
Brown and the rest of his Grandville teammates went to bed Sunday night a little down after suffering a loss in the team championship match to Dearborn Unified. However, Brown quickly refocused and said getting far as a team paid big dividends for him during the individual tournament.
“Coming in here yesterday gave me a great idea of what to do today,” he said. “I really think yesterday helped me prepare for today. You just have to keep a level head. The more you keep your head clear, the better.”
Brown was trailing in the early frames of the championship match but caught fire from there, bowling five straight strikes to take a 30-pin lead into the second game.
Following an open frame early in the second, Brown got hot again, rolling six straight strikes to create a deficit too large for Fsadni to overcome.
“At first, my ball wasn’t really coming back,” Brown said. “I talked to my coach, and we made an adjustment. Thankfully it was the right one. We just moved more right and tried to keep it a little inside to try and control that pocket and move that 10 (pin) out.”
Grandville head coach Nick Watkins said Brown was an important bowler on Grandville’s Division 1 championship team two years ago and has been relied on as the anchor bowler for most of this year.
“A heck of a bowler who was believing in himself,” Watkins said. “This year, he stepped up in his leadership role as a senior and helped out the team. He taught himself a lot more. I just couldn’t say any better words about a kid to have on the team.”
Brown was the No. 9 seed out of the qualifying block and started his run with a narrow 380-374 win over St. Clair Shores Lakeview freshman Drew Dimuzio in the round of 16.
Brown then ran into a familiar foe in the quarterfinals, junior teammate Cash Pulcifer, who was the top seed out of the qualifying block.
Brown earned a 469-418 victory.
“We told them, ‘Whoever wins better go win this one,’” Watkins said. “He did exactly his job.”
Brown went on to earn a 437-423 win over Detroit U-D Jesuit senior Emory Stone in the semifinals.
For Fsadni, it marked a second-straight trip to match play after losing in the quarterfinals last year.
“I brought one of my urethane (balls) out, and I don’t normally throw it a lot,” Fsadni said. “But it looked great in practice, and I said, ‘You know what? I’m just going to bring it in here.’
“I had a great day. This was my goal all along was to be top two. Beat last year, because I have one more year to beat the last two years.”
The only sad part for Fsadni was that his team had six seniors whom he looked up to throughout his high school career. Next year, he’ll be the senior everyone seeks to follow.
“I’d never be here if it wasn’t for my team,” he said. “My goal (next year) is to get the underclassmen to find love for this sport.”
Seeded No. 2 out of the qualifying block, Fsadni first earned a 489-383 win over Muskegon Mona Shores senior Skyler Bosch in the round of 16. He then earned a 427-390 win over Troy Athens freshman Noah Magoian in the quarterfinals and a 405-388 triumph over Grand Blanc senior Lucas Knowles in the semifinals.