Alma, Jonesville Add to Trophy Count
March 2, 2018
By Mitchell Boatman
Special for Second Half
MUSKEGON – Alma girls bowling coach Ken Shunk is going out on top.
The 11-year coach decided before the season that this one would be his last, and his team made the most of it.
The Panthers dominated all day Friday and beat Muskegon Oakridge 1,205-1,072 in the Final to capture the MHSAA Division 3 girls bowling team championship at Northway Lanes in Muskegon.
“I’ve got a really talented team here,” Shunk said. “We had a really good year. It feels good to win another state championship. I’ve got five seniors here, and I’m happy for them.”
Coach Shunk is not leaving bowling entirely; he’s just switching roles.
“My daughter (Kemmie Shunk) graduates this year,” he said. “She’s going on to play at Alma College, and I just want to be able to travel and go to her events. That’s the reason I’m resigning.”
Leading the way for the Panthers were seniors Shunk and Morgan Johnson and juniors Hallie Weaver and Sarah Gadde. That group helped the team bowl its best game of the year, a 1,004 in the qualifying round.
Alma trailed 162-161 after the first Baker game in the title match, but took a 338-305 lead into the regular games. Alma the bowled an 867 in the final portion, compared to Oakridge’s 767.
The Division 3 championship was the second in the last three years for the Panthers. Coming off last weekend's Regional win, Alma posted Friday’s highest qualifying score at 3,273. The Panthers defeated Gladwin in the quarterfinals and came back to down Caro in the semifinals 1,106-1,090.
Oakridge reached the final match for the first time in the school's history and made it there with a sixth-place finish in the qualifying round. The Eagles beat Flat Rock in the quarterfinals and topped reigning champion Birch Run 1,102-1,037 in the semifinals.
The win capped off a great season of hard work, Shunk said.
“This year we did some tougher Division 1 tournaments. I think the tougher competition really helped us out,” he added. The Panthers won several of those tournaments and finished undefeated in their conference as well. The regular-season success had them feeling confident going into the Finals.
“We had a great day at Regionals last week and a great singles event as well,” Shunk said. “Coming into today, we were confident that we had one of the better teams here.”
The members of Alma’s champion team were Kemmie Shunk, Morgan Johnson, Hallie Weaver, Sarah Gadde, Morgan Lindsey, Shauna Brenner and Aaliyah Wilson. Shunk, Johnson, Weaver and Gadde all will compete in Saturday’s Singles Final.
Jonesville’s boys, meanwhile, continued their season-long habit of come-from-behind wins Friday.
The Comets captured their school’s second MHSAA boys bowling title with a 1,318-1,146 win over Corunna in the championship round.
Jonesville trailed after the Baker games, but that was nothing new.
“These kids, they’ve fought so hard all year,” Jonesville coach Matt Molinaro said. “They were down in so many matches, and they just fight back and fight back.
“They proved to themselves that they could do that and not give up. I’m proud of them for that.”
The title, while Jonesville’s second, was the first in Division 3. The Comets won Division 4 in 2014.
Against Corunna, the Comets trailed by just eight pins heading to the regular games. Needing a rally, they turned in their best performance of the day.
Jonesville bowled a 1,001, compared to Corunna’s 821, to run away with the title.
But the biggest comeback came in the semifinals. Jonesville trailed Mount Morris by 54 pins following the Baker games but managed to pull out a 1,147-1,111 win.
“That’s all I could reinforce for them,” Molinaro said of his team’s resiliency. “They did this all year. That’s just a few marks; we don’t have to panic. They buckled down and they continue to excel.”
Jonesville finished fourth in the qualifying round with a score of 3,304. The Comets were just six pins shy of second and 18 better than sixth in a crowded field. Jonesville knocked off fifth-seeded Caro in the quarterfinals.
Corunna finished sixth in qualifying. The Cavaliers upset three seed Hopkins and second-seeded Cheboygan. Corunna and Cheboygan were tied heading to the regular games, when the Cavaliers pulled out their dramatic 17-pin victory.
Despite being a senior-heavy team – six of the seven members will be graduating – most of Jonesville’s squad had little varsity experience before this season.
“The majority of them really haven’t had any varsity experience,” Molinaro said. “We’ve had such good teams, they finally busted into the varsity (this year).”
The regular season wasn’t exactly stellar for Jonesville, but one match stood out as a confidence booster.
“We did beat the defending state champions in Vandercook Lake,” Molinaro said. “For that to happen, that gave the guys a little spark.”
Jonesville’s championship roster consisted of Grant Baker, Austin Creger, Dustin Gutowski, Caleb Hoover, Jacob Maynard, Freeman Do and Fred Yaniga.
Click for full girls results and boys results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Alma’s girls bowling team: Sarah Gadde, Morgan Johnson, Morgan Lindsey, head coach Ken Shunk, Kemmie Shunk, Shauna Brenner, Aaliyah Wilson, Hallie Weaver and assistant coach Raedene Shunk. (Middle) Jonesville’s boys bowling team: Assistant coach Matt Davis, Austin Creger, Dustin Gutowski, Caleb Hoover, Jacob Maynard, Grant Baker, Freeman Do, Fred Yaniga and head coach Matt Molinaro.
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.)