Flint Corridor Powers Girls Bowling's Best
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
December 13, 2017
Girls bowling teams in the Flint area do not need to drive far to find high-level competition.
A 28-mile route can be taken from reigning Division 3 champion Birch Run – just north of the Saginaw/Genesee county line – to Division 1 champion Davison. And along the way, one can see 2016-17 Division 2 champion Flint Kearsley out the window.
It’s quite a consolidation of power in a single sport, but one that shouldn’t be too surprising to those who follow bowling.
“Whenever you think of bowling alleys,” Birch Run coach Teddy Villarreal said, “you think of either the Flint area or Detroit.”
The majority of girls bowling teams in the state will spend their seasons chasing these three teams. Some – including Birch Run, which claimed its first MHSAA title last winter – have been doing that with Kearsley and Davison for years.
“Whenever you go to a tournament and you hear Kearsley and Davison – remember when (Michael) Jordan was playing basketball? That is what it’s like whenever you’re facing Kearsley and facing Davison,” Villarreal said.
The Kearsley and Davison bowling rivalry is a friendly one.
The two schools are about 10 miles apart. Rob Ploof, who coaches both the Kearlsey boys and girls, and Davison boys coach Bob Tubbs stood in each other’s weddings as the best man.
Their girls teams have mirrored each other in recent years, each having won five of the past six MHSAA titles in their respective divisions. Since the frequent meetings between former Big Nine Conference foes now happen in nonconference tournaments, they serve mostly to benefit both teams in a competitive sense.
“We see them at a lot of tournaments, and we’re kind of close to their team, I would say,” Kearsley senior Barbara Hawes said. “We’re rivals, but I feel like it’s just a friendly competition, and it’s competition that makes us better because our scores are so close and we have the same end goal.”
They weren’t always the teams being chased, of course. Early in his tenure, Ploof made a point to seek out Sterling Heights Stevenson, which was a state power in the mid-to-late 2000s.
“When I started my first year of coaching, Sterling Heights Stevenson had won a state title, so I wanted to find out who the coach was and ask him how he did it,” Ploof said. “He said, ‘Get your kids into tournaments, and get them good competition.’ I said, ‘Which tournaments are you guys in, because I’m going to those ones.’”
The Kearsley and Davison girls each reached the pinnacle in 2012, claiming their first MHSAA Finals titles and starting their current runs of dominance.
While seeking out top-notch competition has been a big part of the rise of both programs, perhaps the biggest has been the youth bowling scene in the Flint area, which Ploof said is tremendous. He credits a lot of that to Jim Teuber, the owner of Richfield Bowl, which serves as Kearsley’s home venue. Ploof said Teuber runs a youth program that busses about 150 kids to the bowling alley to learn the game at a young age.
Middle school programs in the area also seeing high turnout, which feeds into the high schools.
“The whole Flint area is kind of on board with that,” Ploof said. “Last year, we had 50 teams in our program -- Kearsley had six, Davison had five, Grand Blanc has six teams -- that definitely makes bowling for kids in our area better. That’s why you’re seeing the success from our area; it’s starting with the middle school kids.”
Competing for Kearsley is something bowlers look forward to from an early age. This season, 22 girls tried out for the team, allowing Ploof to field multiple junior varsity squads.
“I think that it’s what everyone aspires to get to throughout their years,” Hawes said. “We have a lot of youth programs, and most of the kids that work at the bowling alley are the high school bowlers who are like coaches. In our bowling alley, we have the mini state title trophies, and we have our banners up, so they see those things at a young age.”
While the bowlers at Birch Run don’t aspire to be members of the Kearsley team, they have been looking to get to that level. There’s still a ways to go to achieve that type of sustained success, but the Panthers feel they’re at least on the right path.
“The bowling teams before us (at Birch Run) were pretty good, and definitely set high standards,” Birch Run junior Madison Hoffman said. “I think we’ve definitely improved, and you could say we definitely achieved a lot of our goals, and we really set the standards higher.”
Hoffman added that she and her teammates believe they can compete now when they see Kearsley or Davison in a tournament, which is a big step forward.
It’s something Hawes and her Kearsley teammates welcome.
“I think it’s really cool to see how teams are looking up to us, because we’ve worked so hard to get to this point,” Hawes said. “It’s really cool to see people trying to compete at a higher level.”
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) The Flint Kearsley girls bowling team hoists its Division 2 championship trophy last season. (Middle) Birch Run’s girls celebrated their first MHSAA Finals title last winter. (Below) Like Kearsley, Davison has built a string of successful finishes in Division 1. (Davison and Kearsley photos courtesy of those schools’ bowling programs; Birch Run’s photo courtesy of Teddy Villarreal.)
Pennfield, Birch Run Shine at Title Time
March 3, 2017
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
BATTLE CREEK – For 52 weeks, the Battle Creek Pennfield boys bowling team has been on a mission.
On Friday, its mission was accomplished. The Panthers, who felt frustrated a year ago after finishing second at the MHSAA Division 3 Final, left little room for error.
After winning its Regional a week ago, Pennfield led qualifying Friday morning to earn the No. 1 seed for the eight-team match play. After winning two matches – each by more than 100 pins – Pennfield led Corunna from start to finish in the championship match to register a 1,312-1,189 victory on its home lanes at M-66 Bowl.
“That was the focus all year,” Pennfield coach Mike Roach said of winning the title after finishing runner-up a year ago. “It really was the main goal. They were a little disappointed last year in the Finals as they didn't bowl as well as they had all year. Last year, we missed nine one-pin spares in the first four frames.”
“Every single tournament they've just gotten it done, getting ready for this. We had 948 the last game. You can't beat that.”
Sophomore James Ruoff led the way with 231 in the final game. He started the game with four strikes in a row to help jump on Corunna, which had four opens in the first frame.
“It was so good to get off to an early start, and everything settled in,” said Ruoff, who won the Regional singles championship last weekend. “There were nerves a little bit, but this is my home alley, and I spend more time here than I do my own house.”
Pennfield had a 1-2 punch of 200-plus scores in the title game as junior Sean Young rolled 222. Young struck in seven of the first nine frames before missing a spare in the 10th.
“I realized that we were going against a tough team,” Young said. “Corunna is a big team for us and a big challenge, and I've seen them the past three years.
“Our biggest goal at the beginning of the year was to win state. We said to each other, 'This is where we were last year. We need to step it up.' That's when I thought in my mind that I needed to step it up and hit my mark.”
Senior captain Max Jackson, a left-hander, made his last team game a memorable one. After a spare in the first frame, Jackson had opens in his next three frames, leaving him with 43 through four frames.
“I’m not happy at all,” Jackson said of his thoughts at the time. “I'm struggling, and it's my last chance. I have to give it all I've got. I just mentally regrouped and knew it was time I needed to step it up a little bit. I'm the captain, and I need to show my team the way.”
After having just 43 in the fourth, Jackson finished with 187, and the resiliency he showed did not surprise his coach at all.
“He's done it all year,” Roach said of Jackson, who qualified third individually in the Regional. “He finished with six in a row. This year he really stepped up his game.”
Pennfield also had junior Joe Larsen with 158 and senior Bailey Neal with 150. Neal finished second individually last year. Nick Hohnberger and Trace Davis also got into the match late as substitutes.
Corunna, which qualified third, was paced by four bowlers bunched in the 160s as it had 782 in the final game.
The 39-foot Kegel “Allen Pattern” presented a challenge for the players. The last spot in match play averaged 171.1, and the Panthers averaged a tournament-best 182.9 over the eight Baker games and two regular five-player games.
“This is a hard house to score in,” Roach said. “But I always say no matter where we are, everybody is bowling on the same condition. We give ourselves an advantage because all year we bowl on the high-school pattern – our dual matches, we go to tournaments that have it – so we practice on it all year.”
The Birch Run girls figured out the pattern better than the others as they won the first bowling MHSAA Finals championship in school history.
“It was a very tough shot, and I enjoy it as it brings out the best in everybody,” Birch Run coach Teddy Villarreal said. “It's more gratifying to know that because this shot is what we practiced for. We practice this shot.”
After finishing seventh in the qualifying session, Birch Run downed No. 2 seed Alma and topped No. 6 seed Hudsonville Unity Christian to earn a spot in the Final against top-seeded Gladwin.
Birch Run had a 20-pin lead after the two Baker games and seemed to have the match in hand going into the 10th frame. But two of the first three Panthers opened in the 10th, while all three Gladwin bowlers either struck or picked up their spares.
That set the stage for senior Tessie Birchmeier, who sewed up the championship with three strikes in the 10th frame for a team-high 195 as Birch Run defeated Gladwin 1,053-1,013.
“It was really nerve-wracking, and in that 10th frame I was freaking out,” Birchmeier said. “I felt like I was going to pass out, but I didn't, luckily. It was very nerve-wracking.”
After winning the title, the nerves were gone but the excitement remained.
“Oh my gosh, it's like the best thing I've ever felt,” she said. “After we won, it was so relieving, and all we did was cry.”
Sophomore Madison Hoffman was second for Birch Run with 171.
“It's very overwhelming. Definitely,” she said. “I had to make a lot of adjustments during the game. You just kind of have to take it by time and keep going.
“I really didn't feel a lot of nerves going into the last game. It really didn't even feel like a state championship. It just felt like a regular tournament, but it didn't feel like a regular tournament when we won. It felt great.”
The third-best score on the team came from senior Kendra Grady, who bowled 153 in the championship match on the day before her 18th birthday.
“This is what I wanted for my birthday,” she said. “And there is the Individual Finals, too. That could be the frosting on the cake.”
Denise Bryce added 125 and Madison Barlow shot 109 in the title match for Birch Run, and Morgan Hawkins got to bowl late in the match. Gladwin was led by Bailey Weston with 165.
Birch Run had to overcome a stumble early in qualifying as it shot 113 in the third Baker game before reeling off games of 193 and 171.
“I just let them know it was a bad game and to get over it and move on, and they did,” Villarreal said. “This is something we planned, and we talked about what we needed to do to get here. It was to practice on things like spares and the mental part of our game and dedication.
“To get to this level, all year we've been doing that and winning titles. This is one of those stepping stones where we knew we could do it, we believed we could do it – I knew we could do it – and the girls put it together and it's done.”
The title meant a little more to Villarreal for reasons he would not disclose.
“This team went through a lot of adversity this year that I won't get into,” he said. “They fought, and they fought, and they fought, and they never gave up. That's what I love about this team.”
It seems champions often share one common bond: The ability to persevere and rise to the occasion when it is needed the most.
Jackson, the Pennfield senior captain who finished with six strikes for a 187, summed it up.
“We've been talking about it since Day 1,” he said of the championship. “We've always talked about this being our ultimate goal, and to get here and do it is just amazing.
“We had the team, and we had the opportunity, and we grabbed it.”
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
PHOTOS: (Top) The Battle Creek Pennfield boys celebrate their Division 3 title Friday at M-66 Bowl. (Middle) Birch Run’s girls claimed their first MHSAA championship in the sport.