Flint Kearsley, New Boston Huron Rule D2

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

March 1, 2019

WATERFORD – There couldn’t have been a more appropriate showdown for the Division 2 girls bowling team championship Friday.

Flint Kearsley and Tecumseh entered No. 1 and No. 2 in number of Division 2 titles won, and happened to be seeded No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, out of the qualifying block.

Both won their quarterfinals and semifinals to set up a rematch of last year’s Final. But from there, Kearsley went out and took sole possession of the spotlight. 

Kearsley won its sixth straight Division 2 title with a 1,352-1,239 win over Tecumseh, although it took a rally late in the regular game.

“I’ve got seven of the best girls I think I’ve ever had,” Kearsley head coach Rob Ploof said. “This is one heck of a team.”

After leading by two pins following the two Baker games, Kearsley struggled in the first few frames and saw Tecumseh take a sizable lead. 

But Kearsley showed its championship mettle, rallying to win the regular game going away, 997-886.

“I just got them together and said, ‘You’ve got to want it. You’ve got to want it more than they do,’” Ploof said. “They had to find a way to win the game, and they did.”

Kearsley knocked off Coldwater in a quarterfinal, 1,315-1,135, before beating Charlotte in one semifinal, 1,332-1,264. 

Tecumseh beat Mason in the quarterfinals, 1,309-1,204, before topping Carleton Airport in the other semi by just six pins, 1,151-1,145.

Tecumseh was seeking its first Finals title since it won three straight from 2008-10.

“Rob is an amazing coach, and it seems like when he huddles them up, they come out striking,” Tecumseh head coach Ken Richard said. “We couldn’t hang with them. But they blew us out of the water last year, and we hung with them longer this time. I’m real proud of the girls.” 

As for the boys competition, the Final matchup was the opposite scenario featuring two teams that advanced to the championship match for the first time.

New Boston Huron and Tecumseh both made it farther than they ever had, but it was New Boston Huron that took home the championship trophy, knocking off Tecumseh by a score of 1,403-1,352.

“It’s been a special year,” New Boston Huron head coach Larry Collins said. “It’s a team of destiny. They worked hard and probably were the best group of kids I’ve had.”

New Boston Huron was the top seed out of the qualifying block, while Tecumseh was the seventh seed.  

Continuing its dominance throughout the day, New Boston Huron took a 436-321 lead after the two Baker games.

Tecumseh made it interesting in the regular game and beat New Boston Huron 1,031-967, but that margin wasn’t enough to overcome the Baker deficit. 

New Boston Huron beat Jackson Northwest in the quarterfinals, 1,296-1,231, and then beat Owosso in one semifinal, 1,323-1,166. 

Tecumseh beat Coldwater in a quarterfinal, 1,320-1,187, and then dispatched Cadillac in the semifinals, 1,422-1,325. 

Tecumseh junior bowler Hunter Rapaich, the second bowler in the lineup, rolled a 300 during the regular game. 

Click for full girls results and full boys results.

New Boston Huron photo courtesy of New Boston Huron athletic department.

Gift of Bowling Keeps Giving as Eisenhower's Harnden Pursues Championship Repeat

By Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com

January 30, 2025

Birthday parties usually feature the best gifts for the person celebrating the birthday. But in this case, the best gift might have ended up going to one of the party’s attendees. 

Greater DetroitBack when he was in fifth grade, current Utica Eisenhower senior bowler Dylan Harnden was invited to a birthday party at Shelby Lanes in Shelby Township by friend and current Eisenhower bowling teammate Kingston Corpuz.

That day, they celebrated Corpuz – and Harnden received the gift of being introduced to bowling. 

“That was his first time bowling, and he basically got the bug that he wanted to bowl,” he said Dylan’s father and current Eisenhower coach Mark Harnden. “From that point forward, he just kind of wanted to get better and better.”

The last couple of years, it can be argued that there’s been no better high schooler in the state.

Last year as a junior, Harnden captured the Division 1 Singles Finals title after also winning his Regional. Naturally, he was named to the all-state Dream Team by the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association.

This season, Harnden completed a unique career trifecta by winning the individual title at the Macomb County championship. 

“I can say that I’ve won that tournament along with other great Macomb bowlers who have won that tournament,” he said. “It was great to see myself winning it.”

In addition, Harnden is sporting a 222 average — one pin below his average last year — and has scholarship offers in tow from two prestigious college bowling programs, St. Ambrose University in Iowa and Trine University in Indiana. 

Not bad for someone who didn’t know anything about the sport until that birthday party invite roughly seven years ago.

“It only took me maybe about a half year to a year to get the hang of everything and get really good,” Harnden said. “It was interesting at first.”

In addition to winning the state title last season, Harnden as a sophomore in 2023 finished first out of the qualifying block at the Division 1 Final but ended up falling to eventual champion Brendan Riley of Waterford Mott in the quarterfinal round. 

This year, Harnden’s big objective has been continuing to master mental aspects of the game. 

“A lot of things this year compared to last year is the same stuff, except for trying to expand my knowledge,” he said. “Knowing how to transition better, knowing what balls to go to and trying to hit different shots. Just expanding knowledge mainly from last year to this year just so if I encounter new scenarios, I can use it better.”

Mark Harnden said Dylan when he was younger tried a one-handed bowling style, but quickly discovered that going with the two-handed style was a better fit for him.

“It allowed him to bowl with a heavier bowling ball,” he said. “As you know, heavier balls don’t tend to deflect off the pins.”

This year, not only could Dylan Harnden be a contender to win another Singles Finals title, but he has a decent shot of being part of a team champion thanks to a merger. 

The Utica and Eisenhower bowling programs joined forces as one this year, something Mark Harnden said was talked about for a while due to low participation numbers experienced by both programs.

“We’re trying to really allow two programs to survive in the downside until more kids get interested in bowling,” he said. 

What the merger has created is a pair of powerful combined Utica-Eisenhower programs.

The girls team now features contributors from last season’s Macomb Area Conference Red and White champions joined together as one, with returning all-state bowlers Ava Mazza (sophomore, Utica) and Sophia Matheson (senior, Eisenhower) atop an incredibly deep lineup.

For the boys, what was the outstanding duo of Harnden and Corpuz has turned into a terrific trio, with sophomore Marco Mazza joining the fray. Ava and Marco Mazza are twins whose father, John, bowled professionally.

Keith DunlapKeith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.

(Photo of Dylan Harnden courtesy of the Harnden family.)