Kearsley Sweeps D2 Bowling Titles
February 28, 2014
By Sarah Jaeger
Special to Second Half
WATERFORD –Flint Kearsley swept the MHSAA Division Bowling Finals as the boys took home their first championship trophy and the girls claimed their second title in three years Friday.
"It's awesome. It'll never get old," Kearsley girls coach Robert Ploof said.
"Just to have the whole program be successful is just a dream come true. We had our AD here. We had a principal. We had a superintendent here. I mean, just to have everyone here to see it is amazing. It couldn't be any better."
But who knew the secret to winning an MHSAA championship was a good book?
It turns out a paperback was the calming factor to help the girls team through the brackets and eventually clinch the title over Bay City Western in the final match at Century Lanes.
Ploof would have his girls read chapters from "With Winning In Mind" by Olympic gold medalist Lanny Basshamm to keep them focused throughout the competition.
"What a fantastic book,” Ploof said. “It keeps their mind on something else, and it's a mental thing that gets their head in the game as well."
While the book may have keep their heads in the game, a motto kept their hearts in it.
"One Team, One Heart, On Goal," said junior Kayla Emmendorfer, who also was part of the 2012 championship team and threw a 233 during Friday’s final match against Western.
"From the beginning, we fill out a sheet of paper what are our main goals, and we all said state championship, regionals, and conference, and we did it. So it worked."
It worked so well, in fact, the Flint Kearsley boys adopted their own motto.
"’Never give up, never let up’ and they've done that all year long," coach Bart Rutledge said. "Never once have they thought they were out of it."
While the Kearsley boys led the morning qualifying block with a score of 3,548, they had to fight back in the Semifinals and Final after falling behind in the Baker set.
"We started that last match and everyone was tight and a little nervous. Now they know what to expect, and I think it will be better for them," Rutledge said.
He will have seven bowlers returning next year as seniors. However, the championship brought this year's lone senior, Peter Sorsen, to tears when accepting the team trophy.
"I've seen it since I was a freshman and wanted to do this, and now I'm here," Sorsen said. "I couldn't ask for a better team or a better coach."
On their way to the championship, the Kearsley boys beat eighth-seeded Ortonville-Brandon and fifth-seeded Mount Pleasant before facing Marysville, a team with a Regional championship and undefeated record, in the Final.
"I don't think I've ever sat on the edge of my seat so much in my life. It was just a great day," Marysville coach Debbie Lietzow said.
"I'm very proud of them. All the way to the end. They came into it wanting to win. That's all I can ask."
"I think we did really good," Marysville junior Brandon Armstead added. "It was really hard toward the end, but I still think we did a good job."
For their road to the championship, the Flint Kearsley girls faced off against eighth-seeded Ionia and fifth-seeded Escanaba before meeting third-seeded Bay City Western in the Final.
"They did awesome today," Bay City Western coach Rick Dodick said of his team. "We worked hard all year, and this was one of their goals – that we get back to the state tournament for the fourth year in a row. Last year we finished third. This year we finished second. So we've been improving every year, so I'm very proud of them and very proud of the effort they put forth today."
However, getting to the championship match takes more than just getting lucky one day of the year.
"They worked very hard and took practice very serious, and worked hard as a team this year," said Dodick.
Despite making it to the MHSAA Finals in previous years, Western senior Haley Delestowicz admitted she still had some jitters during her last tournament.
"I don't usually get nervous, but today I can say I was a little nervous and I was super excited to take a run at the title,” she said. “We bowled against some great teams, and they were great competition. But you had to keep your cool to make your spares and strike out."
Click for full girls results and full boys results.
PHOTO: The Flint Kearsley bowling teams pose with their MHSAA championship trophies Friday. (Photo by Sarah Jaeger.)
Comeback Champs Claim D3 Titles
March 6, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special for Second Half
JACKSON – At a time when it needed them most, strikes became contagious for the Corunna girls bowling team late in the third and final game of the MHSAA Division 3 championship match Friday at Airport Lanes.
Freshman Morgan Gilbert caught the bug initially. Bowling in the leadoff position, Gilbert struck from the fourth through seventh frames as Corunna wiped out a deficit against Coloma.
In that seventh frame, three of Gilbert’s four teammates followed with strikes as the Cavaliers defeated Coloma 1,233-1,170 for its first MHSAA championship in bowling.
“We didn’t really have anything going on, and someone needed to step up,” said Gilbert, who rolled 201 in the deciding match. “I felt like we needed to do it now, and if we didn’t do it, then we weren’t going to do it at all.”
Corunna, which a week earlier won its Regional at Eastland Bowl in Kalamazoo, was first after the morning qualifying by five pins ahead of Coloma. The Cavaliers defeated reigning champion Croswell-Lexington in the Quarterfinal and Grand Rapids South Christian in the Semifinal.
In the title match, Coloma won the first Baker game 183-144, and Corunna took the second 201-162, making it even going into the third and deciding individual match. Coloma started strong in the third game before Corunna regrouped.
“I was a little bit concerned, but these girls know what they have to do to battle back,” Corunna coach Ryan Koyne said.” They never give up. We had some nerves out there, you could definitely tell. I might have been the most nervous out of the entire group.”
Junior Hannah Eldridge, who made the Singles Semifinals a year ago, led Corunna with a 208 from the third spot.
“In the individuals you are by yourself, but winning states with a team is so different,” she said. “We just tried to keep each other going and keep making spares, but it was very nerve-wracking. I’m really proud of our team.”
Morgen Scott added 173 for Corunna, while freshman Brianna Eldridge had 156 and senior Sierra Howes added 150.
“There are no emotions to describe this,” Scott said. “It was the most thrilling thing you could ever think of. You can’t understand the feeling of winning states.
“It had never been done at Corunna before until today, and I’m the happiest person on earth right now.”
Howes said that bowling well late in games was something the team had done all day.
“I believed we could come back because most of the games we bowled today we were behind in the first five frames but then in the last five frames we came out and won,” she said. “I am very emotional right now. Being a senior and winning conference, regional and state is just beyond how words can explain.
“It’s really a great feeling.”
While winning in come-from-behind fashion was nothing new for Corunna, it was a new sensation for Armada’s boys, who trailed by 38 pins after the two Baker games before beating Richmond 1,202-1,166 to win the MHSAA championship.
“We started out good and then sort of hit a soft spot, but we pushed through,” leadoff bowler Edward Seefried, a sophomore, said. “There wasn’t much concern because we know we’re a good singles team and we could pull through. We really hadn’t fallen behind before, so we had to come back, so that was a little different.”
Armada, the Regional champion at Cherry Hill Lanes in Dearborn Heights, won its first Bowling Finals championship in school history and did it against a school with which it shares home lanes.
“We know them very well, so it was good to bowl them, and we knew before the last match that at least the state title was coming back to the conference.”
A 147 in the second Baker game left Armada 38 pins behind Richmond going into the final individual game.
“We were behind in the Baker, but we picked up some momentum late in the second game,” Armada coach James Carl said.
Armada was pretty steady in the final game, while Richmond was not able to keep its momentum from its scores of 178 and 198 in the two Baker games. Armada won the third game 867-794 to erase the 38-pin deficit and win the state championship.
Senior Zack Blackstock, who has been bowling since the second grade, led the way with a 198.
“The feeling is unreal,” he said. “We were down 38 pins, and my coach told me I just needed to cover my guy and every spare counted. I made everything I could. I ended with a 198 and threw it the best I could.
“I think the major turnaround was just keeping everyone together. We’re a good group of boys. When someone gets down, the others bring you up. You’re only as good as your weakest link.”
Seefried threw a 184 for Armada, followed by Kyle Gest (171), Nick Medley (161) and a combined 145 from Brandon Carrizales and Matt Hammer. Medley converted a tough 4-10 split late in the game that Seefried said “really changed things.”
Medley, a senior, said he was not concerned about the 38-pin deficit after the Baker games.
“Two Baker games don’t mean anything,” he said. “In the individuals you can shoot 1,000 pins, and in a Baker game you can only get 400. Anything can happen; you have five bowlers bowling 10 frames. They started off with some open frames, and that gave us a little motivation to get up and start throwing some strikes.
“This is a great way to end it.”
Armada, which was seeded No. 2 after the morning qualifying session, defeated Birch Run in the Quarterfinals and Jonesville, last year’s Division 4 champion, in the Semifinals. Defending Division 3 champion Fremont, which had won two of the previous three MHSAA titles, did not make it out of the morning qualifying session.
Click for full girls results and boys results.