JACKSON – Marielle Schafran will not have to travel far to reminisce about what turned into a magical day on the lanes.

The Grass Lake High School junior became the first individual bowler in school history to claim an MHSAA Finals championship, winning the Division 3 singles title Saturday at JAX 60 — a short drive west of her school.

“It’s an amazing feeling being in my hometown, winning states,” she said. “I never thought I’d be here, but I wouldn’t have been able to do it without my family, friends and coaches.

“Now every time I come here it’ll remind me of it.”

She’ll likely linger a little longer at lanes 13 and 14, the site of the championship match against Otisville-LakeVille Memorial senior Myla Upthegrove. Schafren found herself in a 10-pin hole after the first of two games in the final despite rolling five strikes.

Trailing 180-170 and coming off a spare and open frame in the first two frames of the second game, Schafren rolled a six-bagger and eventually finished with 233 to Upthegrove’s 194 for a 403-374 victory.

The individual title helped ease the sting of the top-ranked Warriors falling in the Semifinals of the team event the day before to eventual champion Milan.

“I came in with a fresh mindset and knew that it’s a new day and everything’s different each day,” she said. “Just come in, make my spares and make good shots.”

Grass Lake coach Lindsey Torcolacci said it took a bit of convincing on her part to show Schafren that a Finals title was attainable.

“Today she came in and she wasn’t sure,” Torcolacci said. “I told her, ‘You’ve got this. You’ve been working for this for a while.’ We’re so proud of her.”

Schafren qualified 11th of 16 with a total of 1,088 after closing with games of 219 and 190. She opened match play with scores of 181 and 188 to beat Bronson freshman Audrey Shiery then secured a 389-317 victory over Flat Rock junior Diane Percha in the quarterfinals.

She advanced to the championship with games of 241 and 202 for 443 — the best two-game total of any competitor in the bracket — to defeat Grand Rapids West Catholic senior Ashley Van Linden.

Upthegrove qualified eighth with a total of 1,138 that included three games north of 200. She rolled 225 and 206 to win her first-round match over Ogemaw Heights senior Elena Martinez then pulled off a huge upset in the quarterfinal by sidelining top seed Maggie Smith of Milan, who dominated qualifying with a six-game total of 1,350 on scores of 247, 212, 203, 232, 207 and 249. Her score was 143 pins clear of second-seeded Averie Via of Ishpeming Westwood.

Upthegrove won 383-360 to advance to the semifinals where she defeated Madison Heights Bishop Foley senior Jacey Thibodeau 380-349.

“Honestly I was very surprised,” Upthegrove said of her runner-up finish. “I didn’t think I’d make it this far. It was a lot of fun.”

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