Slow Starts Don't Stop D3 Champions
March 7, 2015
By Chip Mundy
Special to Second Half
JACKSON – After the first of the two-game championship match Saturday afternoon, Sam Brandt of Fremont had a 28-pin lead in his quest to become the first back-to-back boys singles champion in MHSAA history.
Sophomore Tyler Kolassa of Warren Lincoln had other ideas.
Kolassa struck in seven of the first eight frames of the second game and went on to defeat Brandt 429-403 to win the MHSAA Division 3 boys singles championship at Airport Lanes in Jackson.
It was a little closer than the final score indicates, however. Brandt stormed back into contention with five strikes in a row, and while a tough task, could have won the match with a double and decent count in the 10th frame.
Brandt’s delivery came in high and left a 6 pin, which he missed. Kolassa won the second game 245-191 to earn the 26-pin victory.
Unlike some who choose not to watch their opponent in a situation like that, Kolassa could not take his eyes off Brandt at the match-deciding moment.
“I watched him; I was right there with him,” Kolassa said.
Kolassa was seeded sixth after averaging 200.8 in the six-game qualifying session. He started with 134 but never went below 198 in the remaining five games of qualifying.
“After that 134 I came back with 246 and just carried on my day,” Kolassa said.
He shared the same pair with Brandt during qualifying and saw first-hand what the smooth right-hander and defending champion was capable of on the lanes.
Brandt qualified fourth and only a 146 final game kept him from being the top seed. He averaged 205.1 in qualifying and was just 16 pins behind qualifying leader Adam Wojtylko of Flat Rock. Brandt had his toughest match en route to the Final in the round of 16, where he won by two pins over Matt Hammer of Armada, while Kolassa edged Brennen Proudfidt of Grand Rapids South Christian by seven in the Semifinals.
In the first game of the championship match, Brandt filled all 10 frames and had two doubles to finish at 212. Kolassa, who had 184, picked up the rare 3-4-6-7 split in the seventh frame but missed a 10 pin in the ninth.
“That first game, I thought he had to miss, but he didn’t miss,” Kolassa said. “I thought it was game over right there.”
Kolassa started the second game with three strikes in a row, and Brandt had open frames in the second, third and fourth. Although Brandt had a chance to win it in the 10th, he didn’t regain the lead.
“I got a little hope there early and took it all the way,” Kolassa said. “It was neck-and-neck and a lot of fun. I thought I might lose, but I held on.
“Honestly, coming into the day I didn’t think I was going to win. I knew I was going to make the cut to the first 16, but I didn’t plan on winning.”
Kolassa’s style makes him stand out on the approach. He uses a six-step approach with a backswing that takes the ball well above his head.
“When I first started to bowl, I was shoulder high,” Kolassa said. “I used to throw the ball so slow, and I complained about not having enough speed. My coach told me to try the high backswing, and I guess I never stopped going higher.”
There was not as much drama on the girls side of the Division 3 singles. Senior Kadee Bechman of Battle Creek Pennfield used a 219 first game to build an 89-pin advantage on Breanna Johnson of Dundee and roll to a 406-346 victory.
It literally was a dream come true for Bechman.
“Last night I had a dream that I would take first place,” she said.
Bechman was seeded sixth after qualifying and, like Kolassa, she struggled in her first game in the morning qualifying session with a 162.
“I just built off of it from there,” she said. “When I found out that I had qualified, I knew that I had to grow on that and not get frustrated with myself and have confidence in myself.”
Bechman shot at least 199 in each of her three matches prior to the championship and won all of them by more than 40 pins. Johnson, a sophomore who was seeded eighth, had a little tougher road as she won one match by five pins and her Semifinal by 22.
However, Bechman grabbed the early lead and never looked back. She had an early double, two in a row in the middle and a late three-bagger for 219, while Johnson had three splits among five open frames as she struggled to a 130.
The second game was academic, and Johnson got back on track with a 216, ending the game with five strikes in a row, while Bechman shot 187.
“I knew if I got that far that I would be able to finish it,” Bechman said of her 89-pin lead after one game.
Bechman has been a life-long bowler, starting the game at age 3. She is a four-time all-conference selection and hopes to attend Olivet College or take a year off and coach bowling. She also aspires to become a professional in the future.
A right-hander with a four-step approach, she has been bowling this year while wearing a knee brace, but that did nothing to slow her down.
“At the beginning of the year, I fell on the gutter in practice and busted my knee,” she said. “It wasn’t too serious, but I’ve just been wearing a knee brace and getting stronger with it.”
The season – and her high school career – culminated in an MHSAA Finals singles championship.
Click for full girls results and boys results.
After Late Start - for Great Reason - Vicksburg's Butler Revved to Attempt Repeat Run
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
December 16, 2025
VICKSBURG — After winning a state championship last year as a junior, Jordon Butler was excited about his final bowling season as a Bulldog.
He had an unexpected delay in getting started this winter, but it was for a good reason.
Butler was a left guard/nose guard for Vicksburg’s football team that made school history, advancing to the MHSAA Semifinals for the first time.
Meanwhile, Vicksburg bowling co-coach Ed Mullins had to regroup.
“It threw me off because our state champion was on the football team along with another good bowler, (senior) Brett Hess,” he said. “We pushed out our tryouts another week. We almost had to do a second week if they had won their last game. Fortunately for us, we didn’t have to do that. Unfortunately for the football team.”
The Bulldogs did fall to eventual Division 4 runner-up Hudsonville Unity Christian, 45-17, in that Semifinal matchup. But Butler is now a part of Vicksburg athletic firsts in two sports. He not only contributed to that program-best football playoff run, but last winter became the first Vicksburg male bowler to reach the MHSAA Finals – and win the Division 2 singles title.
“It’s never been much of a struggle for me to switch over mentally (from football to bowling),” Butler said, adding, “But my body’s definitely aching still from football.”
The aching definitely disappears once Butler picks up the bowling ball. Then it’s total concentration.
Since winning last season’s singles title, he has a new goal:
Getting the entire team to the Finals.
While the Bulldogs did not qualify as a team last year, teammate Xavier Hart was there as well.
“My friend dressed like a bodyguard in a suit and sunglasses,” Butler laughed. “He was there the whole time.”
Catching up quickly
Butler’s mother, Danielle Wiggins, was instrumental in his high school bowling success.
When he started bowling his freshman year, “She said if I was going to do it, I had to get some practice in,” said the reigning Finals champ.
That is when his career got a boost.
“I was bowling and there was an older gentleman next to me,” Butler said. “He had a bunch of balls on the rack, and he saw me bowling. He asked me what grade I was in and if I was trying out for the team. I was like, ‘Yep.’ Then he asked me to choose any ball I wanted. I chose one, and he said, ‘It’s yours now.’ I was like, ‘Sweet.’”
Butler started bowling with that ball his freshman season. Then former teammate Isaac Adams, son of the co-coach, gave up bowling and gave his ball to Butler.
“So I had two,” the senior said. “Then I just started buying bowling balls. I have six now.”
Butler started out teaching himself by trial and error, but then “Coach Ed and Coach (Chris) Adams, they taught me how to keep my hands under the ball and then they told me to work on slowing down and speeding up my speed.
“Now I’ve got great speed control and can control how many revs I put on the ball. I listen to the coaches.”
Rolling next to Olivet
One unexpected bonus emerging after that MHSAA Tournament was a bowling scholarship from University of Olivet.
“When you win the D2 state championship as a junior, you’re going to get noticed,” Olivet men’s varsity bowling coach Brandon Grice said. “I had seen some video, and one of my current bowlers (Nick Suemnick) who bowled against (Butler) at state Finals reached out to Jordon and reached out to me and hooked us together. He said, ‘Hey you really need to get Jordon at Olivet. He can help us.’”
After they met, the Grice said he knew Butler was a “great talent but an even better person. He is a better human being, great personality; he’s a leader.”
Another plus is that the senior plays multiple sports, including baseball in the spring as well.
“I love athletes,” Grice said. “I love coaching athletes in bowling because they have a little bit different mentality, and he’s got that mentality that I want.
“When I did his signing, to have the entire football team there for a bowling kid spoke volumes about him as a person, as a teammate. He’s exactly what we’re looking for as far as a culture fit at Olivet. He’s that kid.”
Before heading to Olivet, Butler has one more season of high school bowling, and Mullins is excited about this season with so many trying out for the team.
“Chris (Adams) and I have discussed it,” Mullins said. “If we had the opportunity to have two varsity teams, we would.
“We have some talented young kids here, and it’s getting difficult to choose or figure out who’s going where and when.”
The coaches have the hopefuls narrowed down to eight.
Besides Butler and Hess, seniors are Brady Gibson and Emmett Bostocky. Hart is the lone junior, Carson Bowling and Anthony Foote are sophomores and Chase Williams is a freshman.
Butler was a shoo-in to make last year’s team when he threw a non-sanctioned 300 on the first day of tryouts. That is his only perfecto so far, but he did bowl a 299 in a summer bowling league.
“It definitely made me a lot more confident,” Butler said. “I knew I could bowl that high, but I just had to actually do it.”
As for the effect of Butler’s Finals title on this year’s team, “I think, we’re going to be more disciplined,” Mullins said. “I’m trying to get the kids to Regionals.
“What they do beyond, is really, really up to them. I feel our job is to get them to Regionals and qualify (for Finals).”
Added Adams, “From my perspective, I want to try to keep it as stress-free and pressure-free as we can.
“There are two or three kids who have stated they want to take the team to state, but outside of that, I don’t want to put more pressure on any of the kids.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Teammates and friends surround Vicksburg’s Jordon Butler as he signs his commitment to bowl collegiately at University of Olivet. (2) Vicksburg boys bowling co-coaches Ed Mullins, left, and Chris Adams. (3) Butler, right, and “bodyguard” Xavier Hart take a photo after Butler won the Division 2 singles championship last season. (4) Olivet men’s bowling coach Brandon Grice. (Top and championship photos courtesy of the Vicksburg athletic department. Vicksburg headshots by Pam Shebest. Olivet headshot courtesy of University of Olivet’s athletic department.)