Two Years After Sport Switch, Swanson Completes Rapid Rise with Finals Title
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
February 28, 2026
TAYLOR – A heart condition forced Hudson junior Alexis Swanson to give up basketball in the 10th grade.
She switched to bowling.
It was a good move.
Swanson captured the Division 4 girls singles title Saturday with a 398-301 victory over Ravenna’s Gabby Nutt, who had helped the Bulldogs to the team title Friday.
Swanson’s team lost in the Final to Ravenna, with Saturday’s finale setting up a rematch from the two top teams.
“It helped winning the (singles) title since we lost team,’’ said Swanson.
“I initially started bowling with one hand, but I was terrible, so I switched to two hands. When I threw my ball two-handed, I said I wanted to switch. It worked out. I spend a lot of time over the summer and fall in the bowling alley.’’
Jason Nutt, Gabby’s coach, said: “She’s 93 pounds and throws a 13-pound ball. She just ran out of gas.’’
Swanson qualified first for match play with a score of 1,288 followed by Ravenna’s Taylor Nutt at 1,249; Jasmyn Ranquist of Bad Axe at 1,179 and Kylo Riedel of Breckenridge at 1,157. Swanson saw two teammates also qualify – Brooke Houser, 12th (1,005) and Ellie Loar 10th (1,030).
Gabby Nutt (1,078) and Reese Herremans (982) also reached the top 16 for Ravenna, but the Bulldogs received a first-round blow when junior Taylor Nutt had to bowl her teammate, Herremans, also a junior, in the first round.
Herremans never got it going, committing a dozen open frames in two games and lost to Taylor Nutt, 387-249. Nutt advanced to face Estes Purvis of Ithaca, who had eliminated Hudson’s Ellie Loar in a roll-off (40-27).
Swanson defeated Chloe Squires of Mancelona (400-338) and faced Jonesville’s Morgan Dilyard, who had downed Sandusky’s Victori Shea (323-289). Byron’s Kara Chapman knocked off Hudson’s Brooke House (322-312) and faced Kylo Riedel from Breckenridge, who had eliminated Kourtney Downham of Allen Park Cabrini (423-309).
Ranquist reached the Semifinals by defeating Lakeview’s Brinley Skaggs (413-319) and Gabby Nutt, who had eliminated Harper James of Jonesville (391-387). Swanson beat Dilyard (391-221) to move to the Semifinal against Chapman, who had stopped Riedel (323-269). The other semifinal saw Gabby Nutt take on Purvis, after they defeated Ranquist and Taylor Nutt, respectively.
PHOTO Hudson's Alexis Swanson, far right, stands for a photo with placers at the Division 4 Singles Final.
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February 27, 2012
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Wrestling
We are the Champions: MHSAA powerhouses in all four divisions continued their recent successes at Saturday’s Team Finals at Battle Creek’s Kellogg Arena. Hudson became the third program to win four straight MHSAA team titles by outlasting Shelby in Division 4. Richmond in Division 3 and St. Johns in Division 2 both won third-straight championships. Detroit Catholic Central avenged last season’s Division 1 Final loss to Oxford by beating the Wildcats 47-9 – the Shamrocks' second championship in three seasons. (Second Half D1) (Second Half D2) (Second Half D3) (Second Half D4)
Competitive Cheer
Stoney Creek goes 10 to 1: Rochester Hills Stoney made the biggest move up among teams that qualified Saturday for this weekend’s Finals at the Grand Rapids Delta Plex. Stoney Creek entered the postseason ranked No. 10 in Division 1 – but won its Regional by just more than a point, and in doing so finished ahead of No. 3 Rochester, No. 5 Southgate Anderson and No. 9 Lake Orion. Stoney Creek, the 2010 Division 1 Final champion, will try to make it two titles in three seasons beginning at 6 p.m. Friday.(Rochester.Patch.com)
Girls Bowling
Oxford stuns: The Wildcats won the closest and arguably most competitive girls or boys Regional on Friday, finishing 14 pins ahead of Fair Haven Anchor Bay and Macomb Dakota at Sterling Heights’ Star Lanes. Oxford rolled four Baker games of 180 or more, and a 918 team game to tie for the highest of those three rounds. The kicker: Oxford entered the postseason unranked; Dakota was No. 10, and No. 9-ranked Clinton Township Chippewa Valley, No. 2 Sterling Heights Stevenson and No. 7 Macomb L’Anse Creuse North all finished outside the top three and failed to qualify for this week’s Division 1 Final. (MHSAA.com)
Boys Basketball
No. 1 in Lansing: Occasionally, the No. 1-ranked teams in Class A and B play each other. Rarely does that happen with both from the same city and located only a few miles apart. Top-ranked Class B team Lansing Sexton’s only loss this season was by a point last month to Detroit Pershing – No. 1 in Class A until losing to Detroit Martin Luther King two weeks ago and falling from the top spot. The Doughboys were replaced by Lansing Eastern, which like Sexton is in the Capital Area Activities Conference Blue. They met Friday – with the Big Reds winning 75-58 to finish a season sweep of the Quakers. (Lansing State Journal)
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