Austin Cecil (Hudsonville) and Sarah Galloway (Sterling Heights Stevenson)
Claim Junior Varsity State Championships.
Warren Mott's Veronica Wineski takes 3rd place in Tournament
By: Coach Jerry Tarabek
March 9, 2003
The Michigan
High School Bowling Association crowned its 2002-2003 Junior
Varsity Singles Champions this Saturday at Pro-Bowl West in Lansing,
Michigan. Top Junior Varsity bowlers throughout the state all vied for
the honor to be named tops in the state for this season. The qualifying
was four games across eight lanes with the top 16 girls and 32 boys
advancing to single game elimination bracket to determine this year's
champion.
On the
boys' side, Chad Prytula from Warren Woods Tower led all qualifiers
as he shot 930 for his four game total. Austin Cecil, part of a very
strong Hudsonville contingent, was second at 906 and his teammate, Matt
Bockhein was third with 886. Utica Eisenhower rounded out the top five
with Jeff Higbee (859) and Joe Pollak (855) finishing fourth and fifth.
The other qualifiers for match play were Jon Bohn (Utica Ford), Steve
Feddick (Hudsonville), Nick Brone (Hudsonville), Glenn Horton (Catholic
Central), Brandon Howell (Marshall), Josh Frankfurth (Waterford Kettering),
Todd Romeyn (Hudsonville), Matt Schwartz (Sterling Heights Stevenson),
Brandon Raupp (Lakeland) who had the high game of the tournament with
a 269, Brett Bickerstaff (Sterling Heights Stevenson), Steve Hemker
(Coldwater), David Feldhauer (Coldwater), Donavan Charleston (Lakeview),
Kris Smith (Warren Mott), David Hall (L'Anse
Cruese North), Anthony Agrusa (Sterling Heights Stevenson), Chris Sadowski
(Macomb Dakota), Marcus Rubley (Coldwater), Kevin Bochenek (Warren Cousino),
Jeremy Pawlak (Warren De La Salle), Lawrence Miller (Lakeview), Jim
Cox (Coldwater), Chris Betten (Hudsonville), Greg Kropidlowski (Warren
De La Salle), William St. Onge (Utica Ford), Matt Blanchard (Warren
Lincoln) and Aaron Burman (Waterford Mott).
These
32 boys were now paired up into single match play eliminations to determine
this years state champion. The first round saw some solid scoring as
the boy's elevated their game a bit as the competition tightened. Only
one of the top seeded players failed to advance into the second round
of competition but the second round saw the fifth, seventh and ninth
seeded players fail to move to the third round. The third round was
the elite eight and the scoring continued to be impressive. Jeff Higbee
rolled a 245 to win his match while the other three winners all rolled
games of 210 or better to advance. The semi finals pitted the number
three seed, Matt Bockheim of Hudsonville against his teammate Austin
Cecil, the number two seed. The other semi final saw number four seed
Jeff Higbee of Utica Eisenhower against twenty-fifth seed Jeremy Pawlak
of De La Salle. In a very close match, Jeff Higbee outscored Jeremy
Pawlak 213-200 to take one of the finals positions while Austin Cecil
shot a fine 256 to advance to the other finals spot over Matt Bockheim.
In the finals, it was Hudsonville's Austin Cecil continuing his good
bowling to post a 228-178 victory over Jeff Higbee and claim the state
title as the boys junior varsity singles champion for 2002-2003.
The girl's
title was just as exciting as the top 16 girls were all matched as the
boy's were in single game elimination matches to determine this year's
champion. Sarah Galloway of Sterling Heights Stevenson was tops for
the girls in qualifying with a fine 748 series. Waterford Kettering's
Cassie Stieler (743) took the second position while Warren
Mott's Veronica Wineski (695) was third. Kortney McDonald
of Milford took the number four position with 688 and Nicole Frank of
Sterling Heights Stevenson rounded out the top five with 675. The other
qualifiers were Jessica Biernacki (Warren Mott),
Katie Schmaltz (Walled Lake Central), Melissa Adolph (Coldwater), Kelly
Thompson (Sterling Heights Stevenson), Brittany Trull (Milford), Kristin
Owens (Romeo), Kelly Pfahlert (Waterford Mott), Nichole Rubley (Coldwater),
Lauren Korodant (Sterling Heights Stevenson), Kristin Hubbard (Sterling
Heights Stevenson), and Leslie Skora (Mercy). The upsets started early
on the ladies side as the fourth and sixth seeded players failed to
move to the second round of match play. Kristin Owens of Romeo and Sarah
Galloway of Stevenson lead the first round scoring both posting nice
202 scores. Sarah continued to score big in the third round posting
a 226 game in advancing to the semi-finals. In the semi-finals Sarah
faced fifth seeded Nicole Frank, her teammate at Stevenson, while the
other semi final saw third seed Veronica Wineski of Warren Mott
square of against seventh seed Katie Schmaltz of Walled Lake Central.
Sarah edged Nicole 145-118 in her semi-final while Katie Schmaltz rolled
a fine 182 to defeat Veronica Wineski. In the finals both girls
found their scoring touch and everyone witnessed a fine match as Sarah
Galloway rolled to a 201-176 victory over Katie Schmaltz to claim her
top honor as the girls junior varsity singles champion for 2002-2003
in Michigan.
Congratulations
go out to all the competitors who made this a great, exciting singles
competition. Next up is the team competition, which is being held on
Sunday at Pro-Bowl West.
Jerry Tarabek / Head Bowling Coach