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Last Updated: 3/10/03

Warren Mott Boys Claim State Junior Varsity Team Title

Team dedicates the title and trophy to Keven Beasley

By: Coach Jerry Tarabek
March 9, 2003

This past Sunday, the Michigan High School Bowling Association concluded its 2002-2003 season with the state team competition at Pro-Bowl West in Lansing, Michigan. Teams from all around Michigan came together in Lansing to crown this years state champion for the boys and girls junior varsity teams. After a tough qualifying round of seven baker game matches, the top sixteen boys team and top eight girls teams were placed in NCAA bracket style competition in a best two out of three competition to see who would get to the top.

A very strong team from Hudsonville High School, outside of Grand Rapids, led all qualifiers posting a torrid 2924 for their 14 game qualifiers. They not only averaged over 208 per game but also outdistanced the field by over 300 pins over the second seeded team. Utica Eisenhower started strong and bowled very consistent to claim the number two spot with a 2695 tally. Third went to Utica Henry Ford II (2676) while Warren Mott (2655) was fourth and Warren Lincoln (2617) was fifth. Rounding out the top sixteen were Waterford Kettering (2608), Waterford Mott (2580), L'Anse Cruese North (2575), Warren De La Salle (2555), Walled Lake Central (2520), Coldwater (2513), Lakeview (2507), Marshall (2488), Macomb Dakota (2423), Milford (2407) and Roosevelt (2363).

The very first round saw a number of surprises as some of the top seeded teams fell by the wayside. Five of the top eight seeds all went down to defeat in the first round, which really opened up the field to some interesting matches. Fourth seeded Warren Mott shot the high game of the tournament with a 279 and a fine 521 two-game totals in the opening round. In the quarterfinals Warren De La Salle defeated the top seed Hudsonville in a grueling three game match that had to go to a tiebreaker after the third game to determine the winner. In the other quarterfinals, Warren Mott, Utica Ford II and Walled Lake Central all won to advance to the semi-finals. Warren Mott and De La Salle put on a show, as the cross-town rivals needed three games to determine a winner. Warren Mott prevailed by shooting 236 in the third game to De La Salle's 175 and advance to the state finals match. Their opponent would be Walled Lake Central who defeated Utica Ford 183-173 and 185 (96) - 185 (95). The second game came down to a five-frame roll off with Centrals' anchor bowler striking out in the tenth frame to gain the one pin victory. The finals saw Walled Lake Central start fast with the first three strikes but Warren Mott hung in and took advantage of a couple of timely breaks to win the first game 161-157. In the second game Warren Mott regained their striking power as they rolled up a 198-170 victory to claim their first state boys junior varsity championship. Freshman Kyle Kovach even gave up a bit of his hair tail as part of the celebration as he allowed the team to cut off a piece of his 10 year growth to add to the trophy. The team has dedicated this title and trophy to Keven Beasley, a teammate, who could not bowl this weekend due to the untimely passing of his mother.

On the ladies side, Sterling Heights Stevenson, to no ones surprise, posted the top qualifying score of 2227 as they raced away from the field to lead by 350 pins over the second place qualifier. Milford claimed the second position with 1871 while a small surprise in Warren Mott claimed the third spot with 1835. Rounding out the top eight qualifiers were Waterford Kettering (1798), Farmington Hills Mercy (1691), Romeo (1659), Waterford Mott (1571) and Livonia Ladywood (1538). The ladies were then paired up to also bowl best two out of three matches to determine this year's champion. All four of the top seeded teams made it through the first round of competition and into the second round. In the semi-finals it was Sterling Heights Stevenson defeating Waterford Kettering 163-108 and 191-97 to advance to the finals. The other semi-finals saw Milford and Warren Mott go to a third game to determine who would advance with Milford coming out on top in the third game, 162-134, to take the other finals position. The finals also saw a three game set as Stevenson took the first game 139-110 but Milford fought back to even the score in the second game 192-184. In the third game, it was Milford, on the strength of a double in the tenth frame edging Stevenson 152-148 to take home the top spot and claim the girls' junior varsity team title for 2002-2003.

The team events were very well played and the noise level at times had the windows and walls rattling in the bowling center. In the end it was the athletes, not the spectators, putting on the show with some terrific bowling and fine examples of sportsmanship all across the board. Congratulations to this years champions and all the teams that made it to the state finals.

Jerry Tarabek / Head Bowling Coach