Southeast Conference Regional Singles Tournament

By: Coach Jerry Tarabek
March 1, 2003

The Southeast Conference of the Michigan High School Bowling Association continued its travels towards the state finals in Lansing, Michigan with the regional singles tournament at Classic Lanes in Rochester Hills on Saturday, March 1st. The nervousness showed in the first game but as the tournament progressed, the young bowlers really put on a great show for all there to witness.

On the boy's side there were 98 participants looking to make the top 32 to qualify for the state competition at Pro Bowl West next weekend. When the final tallies were made, we had to go to extra innings to finalize the last position due to a tie for the 32nd position. In the two-frame roll off Kyle Kovach of Warren Mott defeated Jon Bohn of Henry Ford 44-28 to advance to the bracket competition and qualify for the state competition.

The top qualifier position was also a tie with Trevor Davey of Roseville and Jeff Peltier of Warren Mott sharing the honor with a 607 total for their three game set. Third place was Kris Smith of Warren Mott with 596, Stevenson's Brett Blickenstaff was fourth at 585 and rounding out the top five was Matt Schwartz, also of Stevenson, with a 581 series. The other 27 qualifiers were Aaron Burman (Waterford Mott), Darius Alexander (Macomb Dakota), Joe Pollack (Eisenhower), Kevin Bochenek (Warren Cousino), Greg Kropidlowski (DeLaSalle), Andrew Golec (Henry Ford), Anthony Agrusa (Stevenson), Glenn Horton (Catholic Central), Jeff Higbee (Eisenhower), Brandon Raupp (Lakeland), Chad Prytula (Warren Woods Tower), Damon Betterton (Sterling Heights), Donovan Charleston (Lakeview), Curtis Bidinger (Hartland), Jonathan Bonk (De La Salle), Anthony Goldberg (North Farmington), William St. Onge (Henry Ford), Chris Sadowski (Macomb Dakota), Josh Frankfurth (Waterford Kettering), Matt Blanchard (Lincoln), Lawrence Miller (Lakeview), Jack Goodell (De La Salle), Jeremy Pawlak (De La Salle), Tracy Denny (East Detroit), David Hall (L'Anse Cruese North), Danny Heichel (Troy) and Kyle Kovach (Warren Mott). All these young bowlers advance to the state finals in Lansing next Saturday, March 8th, at Pro Bowl West.

Even after all this, the bowling was not yet completed. The top 32 qualifiers next were set in position brackets to bowl a one-game elimination tournament to crown our conference champion. As we moved along many of the top seeded players began to fall by the wayside with the exception of Trevor Davey of Roseville, the number one seed. The semi-finals pitted number one seed Trevor Davey against thirteenth seeded Glenn Horton of Catholic Central and Aaron Burmann of Waterford Mott, the sixth seed, versus Lakeland's Brandon Raupp, the number 15 seed. Trevor Davey continued his hot hands as he disposed of Glenn Horton and Aaron Burmann knocked off Brandon Raupp to gain the other finals spot. In the final it was Trevor Davey continuing his roll defeat Brandon Raupp to take home the boy's junior varsity championship for the 2002-2003 season.

On the girl's side, 40 ladies participated in the first ever ladies regional championship for junior varsity girls. As expected the ladies from Sterling Heights Stevenson dominated the field, as they placed five bowlers into the field of 16 that will be bowling at the state competition next week in Lansing. Top qualifier was Kristin Hubbard with a 498 series. Kristin also shot the high game of the tournament with a 201 in her third game to help propel her to the top spot. Second place was Sarah Galloway, also of Stevenson, with a 480. Third went to Veronica Wineski of Warren Mott with 475, fourth was Cassie Stieler of Waterford Kettering with 458 and fifth was Brittany Trull of Milford with a 453 series. Rounding out the top 16 were Lauren Korodan (Stevenson), Leslie Skora (Mercy), Kortney McDonald (Milford), Jessica Hendrix (Warren Mott), Breanna Riesterer (Troy Athens), Katie Schmaltz (Walled Lake Central), Kristin Owens (Romeo), Jessica Biernacki (Warren Mott), Kelly Pfahlert (Waterford Mott), Nicole Frank (Stevenson), and Kelly Thompson (Stevenson). These ladies will all compete at Pro Bowl West in Lansing next weekend to determine the top junior varsity ladies in the state.

In the brackets competition to determine the conference champion a number of surprises occurred along the way to the championship match. The top two seeded players lasted only through to the second round, while the fourth and sixth seeded players did not make it out of the first round. This made the championship an up for grabs competition. In the semi finals it was eighth seeded Kortney McDonald of Milford facing Jessica Biernacki, the 13th seed, from Warren Mott while the other semi final pitted third seeded Veronica Wineski of Warren Mott against seventh seed Leslie Skora of Mercy. Two very close and exciting matches had everyone on the edge of their seats as both of the Warren Mott girls edged their opponents to have the opportunity to meet each other in the finals. In the finals it was Veronica Wineski, as a freshman, showing her experience level over Jessica Biernacki as she won the Southeast Conference championship for the 2002-2003 season.

A lot of credit needs to go out to the participants, coaches and staff of the tournament for how well everything ran. Everyone had the opportunity to enjoy some very good competition and even though a little cramped, thank god no fire marshal walked in, a good time seemed to be had by all. We look forward to seeing all the qualifiers from today in Lansing, Michigan next weekend for the state finals competition.

Jerry Tarabek / Head Bowling Coach