Bowling team does itself proud
Varsity Team earned second place at Regionals: Left to right, Back row: Coach Tracy Sheats, Bobby Stemen, Jake Hansen, Lee Blumenauer, Coach Jim Branham. Front row: Dylan Grigonis, Gabe Morgan, Jonathan Clark, Nathan Edman
submitted by Tim Stemen
This year’s bowling season started last fall, with many question marks upon the departure of graduating seniors Alyvia Hock, Eli Lobbestael and T. J. Rhodes. The outlook for the team was optimistic at best.
In the past few months, leading up to this point, coaches Jim Branham, Tracy Sheats, and Jim Grigonis did their best to forge a strong Varsity team and begin forming the Junior Varsity squad for upcoming seasons to make sure our young adults will accomplish all they can. Behind the scenes was Becky Sheats, running the day to day business, Stacey Edman handling financials, and Amie Armstrong helping with school communication, PR and team spirit working with SteeleGrafix.
Fast forward to the weekend of Feb. 28-29, where a group of young men were able to not only qualify for the State meet as a team, but give the top ranked team in the state a run for its money as well. Then Saturday, three of these young men added themselves to the small list of state individual qualifiers.
The young men qualifying for States consist of seniors Jake Hansen and Lee Blumenauer; Juniors: Dylan Grigonis, Jonathan Clark, and Gabe Morgan; Sophomore Bobby Stemen; and Freshman Nathan Edman. Jake, Dylan, and Bobby advanced to the individual championship, this past weekend of March 6-7.
Friday was a cold, rainy morning, but the team arrived at the lanes eager to compete. With a hot start they were able to top the leaderboards with a few good Baker games. After they struggled with a 122 Baker, they fell back in the pack. The singles format came next; the team were able to bowl a decent game to hold their ground in 5th position and through a tough 10th frame. The final singles game you could feel the anxiousness in the boys but they powered through it and moved up one position for the 4th seed going in the match play competition. This is the first time they have been able to reach the final cut in the program’s history.
Round of 8: Machester vs. Madison Heights Bishop Foley. The first Baker game was a struggle to say the least and the Dutch trailed by 23 after game 1. In Game 2, heads hanging a bit, they were able to fight back and cut into the lead and trail by just 13 going into the singles portion. The resurgence seemed to breathe life into the boys and they were able to beat Foley by 57 and move on to the next round.
In Round of 4: Manchester met up with their all-season nemesis, Grass Lake. After a slow start to Baker game 1, they trailed by 10 pins. Game 2 they recovered with a great game and was able to pull ahead by 1 pin. Then it was down to the nitty gritty singles competition. With the Grass Lake crowd chanting like an angry mob, the boys were undeterred and kept it close to the very end but the eventual state champs were too much for our boys in the end. The boys, heads held high, congratulated their foes after the defeat. And rather than sulk in defeat, the boys seemed proud of what they had accomplished and eager for their return next year.
As they set out for Saturday’s individual competition after a long Friday of bowling, Jake, Dylan, and Bobby were down but not out. These young men were ready to give their best shot in the individual bowling event. Each young man had their share of good games but bad breaks and untimely mistakes caught up with them in the end and they were unable to make the cut in the top 16. They were all a bit distraught but getting there is an accomplishment that few attain. This was Jake‘s third appearance, so it seemed to hit him hard. After the dust settles, he will look back on this with fond memories and realize that it was an accomplishment in itself. For Bobby in his second appearance and Dylan in his first, both can learn from this experience and strive to move forward next year.
A special thank you to seniors Randy Belue and Aiden White; junior Avery Wiseman; and freshmen Megan Warboy and Gabby Landini for all their support and hard work throughout the season and pushing the Varsity squad to success.
More thanks go out to all of the parents of these young adults for raising a group of mature teens who were more of a joy than a chore to coach and compete with. If you see these students around town, please congratulate them on a job well done this year and wish them luck for the coming seasons.
The team is always looking for more budding talent, just get in touch with one of the team members or coaches for additional information. We would love to have a girls’ team and of course, the more the merrier. Follow us on Facebook: “Manchester Michigan High School Bowling.”
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