Girls are D-4 state champs; boys bowl to runner-up title

by Angie Asam, Staff Writer Forty-eight pins would be the difference in the first ever Division IV team state bowling finals as Rogers City defeated Ithaca for the state title 1,636-1,588. ?I am very proud of what our girls accomplished this weekend. They did an amazing job from start to finish and earned every bit of the title. Much of the day is already a blur. What I do remember clearly are the emotions, the determination in everyone?s eyes and those minutes immediately after the girls realized that they had won,? said coach Brett Schalk.

Two freshmen, a junior and two seniors rolled the final game of the season for the Hurons and took the state title with them. Freshman Anna Lehman rolled a 166 in the leadoff spot followed by freshman Ashley Budnik with a 141 in the second spot. The freshmen built an eight-pin lead for the Hurons with three bowlers left to go. Senior Brogan Brege rolled a 154 while Ithaca?s number three bowler had a 137, building the Rogers City lead to 25 pins.

Senior Tayler Bannasch stepped up for the tenth frame and rolled a double to really seal the deal for the Hurons as she had a 239. Ithaca?s number four bowler had a 203 making the Hurons lead 61 pins going into the final bowler. Junior Katie Darga just needed to get pins to really seal the deal for the Hurons, which she did finishing with a 186, Ithaca made up some ground as their final bowler rolled a 193 but it would not be near enough. With tears of joy and excitement, the Huron bowlers and fans began to celebrate the state championship, Rogers City?s first since the sport became sanctioned by the Michigan High School Athletic Association in 2004.

?The real story behind the great results we got this weekend is self-confidence and reaching potential,? said coach Schalk who felt that although the team had a good conference season, he always felt they could do much better. He felt the mental errors were causing doubt and disbelief in the abilities they each had. ?Our highest team game during the regular season was 851. During the state finals alone we had games of 886, 906, 922 and 925 and those were all on a lane condition that is designed to be more difficult. We also had four baker games over 200 after having only two during the regular season,? said Schalk.

The Hurons qualified in sixth place at 2,959 as they had baker game scores of 156, 150, 205, 127, 157, 149, 163 and 153 and regular games of 775 and 925. They then faced Jonesville in the Quarterfinals and won 1,574-1,466 to move onto the semifinals against Vandercook Lake. Vandercook Lake is a familiar opponent for the Huron bowlers but this time it was the Hurons on the winning end as they won by eight pins (1,658-1,650) to move to the state finals match. Vandercook Lake is the team that knocked the Hurons out of the tournament in 2005 and 2008. A key to winning the match was Lehman?s 212 from the leadoff spot which set the tone for the Hurons.

?For the way these girls carried themselves all day, and the way they represented their school, I am honored to say that I am their coach. They showed great pride, determination and sportsmanship,? said coach Schalk The Hurons made an impression with their brightly colored knee socks with wild patterns, they even had coach Brett wearing his own bright orange polka dotted socks in support of them. He made a deal that for every game the Hurons rolled over 200 he would roll his pant leg up and show a little more sock, the girls made him do plenty of rolling on Friday.

?I have coached this team for the last six seasons, and one thing has always been at the base of my motivation. I dedicate this championship to the man who coached this team before me, and the man who was my best friend, Tony Darga. It took us five years longer than I hoped it would, but we got it done,? said coach Schalk. THE ROGERS CITY BOYS? team came up just short of making it a Rogers City sweep for the title as they fell in the finals by 40 pins to St. Charles. The match was close the entire way but in the tenth frame St. Charles was able to string some strikes together and the Hurons were not, that was the difference in the match.

The boys made it to the finals match after qualifying fifth at 3,482 with baker games of 234, 191, 233, 210, 173, 148, 169 and 145 and regular games of 1,067 and 912. ?After the first four baker games, we were in first place. After the next four, we were hanging onto eighth place. Then they actually bowled the highest team game of the day at 1,067 to put us back into third and then we dropped down to fifth to move onto the next round,? said coach Brian Bannasch.

The Hurons then defeated Grass Lake 1,671-1,650 in the quarterfinals and Hudson 1,863-1,614 in the semifinals to move on to the state finals match. ?It was a good weekend. The boys I think could?ve been a little more consistent, but they did what they needed to do. Nobody bowled bad, but nobody had that great game or got that crucial strike that made the difference in the finals. But finishing as the state runner-up was a great accomplishment,? said coach Bannasch.

Scores in the finals for the boys team were Ken Wirgau 168, Travis Smolinski 162, Tony Bannasch 161, Tom Darga 175 and Robert Dietlin 211. IN INDIVIDUAL STATE FINALS action on Saturday, jun

ior Katie Darga would finish in the top eight after qualifying third at 1,249 (167, 242, 237, 163, 207 and 233). She then defeated Angela Tosolt of New Haven in the round of sixteen 362-290 with scores of 187 and 175. In her quarterfinal match against Kati Rockfeller of Bad Axe, Darga rolled scores of 165 and 150 for a 315 but it wouldn?t be enough as Rockfeller had a 385 series to defeat Darga. Tayler Bannasch qualified seventh at 1,181 (166, 212, 163, 180, 259 and 201) but could not overtake Angelic Parker of New Haven in the round of 16 as she fell 374-364. Bannasch rolled scores of 184 and 180 in the match.

Budnik, the final Huron in the girls portion of the tournament qualified in 29th and did not move on from there; however it was a great accomplishment for a freshman. Robert Dietlin qualified for the top 16 in the 16th spot with 1,192 (206, 186, 213, 172, 214 and 201) but fell to Cody Post of St. Louis 397-380 in the round of 16 with scores of 167 and 213. Dietlin has improved each year, last year he didn?t qualify for the top 16, this year he did, as he prepares to come back for his senior season coach Bannasch is hopeful that improvement continues.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.