By Mark Blentlinger
Bowling Regional Championships were held February 21 and 22 at M-66 Bowl in Battle Creek. A dozen boys’ teams and eight girls’ teams were there hoping to carry home the Regional championship trophy. The top two positions were to head on to the state championship February 28 and March 1 in Muskegon at Northway Lanes. In addition to the Schoolcraft Eagles, teams from Jonesville, Bronson, Burr Oak, Hudson, Kalamazoo Christian, Hackett Catholic, Homer, Will Carleton Academy, Martin, Saugatuck and Goble arrived to compete. The boys’ and girls’ teams from Jonesville were the returning state champions.
State rankings for Division 4 included Jonesville #1 for both genders, Hudson #2 for both genders, Homer #3 for the girls and Bronson #5 for the boys. It was unusual for MHSAA to put the top-ranked teams all into the same regional competition. At the end of the day, the Schoolcraft boys finished in 7th with a total of 2,550 total pinfalls for the day. Jonesville won the boys’ side with 3,367 total pinfall, with Bronson finishing 2nd with 3,128 total pinfall. On the girls’ side of the championship, Jonesville took home the championship with a total pinfall of 2,821 with Homer taking 2nd at 2,778 total. Schoolcraft girls took 6th with a total of 2,141 total pinfall.
Saturday the 22nd was the individual portion of Regionals where 68 boys and 40 girls were all shooting for the top seven positions to secure their ticket to the Division 4 State Championships. Each bowler bowled 6 games, and the top 7 boys and girls would compete at state. Unfortunately, none of the Schoolcraft bowlers secured a top seven spot. Senior Brayden Kroetsch finished 18th, averaging 160.33 98 total pins out of 7th place and 297 out of first. Jacob Trennepohl from Burr Oak was the Regional Champion. For the girls, Schoolcraft senior Addison Haley finished 21st with 837 total pins averaging 139.5 97 pins out of 7th and 279 pins out of first place. Bronson’s senior Morgan McConn took the top spot with 1,116 total pinfall. Schoolcraft will graduate 8 bowlers this year and 2 foreign exchange students. Because of the strong JV program, the boys’ team will have some experienced bowlers returning next season. The girls will have 4 juniors returning. Coach Blentlinger hopes to get a few underclassmen to join.
