Article - High School Sports Scene

EAST LANSING – The 120 finalists for the Michigan High School Athletic Association’s Scholar-Athlete Awards for the 2013-14 school year have been announced. The program, celebrating its 25^th anniversary, has recognized student-athletes since the 1989-90 school year and again this winter will honor 32 individuals from MHSAA member schools who participate in at least one sport in which the Association sponsors a postseason tournament.

Farm Bureau Insurance underwrites the Scholar-Athlete Awards and will present a $1,000 scholarship to each recipient. Since the beginning of the program, 608 scholarships have been awarded.

In Class A boys, the finalists include Stone Manczak of Bay City Central, Chris Kruger of Holt, Nate Fisher of Midland and Vikram Shanker of Midland Dow.

Scholarships will be presented proportionately by school classification, with 12 scholarships to be awarded to Class A student-athletes, six female and six male; eight scholarships will be awarded to Class B student-athletes, four female and four male; six scholarships will be awarded to Class C student-athletes, three female and three male; and four scholarships will be awarded to Class D student-athletes, two female and two male. In addition, the final two scholarships will be awarded at-large to minority recipients, regardless of school size.

Every MHSAA member high school could submit as many applications as there are scholarships available in its classification, and could have more than one finalist. Dearborn Heights Crestwood, Hastings and Marlette each have five finalists this year. Fourteen schools each had two finalists: Bay City Central, Bloomfield Hills Marian, Dearborn, Grand Haven, Grand Rapids West Catholic, Manistee Catholic Central, Marquette, Middleville Thornapple Kellogg, Midland Dow, Saginaw Swan Valley, Sturgis, Traverse City Central, Walled Lake Western and Yale.

Multiple-sport participation remains the norm among applicants. The average sport participation rate of the finalists is 2.70, while the average of the application pool was 2.16. There are 75 three-plus sport participants in the finalist field, and all but two of the 28 sports in which the MHSAA sponsors postseason tournaments are represented.

Of 407 schools which submitted applicants, 55 submitted the maximum allowed. This year, 1,701 applications were received. All applicants will be presented with certificates commemorating their achievement. Additional Scholar-Athlete information, including a complete list of scholarship nominees, can be found on the MHSAA Website at the following address: http://www.mhsaa.com/Schools/Students/MHSAAScholarAthleteAwardApplicants.aspx.

The applications were judged by a 63-member committee of school coaches, counselors, faculty members, administrators and board members from MHSAA member schools. Selection of the 32 scholarship recipients will take place in early February. Class C and D scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 4; Class B scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 11, and Class A scholarship recipients will be announced Feb. 18. All announcements will be made on the MHSAA Website.

To honor the 32 Scholar-Athlete Award recipients, a ceremony will take place during halftime of the Class C Boys Basketball Final, March 22, at the Breslin Student Events Center in East Lansing.

To be eligible for the award, students must have a cumulative grade point average of 3.50 (on a 4.0 scale), and previously have won a varsity letter in at least one sport in which the MHSAA sponsors a postseason tournament. Students also were asked to respond to a series of short essay questions, submit two letters of recommendation and a 500-word essay on the importance of sportsmanship in educational athletics.

Farm Bureau Insurance, one of Michigan’s major insurers, has a statewide force of more than 400 agents serving more than 380,000 Michigan policyholders. Besides providing life, home, auto, farm, business and retirement insurance, the company also sponsors life-saving, real-time Doppler weather tracking systems in several Michigan communities.

The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.

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The following is from the MHSAA’s media department:

A come from behind victory in a battle of two of the top-ranked teams in the state in high school hockey anchor this week’s package of highlights produced by schools in the School Broadcast Program are featured on the MHSAA.tv website and the MHSAA YouTube Channel.

In a game played last week, host Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood finally tied the game in the last few minutes of regulation against visiting Orchard Lake St. Mary’s before prevailing with a going just over a minute into overtime, 4-3. Cranbrook-Kingswood has been the top-ranked team in Division 3 in the coaches polls this season, St. Mary’s has been riding atop the Division 1 rankings.

This week’s package of School Broadcast Program Highlights from the week of Jan. 13 includes the following events (click on links below to watch an event in its entirety):

· Orchard Lake St. Mary’s at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood – Ice Hockey

· Marquette at Escanaba – Boys Basketball

· Holt at Haslett – Boys Swimming & Diving

Here’s the schedule of School Broadcast Program members planning to cover games in the coming week, some of which will be available at MHSAA.tv shortly after each game’s conclusion (All games varsity and delayed unless noted):

· Byron Center at Comstock Park – Boys Freshman Basketball – Tuesday – LIVE – Subscription

· Byron Center at Comstock Park – Boys JV Basketball – Tuesday – LIVE – Subscription

· Byron Center at Comstock Park – Boys Basketball – Tuesday – LIVE – Subscription

· Gobles at Watervliet – Boys Basketball – Tuesday – LIVE – Subscription

· Fife Lake Forest Area at Onaway – Boys Basketball – Tuesday

· Dowagiac at Plainwell – Boys Basketball – Tuesday

· Big Rapids & Stanton Central Montcalm at Lakeview – Wrestling – Wednesday

· Johannesburg-Lewiston at Onaway – Girls Basketball – Wednesday

· Belding at Comstock Park – Wrestling – Wednesday – LIVE – Subscription

· Traverse Bay Area Reps at Cheboygan – Ice Hockey – Wednesday

· Painesdale-Jeffers at Calumet – Girls Basketball – Thursday

· Lincoln Alcona at Oscoda – Boys Basketball – Thursday – LIVE – Subscription

· Arenac Eastern at AuGres-Sims – JV Girls Basketball – Thursday

· Houghton at Calumet – Boys Basketball – Friday

· Newberry at Cheboygan – Boys Basketball – Friday

· Oscoda at Lincoln Alcona – Girls Basketball – Friday

· Hillman at Rogers City – Girls Basketball – Friday

· Arenac Eastern at Rogers City – Girls Basketball – Monday

· Pickford at Newberry – Girls Basketball – Jan. 28 – LIVE – Subscription

The School Broadcast Program, powered by PlayOn! Sports, is a platform which schools can utilize to reach members of their community about activities taking place in their buildings, providing recognition for students while at the same time giving them hands-on opportunities to gain broadcasting experience and providing schools an opportunity to realize additional revenues for their programs.

Schools interested in becoming a part of the School Broadcast Program should contact John Johnson at the MHSAA Office.

The network for the weekly radio commentary MHSAA Perspective – presented by the Michigan Army National Guard – has now grown to a total of 86 radio stations (80) and audio webcast sites (6) across the state, generally during the local broadcasts of high school games. The program runs for 30 weeks through the end of the winter sports season. MHSAA Perspective can also be accessed from the home page of the MHSAA Website. Visit the MHSAA Perspective page of the MHSAA Website for a complete list of network affiliates.

This week’s MHSAA Perspective is titled: History On The Fours. In this edition of Perspective, John Johnson talks about some of the great moments in the MHSAA Boys Basketball Tournament in years ending in four.

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By BUTCH HARMON

During the 1980s and 1990s, Eaton Rapids was home of one of the premier Division 2/Class B wrestling teams in the state. Under coach Joe Ray Barry, the Greyhounds are working their way back up the ladder.

Barry, a former Mason High School star and wrestler at Central Michigan University, is in his third year as head coach of the Greyhounds and has the program headed in the right direction. Heading down the stretch of the season, Eaton Rapids has a 23-8 record and is gearing up to make a run at the team state finals.

“We’ve been having a good season,” Barry said. “We have been a pretty young team the last couple of years, and we are still pretty young. We just have one senior right now.”

The Greyhounds are thin on numbers but have plenty of talent, led by junior Jaedin Sklapsky, who has a 32-1 record and is ranked No. 1 in the state at 130 pounds. Sophomore Lane McVickey started the season with a 17-2 mark and is ranked fifth in the state at 135 pounds. Isaac Coolidge (103 pounds), Austin Eldred (119), Austen Hutchison (125), Blaine Milheim (145), and Triston Warner (215) have all won over 20 matches this season.

“We have beaten some good teams this year,” Barry said. “We beat Greenville 37-33, and we lost a couple of real close duals to Holt and Tecumseh. We are basically filling only nine of the 14 weight classes, so we are starting each match about 24 points down.”

Despite the low numbers, the Greyhounds have some lofty goals. “We’re looking to make a run at the state tournament this year,” Barry said. “We have a good junior class and a good sophomore class. We face Charlotte in our district, and we know that is not going to be an easy task by any means, but it’s something we are capable of.”

Eaton Rapids and Charlotte have picked up the intensity of their rivalry this year, both on the mat and the football field.

“We faced Charlotte in our first football playoff game, and we had to get past them there,” Barry said. “Ten of my wrestlers were on the football team, and all ten of them were on the field.”

Barry likes the progress being made in the wrestling program as it works to get back to the level it was over 15 years ago. Eaton Rapids won Division 2 state titles in 1999 and 1997 and Class B state titles in 1993, 1991, and three consecutive titles from 1985 through 1987.

“We’ve had a lot of good coaches, and those are definitely some big shoes to fill,” Barry said. “The program was real strong in the late 80s and the 90s, and we can get there again. We got the community behind us, and their support for wrestling is big for our success.”

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While some teams used the holiday break for rest and relaxation, other teams, like the Saginaw boys and the Freeland girls, headed south to take part in the six-day basketball extravaganza that is the Motor City Roundball Classic.

The tournament is played at two venues, the boys at Harper Woods High School and the girls at Detroit Edison. In all, nearly 100 games were played, with schools from Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio vying for basketball supremacy.

Although Motor City Roundball is the premier Michigan tournament during the holiday break, the Lansing area featured Meijer Holiday hoops, hosted by East Lansing High School at the Breslin Center on the campus of Michigan State University. Lansing Christian, Lansing Catholic, Holt, and East Lansing played in the all-day tournament that featured six games and high-flying action on the court by the No. 2 sophomore recruit in the country, Consortium College Prep’s Josh Jackson, and Grand Rapids Christian’s DeShaun Scott.

Meanwhile, Saginaw High played played two tough teams during Roundball against Thea Bowman Leadership Academy and Consortium College Prep. Although the Trojans lost the two games they played, playing in the tournament allowed the team to stay fresh during the long grind of a tough season.

Girls teams that played during the break included Freeland, Williamston, Frankenmuth, Powers Catholic, and Goodrich.

Even with all of the snow and cold weather experienced during the break, the action was definitely heating up on the court, and it remain heated until champions are crowned in March at the Breslin.

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Jeff Chaney

Sports Scene

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. – As Gabe Dean walked off the mat on January 2 after securing one of the biggest upsets in recent NCAA wrestling history, his coach, Damion Hahn, turned to the talented freshman and said “Sure you’re not a football player?”

It was a strange question to pose to the Cornell University wrestler who had just beaten two-time defending national champion Ed Ruth of Penn State University 7-4 in the 184-pound final of the Southern Scuffle at the University of Tennessee Chattanooga, but it’s one asked after all the matches so far in Dean’s young collegiate wrestling career.

Ruth came into the match riding an 84-match winning streak, but it was a fair question to ask of Dean, considering that he came out of Lowell High School with a much more impressive football resume than a wrestling resume.

After all, Dean was a two-time all state quarterback, who led the Red Arrows to three state finals, one of which culminated with a championship.

He scored over 60 touchdowns in his three years as signal caller for Lowell and was named the AP Player of the Year in Division 1-2 after his junior season.

On the mat, Dean had a good high school career, winning a state title as a junior and finishing runner-up as a senior, but he wasn’t considered one of the top recruits in the nation.

So coming out of high school, Dean made a huge decision and chose wrestling at Cornell, a top 10 Division I program, over football. He questioned that decision during his first year in Ithaca, NY, where he wrestled as an unattached wrestler for the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club.

“My first Open last year, I was so nervous because it was my first college tournament, and I went 0-2 at the Buffalo Open, which isn’t the biggest tournament, but still a college tournament, and they were tough kids I wrestled, but I went 0-2,” Dean said “I remember calling my dad [Lowell wrestling coach Dave Dean] on the ride home and saying, ‘Dad, wrestling isn’t for me, I’m going to play football here at Cornell.’ He said, ‘You are just emotional, give it one more week, and if you still hate it, we’ll talk.’ I just said, ‘OK, but I’m just not a wrestler.’

“My coaches caught on to that story, so every time I come off the mat, Damion Hahn pats me on the back and says, ‘Sure you’re not a football player?’ I’m glad I stuck with it.”

So is Hahn.

“I think he was a top 100 recruit in wrestling, but not a highly-recruited wrestler,” Hahn said. “We weren’t sure of his plans; we thought he would play football. But his dad said he was going to wrestle, and we said, Let’s make this happen.’ ”

It started happening last year when former national champion Cornell wrestler and fellow state of Michigan athlete Cam Simaz coached Dean after he deferred his first year at Cornell and wrestled for the Finger Lakes Wrestling Club.

It’s continued this year with Hahn and the rest of the Cornell coaching staff.

“He has all the intangibles to do great things,” Hahn said. “Is he going to win it all? I won’t say yet. But he has one of the main things, and that is work ethic — that never-say-die attitude that is hard to teach. The technique is easy to teach, it’s that will to improve and win that is hard to teach, and he has that part taken care of.”

But that will wasn’t always there in full force.

As a freshman at Lowell, Dean was stalled out in a key match against Tyler Fuller of Greenville, one of Lowell’s main rivals.

It was a loss that cost the Red Arrows, and one Dean said was a turning point, not only in his wrestling career, but in his athletic career.

“I think every great competitor needs to get embarrassed in their lives,” Dean said. “Then they can either hang their head and don’t learn anything from it, or they go, ‘All right, I have to fix some things and get better.’ And I think that was exactly what that was.”

Dean had a similar experience earlier this year when Ruth pinned him at the Binghampton Invitational in early November for one of two losses he has sustained this year.

In an interview the day after Christmas, a week before the Southern Scuffle, Dean, who was ranked sixth at 184 pounds at the time, examined that loss.

“He caught me in that cross-face cradle and pinned me,” Dean said. “I learned in that match you can’t put your weight forward on bottom, because he has those freakishly long arms. And once that is locked up, it is pretty hard to get out. So I learned a lot from that match, just to get a feel what kind of wrestler he is, which is great for me, because hopefully I will have another opportunity to wrestle him at the Scuffle.”

Hahn, Simaz, and many Big Red fans are anxious to see what lies in store for Dean.

“I’m exited to see what happens the next four years,” Hahn said. “Where he is right now is far beyond where a freshman is, as far as control with nerves. That has a lot to do with his background. Two of the most stressful positions in sports are major league closing pitcher and quarterback, and him being a great quarterback in high school, and being the high-stress spots he played in, those have helped him.

“He just went out and beat one of the most dominating wrestlers in years,” he added. “He put a great match together and beat arguably the best pound-for-pound wrestler in the country.”

Simaz added, “Gabe is a machine. He outworks everybody. He is only a freshman, and he will get a lot better. I’m very proud of him, but that’s only the Southern Scuffle, and he still has work ahead of him.”

Dean welcomes the work he gets at Cornell room with the likes of Hahn, Simaz, and four-time champion Kyle Dake.

“My goal is to never stop improving,” Dean said. “There are so many things I can do better in a lot of my matches.”

For one night in Tennessee, though, there wasn’t much that he could have done better.

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Geoff Mott

Sports Scene

Nouvel Catholic Central senior wrestler Austin Hughes has placed in all three state finals in which he’s competed, finishing runner-up the past two seasons and fifth as a freshman.

Hughes is tweaking his form to assist in his quest for that elusive state title medal.

“I really worked on my shooting,” said Hughes, who is ranked No. 44 in the state according to michigangrappler.com. “Last year I didn’t shoot well at all. I’m getting better on my takedowns. I have more of an abundance of moves and variety of what I can do to take them down.”

Hughes called on his brother Robert for training during the summer. Robert Hughes wrestles at Michigan State University.

“I don’t really go to summer camps, but I get a lot of information practicing against my brother,” Austin said.

Austin became the third wrestler in the Freeland Invitational’s 50-year history to win four individual titles.

“I had no clue only three people have done it,” Hughes said. “It’s a very cool honor, especially in the 50th anniversary of the tournament. I like the tournament. Every year except this year I had someone ranked in the state in my weight class.”

The 18-year-old is unsure where he will wrestle collegiately but is looking to major in engineering. He has interest in Michigan State.

In the meantime, he’s fine-tuning his skills for another push for a state title.

“I’m looking to stay healthy and be ready for anything once the state tournament comes,” he said. “I’m not too concerned with [opponents at the state meet]. We’ll see what happens when it comes up.”

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Geoff Mott

Sports Scene

First-year Nouvel Catholic Central boys basketball coach Joe Jacobs learned quickly about the family atmosphere at his new job.

“The people at Nouvel were very welcoming to my family and very supportive,” said Jacobs, an athletic standout from Frankenmuth who coached for the Eagles junior varsity basketball team before taking over the Nouvel boys program.

“I lost my mother shortly after I got the job, and there were people from Nouvel at the funeral. It was a nice gesture from people who really didn’t know me.”

Nouvel girls basketball coach Will Jones, a veteran coach who’s also in his first season with the Panthers, has also enjoyed the atmosphere at Nouvel. Jones is familiar with the Catholic community. He is an alumnus of Pontiac Catholic High School, and his last job was at Gabriel Richard Catholic High School in Riverview. Jones has coached basketball for more than 25 years.

“What you find in everything good about youth sports and the community is it’s about people,” Jones said. “That’s consistent wherever you go. The colors and mascot change. But it’s been really good here. There’s great sports programs and the players are receptive to learning.

“And there’s a real nice quality of basketball up this way. This has been a lot of fun.”

Jacobs took over for Dale Roberts after the Panthers finished 10-11 last season with a loss in the district opener. The Panthers won four state titles in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and Jacobs is looking to lead them back.

“Nouvel is known as a football school for a long time and still is, but basketball is important here too,” he said. “They’ve won four state championships here, and we want to get back on the map and make it relevant again. Brick-by-brick, build the foundation.”

Nouvel finished 6-4 in the first half of the regular season, responding to a three-game losing streak by winning four of its last five games. That included a 70-66 win over regional rival Valley Lutheran, which suffered its first loss of the season with the defeat.

“We’ve had a tough schedule with some good Class A teams in there,” Jacobs said. “There were a couple top-five teams in there, and a lot of these close games have helped us.

“[The win over Valley Lutheran] shows that the kids are buying in and having fun. They deserve it. I’m comfortable where we are at because we’re getting better, but we also have tough games with Sanford Meridian, Bay City John Glenn, Flint Powers, Midland High, Michigan Lutheran Seminary, and Mount Pleasant Sacred Heart.”

Jacobs opened the doors for competition when the team worked out during the summer. That friendly fire has fueled some momentum for the team. “Everybody had a clean slate and a clean audition for playing time,” Jacobs said. “There was opportunity there, and that was the difference in the practice.

“We struggled a little with commitment in the summer, because they’ve never really done it here with summer camps. It’s been all football. But [Nouvel football coach and athletic director] Mike Boyd has helped me, and the kids are buying in.”

Senior Garrett Graham leads the Nouvel offensive attack with 14.8 points per game.

“Our team lost a lot of leaders, and Garrett sticks out as our most skilled scoring option,” Jacobs said. “We need him to do those things, and right now we’re getting the effort on the offensive end where we don’t have to rely on one person.”

Playing his senior season for a new coach was something that interested Graham after Nouvel’s ouster in the districts last season. “I was excited just to try something new,” he said. “We got together in the summer and hit some team camps and got some chemistry going.”

Graham said Jacobs has fit in well in his first experience as a varsity head coach.

“I think he’s doing a great job,” the 18-year-old guard said. “I think he pushes us a bit harder in practice and gets a little more involved. And we’re starting to feel more comfortable in our offense.”

Jacobs praised the play of Nate Garpiel as the Panthers second-highest scorer. An all-stater on the soccer field, Garpiel “is our best defender, and he loves the challenge of guarding the opposing team’s best player,” Jacobs said. “He gives 100 percent every time on the court, and he can shoot well. Shooting is sometimes half the battle.”

James Fabiano gives the Panthers strength inside, as the senior averages six points and six rebounds a game.

“He works hard and has very long arms,” Jacobs said. “He needs to box out a little better, but he does get in good position and he gets us steals. We’re turning him into a stronger scorer.”

For the girls, Rachel McInerney returns as the leading scorer and rebounder for a team that finished runner-up at the Class C state final under former coach Kris Hengesbach, who resigned after two state championships in 12 seasons as head coach.

“It’s kind of been a big transition in changing coaches,” McInerney said. “Defense is a big difference. Coach Kris always had us up in the passing lane, playing face-up and trying to get the steal and turnovers.

“Coach Jones is more help defense, a little more laid back than the presses we had with Coach Kris.”

McInerney has committed to play for Ferris State University next year, and Jones is helping to make the transition to the college level easier.

“He’s been really great in helping me with my footwork,” McInerney said. “The Ferris coaches said they want me to play on the wing or power forward. They are more guard-oriented, and I’m able to work on my outside game.”

Jones praised McInerney’s game and her willingness to learn.

“We are moving her around a bit, but she is long and can bang and grind inside,” Jones said. “She’s a baseline forward and can play some wing, but now she is going face up and not in the traditional forward way. We’re making it harder to game-plan on her because she’s in the high post, and on the wing, and even at point.”

The Panthers are 8-3 at mid-season, and they sit ranked No. 6 in the Class C Associated Press prep poll.

Nouvel lost by 10 points to Class B No. 5-ranked Bullock Creek before beating honorable mentions Clare, Chandler Park Academy, and West Catholic. The Panthers beat Class A regional rivals Saginaw High and Arthur Hill and claimed wins over Sacred Heart Academy and Valley Lutheran before a 61-41 loss to unbeaten Detroit Country Day, the No. 4-ranked team in Class B.

“Each game we see someone different, and it’s a great learning laboratory every game,” Jones said. “We are making adjustments, and the girls are taking advantage of it. They are a fantastic group of kids, and they absorb everything we tell them.”

Sophomore Laurel Jacqmain gives Nouvel a quality second scoring option, while 5’11” Nicole Buckingham is the x-factor.

“[Jacqmain] has tremendous upside, and at a long 5’9″, she has great instinct and can really position herself,” Jones said. “It’s cliché, but she has a nose for the ball. She’s always around the ball.

“Buckingham’s basketball I.Q. is off the charts. She is the proverbial x-player. You can plug and play with her. Her outside shot is fantastic and smooth, and she’s a great defender in the post.”

With unbeaten Hemlock looming in a district tournament and No. 1-ranked Reese a possibility in the regional tournament, Jones likes his team as a sleeper.

“I like flying under the radar, and the girls know the value behind it,” Jones said. “They weren’t ranked very high last year and guess what? They snuck up on everybody and made the finals.”

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Hannah Chase has had quite a season so far for the Alma girls bowling team, and she’s confident of having an even better ending.

It’s her senior year and her third varsity season. The past two seasons, she made it to the state finals, finishing in the top eight last season.

“I’ve done a lot better” this season, Chase said. “This whole summer, I was out practicing a lot more and focusing on that. I plan on going to college and bowling. I got accepted at Pikeville University [in Kentucky]. That’s where my sister [Rebecca Chase] went on a bowling scholarship. They want me to come down and bowl with the team. I have to get a hold of them and see what they have to offer.”

This season, Chase’s team has already won a tournament.

“I think some people underestimate our team,” she said. “We only have five girls. And a couple of them, it’s only their first or second year coming out. We have come together as a team. We can do anything.”

Alma went to the state finals as a team Chase’s sophomore season.

“We have a good chance [this season],” she said. “We just have to focus and keep our heads up. That’s something we have to work on. Once we get down, it’s hard to get back up.”

Chase’s top game has been a 255, and her average has been around 190.

“I really went and worked on spares,” she said. “Strikes are good, but at the end of the game…once I’ve been practicing my spares, my game has gotten better. I’m used to strikes a lot. As long as I work on my spares and keep that up, everything else is good.”

It’s natural for Hannah to compare herself to Rebecca. “People have told me that if I go to Pikeville, I might do a little better because she’s more laid back and doesn’t like pressure, while I like pressure,” Hannah said. “When she was in high school, her average was a little lower than what mine is now.

“I’m really working on trying to keep my average and game up. The last couple of weeks haven’t been my best games.”

She’ll focus on bowling during the off-season. She also plays golf in the fall.

“It’s going to be close in conference this year,” she said, adding that St. Louis and Ithaca will be tough opponents. “I like to be under pressure.”

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If your name is Raymond Eddy, you must be a bowler.

The Eddy family continues to make a name for itself when it comes to bowling. The youngest bowler is Heritage High School team member Raymond IV.

Raymond IV’s great-grandfather and grandfather, Ray Eddy, Sr. and Ray Eddy, Jr., are in the Saginaw Bowling Hall of Fame. Ray Eddy III was recently inducted into the Michigan Majors Hall of Fame.

Ray Sr. “was the bowler, then I started bowling, then my brother, then my kids, and now my grandkids,” Ray Jr. said. He has won some “700” titles in Saginaw and various city tournament championships.

“My kids bowled at a young age, the same thing with my grandsons,” said Ray Jr., who started bowling at age 10 or 11. He’s 60 years old now and continues to bowl. While Raymond IV is a high school bowler, high school teams did not exist when Ray Jr. and Ray III were young. They did have the opportunity to bowl in youth leagues, though.

“The bowling alleys were so busy back then, I don’t think they could have done it,” Ray Jr. said.

Ray III said the Michigan bowling sportswriters vote for the Michigan Majors Hall of Fame honorees. “You have to bowl for 15 years or have won over four titles,” he said. “I’ve won four [Michigan major] titles, three majors with end of the year championship tournament twice and the tournament of champions once.”

Ray III has bowled for over 30 years, having started a little younger than when his dad began. He’s had 76 perfect games in his career.

“It was a very big surprise,” Ray III smiled while talking about his Hall induction.

The youngest Eddy goes by Raymond, while the others call themselves Ray.

Raymond IV is a sophomore on the varsity bowling team at Heritage this year, his first on the team. Overall, he’s been bowling about 12 years.

“When I was little, I remember we’d go for a weekend to a tournament, whether it be Michigan Majors or some other tournament,” he said.

Raymond IV has been working on his game for his Heritage team. “We’re looking good for the year,” he said.

He bowls in the Thursday Afternoon Scholarship league at Stardust Lanes in Saginaw. “But you’re not allowed to bowl on leagues during high school bowling,” Raymond IV said. “Once high school’s done, I’ll go back to that league. I definitely like that league a lot.”

The youngest Eddy says he tries to work on his game whenever time allows in addition to regular high school practices.

Like his great-grandfather, grandfather, and father, Raymond IV definitely plans on bowling his entire life. “It’s something my great-grandpa started. I don’t know if anyone bowled before him. I never got a chance to meet him. He died when my dad was one.”

Raymond IV, also a third baseman and pitcher, plans on playing with the Heritage baseball team this spring.

Another top bowler for Heritage is Tyler Scott, a junior who has been bowling three seasons for the varsity team. Other top players for coach Todd Hare’s team are Shane Carlson, Adam Clauss, Robert Henne, Ben Kastros, Derrick Norman, Morris Pruitt, Brandon Southworth, and Travis Taylor.

“It’s going good, we’re in the rebuilding stage because we’ve lost people the last two years,” Hare said. “It’s going decent.”

Scott and Eddy IV were among the key players on the Heritage team that won the 2014 Flint Metro Invitational Tournament Jan. 19 at Richfield Lanes in Flint.

“I’ve improved a little bit,” Scott said. “My spares have gotten a lot better. Mentally, I’ve gotten better. [The others] have improved a lot. We’ve all gotten a lot better from year to year. We’ve gotten more consistent and smarter with how we play. We’re making our spares and everything.”

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It was a December night in downtown Detroit that the Big Rapids Cardinals won’t forget for a long time.

The Cardinals were among the high school teams that played at Comerica Park a week before Christmas as part of the Hockeytown Winter Festival, an event that included an NHL game on New Year’s Day between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Detroit Red Wings at Michigan Stadium.

The Cardinals were scheduled to play their top rival, Cadillac, at Comerica in the 2012 Festival, but that game was canceled because of the NHL players lockout and was rescheduled for Dec. 2013.

Big Rapids coach Tim Blashill said he had heard about the possibility of playing at Comerica from his brother, Jeff Blashill, who was with the Detroit Red Wings as an assistant coach at the time. After Big Rapids inquired about being a participant in the Classic, the school got the call.

Big Rapids vs. Cadillac was among eight high school games played at Comerica. Big Rapids, Cadillac, Traverse City Central, and Traverse City West were the only Northern Michigan schools that played at Comerica. The other 12 teams were from metro Detroit.

Big Rapids and Cadillac faced off at 7 p.m. Weather conditions were somewhat pleasant for the game, with a temperature around 18 degrees. “It wasn’t snowing but it was cold,” Blashill said. “We watched the Traverse City Central-West game. We were cold in the stands. After our game started, it got colder.”

Ice conditions were basically okay, Blashill indicated. “We had a few chips here and there. It got a little too cold. We were kind of a dry run. They [Comerica officials] were working with the ice.”

The team made the 3-hour, 15-minute trip from Big Rapids to Detroit on game day, starting early enough that the Cardinals could watch the two Traverse City teams play prior to their game.

Cadillac won the game 3-1 on two second-period goals. In November, Cadillac had beaten Big Rapids 7-1, so Blashill was heartened with the effort, despite the loss. Jeremiah McReynolds scored for the Cardinals in the opening period. Goalkeepers were Joe Templin and Joey Hinds.

The team returned to Big Rapids that night. It was a long trip but worth the experience.

“Each team had to pay $2,500,” Blashill said, noting the Big Rapids hockey boosters covered the costs.

“It was unbelievable, it was real cool experience all the way around,” Blashill said. “We wanted to win, play hard, and do those things. But at the same time, we wanted to take in the experience of playing in a once-in-a-lifetime game.”

Big Rapids took a parent bus to the game with approximately 60 people. Blashill recalls seeing fans other than those from Big Rapids and Cadillac in the stands.

Considering the game was canceled in 2012, it was a dream for the Cardinals when it became reality. “We told the kids take it all in and enjoy it,” Blashill said. “It was pretty cool and special once it happened.”

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