Macomb County

County meet crowns new bowling champions

By Jon Malavolti
C & G Sports Writer

» click to enlarge « Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Bowlers compete at the Macomb County tournament Jan. 21 at Sunnybrook in Sterling Heights. When all was said and done, Utica Stevenson’s girls and Clinton Township Chippewa Valley’s boys came away with the team titles, while Warren Fitzgerald’s Alec Nunn and Macomb L’Anse Creuse North’s Alyssa Meade won the individual crowns. Photo by Patricia O’Blenes Bowlers compete at the Macomb County tournament Jan. 21 at Sunnybrook in Sterling Heights. When all was said and done, Utica Stevenson’s girls and Clinton Township Chippewa Valley’s boys came away with the team titles, while Warren Fitzgerald’s Alec Nunn and Macomb L’Anse Creuse North’s Alyssa Meade won the individual crowns. More from the Macomb County tournament

Macomb County’s best high school bowlers hit the lanes hard Jan. 21 at Sunnybrook in Sterling Heights to determine the top teams and individuals around.

When all was said and done, Utica Stevenson’s girls and Clinton Township Chippewa Valley’s boys came away with the team titles, while Warren Fitzgerald’s Alec Nunn and Macomb L’Anse Creuse North’s Alyssa Meade won the individual crowns.

“Once again, the Macomb County area has the toughest teams in the state,” Stevenson coach Tom Stockton said. “To survive this tournament with a win or a good, top finish is a great accomplishment.”

Stevenson’s girls bested Macomb Dakota in the championship, while the Dakota boys also finished runner-up behind Chippewa’s guys.

In the boys team competition, Utica High finished third and Richmond High took fourth. Sterling Heights High, Romeo High, Stevenson and Utica Ford II were quarterfinalists in the field of 21 teams.

On the girls side, Ford finished third and Anchor Bay took fourth. Chippewa Valley, Richmond, East Detroit and L’Anse Creuse North were all quarterfinalists in a field of 18 teams.

In the individual tournament, Fitzgerald’s Nunn finished first after a three-game total of 760. LCN’s Meade, meanwhile, won with a total of 687.

Also finishing in the top 10 in the boys tournament are Mike Churchill (Warren Mott), Trevor MacKowiak (LCN), Vince Papais (Stevenson), Martin Sison (Warren De La Salle), Danny Eovaldi (Dakota), Nick Mikaelian (Dakota), Steve Snyder (Stevenson), Casey Schiner (Utica Eisenhower), Tyler Dombrowski (St. Clair Shores Lakeview) and Forrest Pease (Warren Lincoln).

Rounding out the girls top 10 are Kristen Young (Chippewa), Lauren Krywy (Stevenson),
Chandler Loveday (Warren Regina), Ashley Smith (East Detroit), Marissa Solnik (Dakota), Mariah Fasczcewski (Anchor Bay), Noelle Scheuer (Richmond), Erin Wemyss (Stevenson) and Ashley Yank (Chippewa).

For Chippewa’s boys, the team title was a long time coming. It was the program’s first championship at the county meet, and in three previous tournaments this season, the boys took second, third and fourth.

“It’s pretty exciting,” Chippewa coach Charles Schultz said. “They’ve been working hard, learning how to win. It was a total team effort.”

The Big Reds’ championship team included Jeff Pietryka, Paul Jurgelewicz, Aaron Sanders, John Short, Hunter Ioppolo and Stefan Panetta.

Stevenson’s girls have also been coming on strong in recent weeks.

“I am very proud, because we have made vast improvements in the last couple of weeks,” Stockton said. “We started the season off slow with a lot of inexperience.”

The coach said Krywy — the third-place individual finisher and a transfer student from Warren Cousino who became eligible to join the team Jan. 16 — has helped the squad.

“The enthusiasm from the whole team has improved,” Stockton said. “They have come together. It took a lot of pressure off some of the returning bowlers since they have her for help.”

Rounding out the Titans’ title winning team are Wemyss, Sarah Mouat, Renee Spicuzza,
Julia Monette and Kalin McGee.

While teams will return to division action for the next few weeks, the stage is set for what
promises to be a competitive regional competition, especially now that all the county’s
teams have had a good look at each other in action. Regionals will take place Feb. 24-25 at various locations; the top three finishing teams and top 10 individuals will head off to the March 2-3 state finals.

Stockton noted the regional tournaments will be tougher than the county competition.

“If they can get out of the regional, they have a solid run at a state title,” he said about the
local squads. “So many teams are showing improvement. They are all coming together.”

You can reach C & G Sports Writer Jon Malavolti at jmalavolti@candgnews.com or at (586)498-1040. Follow Jon on Twitter.