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ST. CLAIR SHORES — The 2023 Macomb Area Conference-White champions had momentum on their side going into the Michigan High School Athletic Association Region 6 championship at Skore Lanes on Feb. 24, but the field of competition at regionals was loaded with talent.
“It’s a tough region,” St. Clair Shores Lakeview coach Jeremiah Shaw said. “It’s probably not as deep as other ones, but there’s probably five or six teams you have to worry about.”
Going up against University of Detroit Jesuit, Woodhaven-Brownstown and Wyandotte, Lakeview knew it had to bring their best, but the first two Baker games didn’t showcase that.
The regionals format is eight Baker games, which is a game shared by the whole team, and two team games.
Rolling a 165 and 168, Lakeview, which was sitting in 12th place at the time, was staring down the cut line for the state finals qualifier.
That was until Lakeview seniors John Wendling, Micah Francis, Pablo Gomez and Thomas Hatcher; junior Cameron Fedenis; sophomore Josh Ciegotura; and freshman Keith Quail III all came together to bring Lakeview back.
“I feel like when we saw we weren’t in one of the top places, it really motivated us to do better,” Ciegotura said.
Lakeview responded with six strong Baker games, scoring 190, 190, 182, 198 and 227.
With two team games remaining, Lakeview scored a 1,081 to take the lead and then finished with a 919 to earn the regional championship by 163 pins over second-place U of D Jesuit.
Lakeview qualified for their third-straight state finals appearance as a team, and Wendling’s (second) 1,282 and Francis’ (seventh) 1,193 over a six-game stretch qualified them for the individual state finals.
Although Lakeview missed out on the qualifying block at the team state finals, and both Francis and Wendling missed out on the qualifying block on the individual side at the state finals, Lakeview’s four seniors in Wendling, Francis, Hatcher and Gomez have left an immeasurable impact on the bowling program.
“They really motivated me to be better because I was always trying to be as good as them and beat them, and they always helped me out when I was feeling down and kept me motivated,” Ciegotura said.
As for 2024, the leadership will fall on Ciegotura and Fedenis for the young Lakeview squad. It’ll be an adjustment period, but don’t call it a rebuild just yet.
“I feel like we do have some pretty good bowlers on JV that will come up to varsity, and I think we can still be a good team,” Ciegotura said. “I think we can lead the team next year and get to the top of our game.”
