Teams and individuals excel at Macomb County bowling championships

STERLING HEIGHTS — In a weekend of upsets and first-ever title winners, two teams and two bowlers stood tall at the finale of the Macomb County Bowling Championships Varsity Team and Singles Tournament on Jan. 14-15 at Sterling Lanes.

The team tournament took place on Jan. 14, while the singles tournament concluded on Jan. 15. Team tournament games contained a field of 16 teams and were Baker games, which means a team game is bowled by multiple bowlers on the team.

 

Warren Woods Tower High School
A reigning Macomb County bowling champion in the singles tournament, Warren Woods Tower senior Kayla Tafanelli showed the field why she’s one of the top bowlers in the state.

In the finale against Utica Ford High School’s Grace Polega, Tafanelli tallied 10 straight strikes to earn a 289-161 win. Tafanelli left the nine pin on her 11th ball to fall just short of 300 but claimed her second straight singles title at the Macomb County Bowling Championships.

“She doesn’t let anything bother her,” Warren Woods Tower coach Craig Geml said. “There’s nothing that bothers this young lady. It’s not arrogance; it’s that she’s just really confident.”

Tafanelli, who was named the Detroit Free Press’ Girls Bowler of the Year in 2022, has bowled in only two tournaments this season — including the Macomb County tournament — after being sidelined due to an appendectomy, earning the singles championship earlier this year at the L’Anse Creuse North Singles Tournament.

With this being her last season at Warren Woods Tower, Tafanelli said she felt motivated to go out there and bring the title home one last time.

“It felt really good to be back and be my normal self,” Tafanelli said. “It took some practice, but I never gave up even if things got a little rough at times. I felt like I had to give it my all since it’s my last time bowling counties, and I wanted to perform what I could and show that I had fun doing it.”

Along with Tafanelli was her younger sister, freshman Taylor Tafanelli, who helped pace the girls team to a finish in the round of eight.

Seniors Clinton Harris and Nathan Downs led Warren Woods Tower to a first-round win over top-seeded Utica Eisenhower. Harris finished in the round of eight on the singles side while the boys team finished in the round of eight as well.

 

Macomb Dakota High School
After missing the Macomb County Bowling Championships in 2022 due to COVID-19, Macomb Dakota senior Dylan Maurer returned to claim the top spot.

“It was looking like this tournament was his tournament,” Dakota coach Jason Kavanagh said. “He was just throwing the ball so well. He was hitting all his targets.”

Maurer defeated Armada High School sophomore Zach Obodzinski 221-219 in the championship match, and Maurer had faced a slew of talent to earn a spot in the finals.

Maurer earned wins over top seed Dylan Harnden, of Utica Eisenhower; Clinton Harris, of Warren Woods Tower; and Darren Lee, of Anchor Bay High School.

After watching Dakota bring home the title as a team in 2022 at the Macomb County Bowling Championships, Maurer said he was excited to be a part of the tournament this season.

“Last year was tough watching my team from home, but I couldn’t have been more proud of them for winning teams, and then when I heard Connor (Rogus) won singles, it made my day,” Maurer said. “So, this being my senior year, I wanted to go out there and do this for not just me, but for my team.”

Rogus, the defending county champion in singles, finished fourth while his brother, freshman Cole Rogus, lost to Connor in the round of eight.

While not uncommon for teammates to meet in the singles tournament, Kavanagh said it’s never easy as a coach or a player to watch it happen.

“It’s hard for it not to happen, especially at Dakota with the caliber of bowlers we have,” Kavanagh said. “It’s hard to see; Cole (Rogus) really wanted to beat him and plant that flag. You can see that competitiveness in the match, but after it’s not bragging but, ‘Hey, go on and get this one for me.’”

Dakota fell to Lake Shore High School in the finals in the boys team championship tournament.

After an up-and-down season so far, Maurer said the tournament showed what the team is capable of moving forward.

“After seeing us compete like this in counties, I don’t see any doubt that, at the end of the year, we can’t win the state title,” Maurer said.

 

Lake Shore High School
Earning their first Macomb County bowling championships title, the Lake Shore boys bowling team had an impressive showing over the weekend.

Lake Shore defeated Macomb Area Conference-Red rival Dakota 638-619 in the three-game finals stretch.

While Lake Shore had itself a weekend, Lake Shore senior Zephan Lazar topped the team in terms of memorable moments.

“He anchored the team to first place, he qualified fourth in singles, and then his mom had a baby on Tuesday, so now he’s got a sister,” Lake Shore coach James DeLong said. “It’s been a busy week for him.”

Alongside Lazar, senior Tyler Kiroski and junior Vance Harvey paced Lake Shore to the win.

Lake Shore had previously faced off against Dakota earlier this year, and Harvey said the team knew what it needed to do this time around.

“We knew we had to score high,” Harvey said. “We had a meet earlier this year, and we didn’t do too well. Once we came out with that 256 game or 250, we felt really confident. Taking that 75-pin lead in the next game was just icing on the cake.”

 

L’Anse Creuse High School-North
Coming into the season as one of the premier girls teams in the state, L’Anse Creuse High School-North earned a 491-409 win over Richmond in the championship game.

North earned a spot in the finals after defeating top seed Sterling Heights Stevenson and was led by senior Sophie Paupert, juniors Haley Straetmans and Jenna Daugherty, sophomores Ryann Joslin and Madison Bowen, and freshman Madison Schunemann.

“They all did their part,” North coach Darin Driscoll said. “They all stood out.

Paupert has stepped in this season as a strong senior leader after North graduated an impressive senior class.

Paupert said the team has its eyes on one thing.

“Honestly, we just really want to make it to states,” she said.