All eyes on states for Utica-Eisenhower bowling following merger

SHELBY TOWNSHIP/UTICA — It’s not every day you see something like this in the high school sports world.

It’s a merger unlike anything the bowling community has ever seen, and it’s catapulting Utica High School and Eisenhower High School to the top of the list for state championship contenders.

Holding a long-standing rivalry, Utica and Eisenhower bowling had internal conflicts of their own to go head-to-head with, as Eisenhower and Utica boys bowling both struggled with numbers for the upcoming season.

The girls side was in perfect shape on its own with Eisenhower returning as the Macomb Area Conference Red champions and Utica as the reigning MAC White champions.

Since the boys were in need of bowlers, Utica and Eisenhower merged together to form a girls and boys bowling team that should give any other team in the state a run for its money.

 

Girls
Both returning as MAC Champions in their respective leagues and Utica coming off a third-place finish at the Michigan High School Athletic Association Division 1 state championship, Utica-Eisenhower girls bowling, which competes in the MAC Red and is in first with a 4-0 record, is shaped up to be not just the best team in Macomb County, but in the entire state.

Sophomore Ava Mazza (Utica), a first team all-state honoree, and senior Sophia Matheson (Eisenhower), a second team all-state honoree, lead the squad as returning state qualifiers with a strong supporting cast full of all-conference bowlers.

“It’s always tough because there’s so much depth on the team now after the merger,” Utica-Eisenhower girls head coach Taran Heersma said. “A lot of the JV-A team could comfortably be on varsity too.”

Alongside Matheson and Mazza are senior Hadley Clark (Utica), a state qualifier and all-conference honoree; sophomore Ayvree Clark (Utica), an all-conference honoree; sophomore Adriana DiPonio (Utica); senior Lauren Milot (Eisenhower); and senior Emerson Rietsch (Eisenhower).

Mazza, the regional champion, and Hadley Clark, the regional runner-up, both made it happen on the singles side while also leading Utica to a team regional championship last season, but you never know how a team with established success is going to pair up with another dominant squad.

“I think we were all really excited about it,” Mazza said. “Last year, we placed third at states, and we knew Ike was a really good team, and we knew most of the girls. When we came together, it was almost meant to be.”

Since bonding together, the team has only gotten louder during matches, which was an Eisenhower speciality last season with its patented chants that rang throughout the entire bowling alley.

Utica was loud and carried enough energy on its own, but now paired with Eisenhower, it’s a whole different animal — an animal that can be referred to as the “Cheagles,” as Utica-Eisenhower refers to itself.

“I think Ike, especially, was known for being loud,” Matheson said. “You can walk into a building, and just by hearing ‘Holla!,’ or now ‘U-E,’ you know where we’re at.”

The bowler who makes a strike says “U” while the team responds with “E,” and there are many more chants in Utica-Eisenhower’s back pocket.

In its first match against Macomb L’Anse Creuse North, Utica-Eisenhower earned a convincing 28-2 win, spearheaded by the team’s electric environment.

“I feel like we’re the loudest team, first of all,” Hadley Clark said. “I think that’s part of the reason we won, because you need that hypeness.”

Utica-Eisenhower also picked up another league win in a 30-0 victory over Sterling Heights Stevenson, but the girls have also made their presence felt on the tournament scene.

The Cheagles started off with a first-place finish in the Dakota Cougar Classic Dec. 14 at Imperial Lanes, beating out 15 other teams while Ayvree Clark (second), Hadley Clark (fourth), Matheson (fifth) and Rietsch (seventh) all placed in the top 10 for the singles side.

The girls again flexed their muscles in a runner-up finish in the Henry Ford Bowl Swami Motor City Challenge Tournament Dec. 21 at Imperial Lanes as Ayvree Clark (second), Mazza (third), Matheson (sixth) and Hadley Clark (eighth) all placed in the top 10 for singles.

Mazza is also coming off a first-place finish at the Utica Singles Jingles Tournament Dec. 29 at 5 Star Lanes, as she outlasted 54 girls, defeating Lake Shore’s Sara Augustitus in the final match.

There’s a lot to be said for how quickly the team has jelled and gotten off to an incredible start, especially with the pressure of everyone looking at them as a powerhouse in the state, but Heersma said the team is just focused on one match at a time.

“That’s (states) totally the goal, but it’s very important at the same time that we don’t get ahead of ourselves,” Heersma said. “We absolutely have to go one day at a time.”

Utica-Eisenhower girls bowling has also earned first in the L’Anse Creuse North Bakers Dozen Tournament and the Macomb County Team Championship.

 

Boys
The girls side must be leaving some kind of mark on the boys because the energy is at an all time high, and it starts with sophomore Marco Mazza.

Marco and Ava Mazza, who are twins, are the children of former Professional Bowlers Association star John Mazza, and Marco Mazza carries that “PBA energy,” according to senior teammate Kingston Corpuz.

Add Corpuz and returning Division 1 singles state champion Dylan Harnden, and Utica-Eisenhower was ready to explode out the gate this season.

“I was really surprised with the merge because I wasn’t 100% sure with how it would go,” Dylan Harnden said. “Obviously going with two schools — Utica and Ike — that clash in other sports and mashing them together was unique. I was also curious how it would go because adding Marco, who’s really, really good, helps replace last year where we could’ve done better. I think the whole jelling together and energy is way better, and I think everyone is better because of it.”

Marco Mazza is the sparkplug if you will, and Utica-Eisenhower, currently 3-1 in the league holding a loss to Macomb Dakota, was electric in its first tournament showing at the Dakota Cougar Classic, capturing first-place and defeating Davison, the Division 1 state runner-up last season, in the final match. Corpuz earned first on the singles side while Harnden finished sixth overall.

“With the whole team coming together, it (first) was huge,” Dylan Harnden said. “I was hoping we’d win a tournament, but I wasn’t expecting us to just win one right off the bat with the second tournament of the year, especially with the teams we had to go through.”

Utica-Eisenhower, who competes in the MAC Red, has already jumped out to a 2-0 league record with wins over Macomb L’Anse Creuse North and Sterling Heights Stevenson.

Corpuz and Harnden have been as advertised throughout their high school careers, but Mazza has been a strong addition to Corpuz and Harnden along with Evan Cicotte, Nolan Kukuk and Zach Kukuk also bringing consistent contributions.

“To put him (Marco) with Dylan and Kingston, we go from having a team that should make it to states to now giving us a legitimate chance to win states,” Utica-Eisenhower boys bowling head coach Mark Harnden said. “Both Zach and Nolan, who were both on the JV team last year, really practiced over the summer and got really good too. Now we got the team we thought we were going to have in Dylan and Kingston’s senior year, which was, ‘Are we even going to have enough to compete as a team’ to a team that legitimately has a chance to win states with the way we’re throwing the ball.”

Harnden and Corpuz are two of the top bowlers in the class of 2025, especially with Harnden returning as the defending Division 1 singles champion, but the team state title has been the tricky part.

In their freshman season, Eisenhower finished state runner-up, but it’s been an uphill battle ever since to get back to where it all started.

Mazza said it’s his job as an underclassman to “come in here and get you guys a title,” but Corpuz said he’s focused on ending his high school career strong while taking it all in one last time.

“I’ve always looked up to all the seniors on the team as being role models,” Corpuz said. “Not numbers-wise but just seeing them in their last year and how they appreciated everything for the last three years. Now that we’re one of them, it’s definitely different.”

Harnden, a returning first team all-state selection and Macomb County champion this season, and Corpuz, a returning second team all-state selection, have looked more determined than ever so far, as Corpuz finished second and Harnden third at the Henry Ford Bowl Swami Motor City Challenge, while Harnden recently finished first in the Utica Singles Jingles Tournament Dec. 29 at 5 Star Lanes.

Both collegiate bowlers with Corpuz committed to Spring Arbor College and Harnden still undecided, it will be exciting to see how these two end their high school careers.

“If it’s going to come down to the ninth and 10th, who are the two kids you’d want? You’d want two of the best kids in the state on the same team,” Mark Harnden said. “I consider myself lucky and spoiled to watch those two bowl all the time. It’s top-level bowling.”