Taylor Nutt caps freshman bowling season with berth in the final 16 at state meet; Grand Haven’s Prokopec takes second

By Ron Rop
LocalSportsJournal.com

MUSKEGON – It was an exciting ride for Ravenna’s Taylor Nutt, who completed her freshman bowling season on Saturday at the Division 4 state finals. Nutt, one of the area’s top bowlers whose season average was nearly 190, qualified for match play at the state meet, which was hosted by Northway Lanes.

Nutt qualified in the 14th position, which put her against No. 3-seeded Lauren Castillo from Memphis in the first round of elimination match play.

In a two-game match, that actually needed a two-frame roll off to decide a winner, Nutt was eliminated from moving into the final eight.

Nutt and Castillo went back and forth through the first two games. Castillo, who was making her third straight appearance at the state finals, led by nine pins after the first game, 189-180, and Nutt came back for a 145-136 advantage in the second game to force a roll off. In that opening game, Nutt opened in the first frame then followed with seven spares and three strikes.

Nutt needed a strike on the first ball in the 10th frame to give her any chance of tying the match.

“I did not know that I needed a strike,” said Taylor, who did throw a strike then added a nine-count and a spare to take the second game by nine.

“I never know if the kid knows how to do the math quickly in their head or not, but I just never tell her,” said Jason Nutt, a Bulldog coach who also happens to be Taylor’s uncle. “I just tell her, ‘throw another one, throw another one.’ I can see her doing the math, but I just tell her not to worry about it. Just get the next one.”

Nutt spared the first frame of the roll off, but then Castillo buried three straight strikes to clinch the match. Castillo went on and finished runner-up in the singles.

“I was very nervous,” Taylor said of her two-game match. “The first game I thought I threw the ball very well and I didn’t get as many strikes as I wanted or any breaks. In the second game, I couldn’t hit my mark at all.”

“I thought she handled it pretty well as a freshman,” Jason Nutt said. “That’s good experience for her. I mean, she’ll be here again. She’s good enough where she will be here again. Taylor will have another crack at this, no doubt about it.

“I don’t think she should be disappointed, but I know she is probably sad that she didn’t go on, but she can’t hang her head about that,” Jason Nutt said.

Nutt advanced to the match play with a six-game total of 1,036 and a high game of 195.

Five other female bowlers competed, but none were able to advance out of the qualifying round.

Holton junior EmmaLee Fox was 25th with a high game of 204 and a six-game total of 978. Ravenna’s Zoe Marsman was 34th with a 947 and a top game of 190.

Ravenna’s Kendra Denhof came in 36th in qualifying with a total of 938 pins and a high game of 180. Fellow Bulldog Emma Herremans came in 44th with a top game of 176 and a total of 905 pins. Rounding out the area bowlers was Holton’s Karley Plekes, who came in 50th place with a 854. Her best game was a 152.

Division 1
Grand Haven had three bowlers competing for the singles title. On the boys’ side, Ben Prokopec qualified for match play with a 16th-place finish. He was tied with Michael Pupin, from New Baltimore Anchor Bay, after the six qualifying games at 1,200. In a rolloff, Prokopec won 204-195.

In the match play round of 16, Prokopec went up against No. 1 seed Andrew Clark, a senior from Hartland, who finished his six games of qualifying with a 1,310. Prokopec took down Clark with games of 160 and 215 for a 275. Clark finished at 292.

In the round of eight, Prokopec took out Brody Pettenger from Jenison quite handily. Prokopec had games of 188 and 195 for a total of 383. Pettenger finished at 327.

Then came the semifinals and Prokopec got red-hot with games of 204 and 243 for a 447 total. His opponent, Joe Merz of Davison, finished with a 417.

In the title match, Prokopec rolled a 179 and 196 for a 375. Dylan Harden, from Utica Eisenhower, finished with 393 and a state championship.

On the girls’ side, two Buc bowlers included Jenna McKinzie and Alayna Thompson. McKinzie finished 24th with a six-game total of 1,087. Her high game was a 211. Thompson finished at 1,081 and came in 26th. Her best game was a 222.

Derek Kern, a junior at Mona Shores, was 23rd in qualifying. His best game was a 227 and his total was 1,180.

Division 3
Six area bowlers were vying for a singles title, including Fremont senior Sophia Romine, who was the lone bowler to survive the qualifying round. She finished 15th after a six-game total of 1,073. That matched her up against No. 2 seeded Chloe Manifold, a senior from Hillsdale, who had a 1,272 through six qualifying games.

In the round of 16, Manifold rolled two games of 192 and 212 for a total of 404 while Romine had 114, 174 for a total of 288. Manifold went on to win the state title in Division 3.

Oakridge sophomore Breanna Twining finished 46th in qualifying with a total of 917 pins and a 179 high game.

On the boys’ side, Orchard View senior Ashton Tjapkes came in 25th place. His best game was a 192 and his total was 1,094. Oakridge senior Travis Lewis was 29th with a six-game total of 1,077 and a high game of 253. Fremont senior Kaden Johnson finished 31st at 1,060. Johnson’s top game was a 214. Oakridge junior Michael Hruskatch, Jr. was 37th with 1,048 and a high game of 207.

Division 4
On the boys’ side, six area bowlers competed in singles, but did not finish in the top 16.

Holton senior Tuff Scott finished 29th with a high game of 202 and a six-game total of 1,084. Fellow Red Devil Aiden Moore was 34th at 1,065 and a best game of 201 and senior Bo Larabee was 45th with a total of 1,023 and a top game of 190.

Ravenna had three bowlers in the singles event.

Josiah Kantola, a senior, rolled a 212 among his six-game total of 1,067. Caleb Jonas, also a senior, came in 35th at 1,061 and a high game of 223. Senior Matt Anton was 45th at 1,014 and a top game of 208.