Area bowlers look to postseason

Almont’s Jason McKelvey goes through the motions in a recent practice. Photo by Kelly Stanley LAPEER COUNTY — The postseason has begun in earnest for area high school bowling squads with the regional round set to take place Friday and Saturday across the state.

Locally, Almont, Capac, Dryden, Imlay City, Otisville- LakeVille, Lapeer East and West and North Branch will go toe-totoe seeking berths to the state meet. Below is a sneak peek at who could make that coveted cut.

Region 10, Bay City John Glenn at Monitor Lanes in Bay City

Lapeer East and Lapeer West will have their squads competing at the Bay City John Glenn regional. Other schools competing include Bay City John Glenn, Bay City Western, Clio, Escanaba, Flint Kearsley, Flint Northern, Flint Northwestern, Gaylord, Iron Mountain, Marquette, Mt. Pleasant, Saginaw Arthur Hill and Sault Ste. Marie.

On the West end of things, Josh Carbone and Jeff Acton look to continue their strong seasons. For the Lady Panthers, Hannah Gauthier and Katie Walleman have the ability to make a splash at the regionals.

East will be led by Aaron Crump, Matt Hitchkock and Tyler Graham on the boys’ side. For the Lady Eagles, look to seniors Justice Schihl and Devin House, who are consistently some of the top bowlers in the area. — B.P.

Region 16, Goodrich at Cherry Hill Lanes in Clarkston

Almont, Capac, Imlay City and LakeVille will have to contend with squads from host Goodrich, Armada, Corunna, Durand, Flint Powers, Flint Southwestern Academy, Mt. Morris, Ovid Elsie, Perry and Richmond.

The Raiders will look to Jason McKelvey for a strong showing and expect a big performance from Alec Ward and Jesse Crawford. Capac has seen great production from Miles Stanis all season. Also be on the lookout for Drake McArthur and freshman

Ethan Moran.

LakeVille comes in with a 4-7 boys’ record and a 3-8 girls’ record in the Genesee Area Conference. Joe Kennedy leads the boys’ squad with a 177 average in 22 games and Kevin Hollis is at 163 through 21 games. Lance Teeter is averaging 158 for 21 games and Jake Weeks is at 162 for 11. Sara Hollis leads the Lady Falcons at 118, while Sasha Buckel and Kaitlyn Johnson are both at 109. — L.P./B.P./D.N.

Region 14, Hemlock at Candlelight Lanes in Hemlock

North Branch will look for a regional berth along with Alma, Birch Run, Bridgeport, Caro, Carrollton, Cros- Lex, Garber, Freeland, Hemlock, Saginaw, Saginaw Swan Valley and Shepherd.

Mike and Brandon Berlin will look to lead the boys’ squad while Candace Sutter and Jilliann Dufort are the leaders on the girls’ team. — E.H.

Region 23, New Lothrop at Richfield Lanes in Davison

While the Lady Cardinals will not be taking the lanes for the postseason because of their low roster numbers, the Dryden boys’ team still has a tough road ahead against a field that includes Auburn Hills Oakland Christian, Bendle, Bentley, Beecher, Hamady, Genesee, Marine City Cardinal Mooney, Madison Heights Bishop Foley, Madison Heights Madison, Memphis, Montrose, New Haven, Riverview Gabriel Richard, Royal Oak Shrine and the host Hornets.

The key to Dryden’s three wins this season in eight tries was an overall effort that included contributions from players such as Mike Cox, who bowled games of 179 and 181 in the team’s seasonending victory over Imaly City at Cedar Lanes on Feb. 8. Zack Powell, Robert Andreski, Zach Smith and Matt Schuhrke make up the rest of the rotation and all will need to be on their game if the Cardinals are going to make it to the state meet on Mar. 2-3. — M.S.