The Flint Metro League was well represented at MHSAA Regional competitions this past weekend.  Kearsley boys' team and Kearsley girls' team each won Regional Championships for the 6th time.  

In the girls division, Kearsley finished a whopping 518 pins ahead of their nearest competitor to capture their 6th straight title and advance to the state tournament where they will defend their 5th consecutive state championship.  

Also advancing to the State finals will be the girls teams from Flushing (2nd), Owosso (3rd) and Clio (3rd).  Flushing will compete in Division 1 to be held at Thunderbowl Lanes in Allen Park.  Kearsley, Owosso and Clio will compete in Division 2, held at Century Bowl in Waterford.

In the boys division, the Kearsley team finished 97 pins ahead of the second place team to also capture a Regional title and advance to the state finals.  The Owosso boys team also won a Regional title advancing with a 68 pin win.  Both of these teams will bowl at Century Bowl for the MHSAA State Championship on March 1.

In the individual portion of the Regional Championship, Kearsley's Imari Blond was the Regional Champion for the 3rd straight year with a 44 pin victory over teammate Allison Eible who finished in 2nd.  Freshman Connor Letter from Flushing rolled a perfect 300 game and finished in 3rd place in the boys individual tournament at Richfield Lanes to also advance to the finals.

Also advancing individually from Regionals and on to the State Finals:
     D1 Evelyn Cano (4th) Flushing
           Rose Rietz (9th) Flushing
           Josiah Wallace (10th) Flushing
     D2 Angela Hanners (4th) Fenton
           Emilea Sturk (8th) Kearsley
           Kyle Langworth (8th) Kearsley
           Marissa Spalding (7th) Owosso
           Shelby Gokee (10th) Owosso
           Braden Triggs (3rd) Owosso
           Brendan Coffman (6th) Owosso
           Thomas Trecha (7th) Owosso
​           Jacob Turner (8th) Brandon

The girls bowling team from Kearsley HS continues their dominance completing their 10th straight undefeated season.  This brings their winning streak to an amazing 120 Metro League matches.  The Hornets finished the Metro season with a 16-0 dual record.  Flushing put up a tough fight to finish in second at 14-2 with their only loses coming from Kearsley. 
Dessie Sudberry from Clio HS was selected as the girls Coach of the Year.  Fenton led the sportsmanship votes with nominations from 3 league opponents, Holly had 2 votes and Kearsley, Brandon and Linden each had one.

The Flushing boys team won their first league title in a tight race with a 14-2 dual record.  Kearsley and Owosso were close behind in second place with dual records of 13-3.  This marks the first year that Flushing has won the Metro title.  
Fred Walz from Holly HS was selected as the boys Coach of the Year and Holly led the sportsmanship voting with 3 nominations from opponents, Fenton had 2 and Clio, Kearsley and Swartz Creek each had one.

League bowlers will now move on to MHSAA Regional competition on Saturday.  Flushing and Swartz Creek will compete in Division I at Richfield Lanes.  Fenton, Holly, Linden, Brandon and Owosso will compete in Division 2 at Cherry Hill Lanes.  Also in Division 2, Kearsley and Clio will bowl at Monitor Lanes in Bay City.  Teams and individuals who advance will compete at the State Finals which will be held on March 1-2.

Swartz Creek captured a MHSAA District Title to lead a group of four Metro League teams on to Regional competition for a state title.

The Dragons scored 762.42 points to very narrowly defeat Kearsley with 262.40 points for second place.  Clio finished in 4th place with 729.56 points to also advance.  These three teams will compete at Fenton HS on Saturday February 23 at 10:00 am.

Owosso placed 4th in their District which was held in Mt. Pleasant with 691.90 points.  The Trojans will compete at GR Kenowa Hills on Saturday February 23 at 10:00 am.

In a tight battle for this year's title, Swartz Creek won the final league jamboree to finish two points ahead of second place Flint Kearsley to win the championship for 2019.  This is the first Metro Championship for the Dragons since Competitive Cheer became a league sport in 2004.

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Fenton's Chloe Idoni and Holly's Blake Querio have been selected by the Athletic Directors of the Flint Metro League as Athletes of the Month for February.

Chloe Idoni is a two sport All-State player as well as All State Academic in both basketball and volleyball.  A 4 year starter in both sports, Chloe has been selected unanimously as a 1st Team All Metro player in volleyball as a sophomore, junior and senior and as a freshman, sophomore and junior in basketball.  In volleyball, she was All-State Hon. Mention as both a junior and senior while leading the Tigers to 3 league titles, 3 District titles, 2 Regional titles and a state semi appearance.  In basketball, Chloe has been named All State HM as a sophomore and junior.  Fenton has won 2 district championships and a league title this year.  Also excelling in the classroom, Chloe's 3.9 gpa has earned her All State academic accolades in her sophomore, junior and senior years.  Next year, she will continue her basketball career at Ferris State where she will major in Marketing and Business.

Blake Querio is a two sport athlete at Holly lettering in both football and wrestling.  In football, Blake started every game for the Brochos as both a junior and senior and was voted the best offensive lineman by his teammates.  Wrestling has been Blake's strongest sport with All-Conference honors since his sophomore year capped off by a Metro League championship and an Oakland County championship as a senior.  A state qualifier as a sophomore, junior and senior, Blake earned All State honors last season placing 6th.  He will be headed back to the state finals again this year after earning a District Championship and was a Regional runner-up with a 52-2 season record at 285.  Blake is also an excellent student with a 3.865 gpa.  After high school, Blake intends to wrestle for a Division I school, compete in at least one NCAA Championship and attend law school.

Both Chloe and Blake were also selected by a committee of area athletic directors as the Flint Kiwanis Athletes of the Month and will now be in consideration for the Kiwanis Athletes of the Year.

Every Flint Metro League school has at least one wrestler moving on to the MHSAA Individual Regional round, the final step before qualifying for the state individual wrestling finals held on March 1-2 at Ford Field in Detroit.

Linden leads the way with 8 individual qualifiers from the district round of competition, followed by Fenton with 7, Holly with 6, Clio with 5 and Kearsley with 4.  Brandon and Flushing each qualified 3 wrestlers for Regionals, and Swartz Creek and Owosso had 2.

The league boasts 13 District champions:
Clio: Jacob Smith (145), Tristan Vance (160) and Alex Yocum (215)
Fenton:  Trey Hale (119)
Flushing:  Jeremy Parker (215)  
Holly:Nate Young (130), Jacob Gonzales (135), Cade Dallwitz (189), Blake Quiro (285), Andrew Kolman (112)
Kearsley:  John Brown (171)
Linden:  Jimmy Roti (152)  
Swartz Creek:  Joe Carpenter (140)

The league's regional qualifiers include:

Brandon:  2nd Mike Nicaj (171), 4th Jack Culvey (135), 4th Brendan McClusky (140) 

Clio: 1st Alex Yocum (215), 1st Jacob Smith (145), 1st Tristan Vance (160), 2nd Blake Amy (285), 2nd Trenton Idalski (103)  

Fenton:  1st Trey Hale (119), 2nd Jayden Rittenbury (145), 3rd Luke Thornton (125), 3rd Dalton Wagner (171), Kendra Ryan (103), 4th Mason Church (145) 4th Lukas Zywicki (189)

Flushing:  1st Jeremy Parker (215), 2nd Luke Maurer (135), 4th Brennen Herr (125)

Holly:  1st Nate Young (130), 1st Jacob Gonzales (135), 1st Cade Dallwitz (189), 1st Blake Quiro (285), 1st Andrew Kolman (112), 2nd Kolten Steele (215)

Kearsley:  1st John Brown (171), 2nd Le'Ron Ruffin (125), 2nd Trenton DiGenova (145), 2nd Jason Judd (112)

Linden:  1st Jimmy Roti (152), 2nd Caleb White (130), 2nd Mitchell Kerr (140), 2nd Colton Powell (189), 3rd Uzziah Delgado (160), 4th Wyatt Gocha (171), 4th Preston Parker (285), 4th Michael Lescelius ((103)

Owosso:  2nd Colton Blaha (145)  

Swartz Creek:  1st Joe Carpenter (140), 4th Brennon Larion (160)

For the second year in a row, Coach Don Pluta led Holly HS to an undefeated dual season in the league, finishing at 8-0.  The Bronchos also finished in first place in the league tournament by 15.5 points over second place Clio.

Holly also was nominated by the most opponents as demonstrating the best sportsmanship with nominations by 3 Metro opponents while Owosso had two nominations and Swartz Creek, Fenton, Flushing and Brandon each had one.

Holly's Don Pluta was selected by his fellow Metro coaches as the 18-19 Coach of the Year also for the second year in a row.  This years championship marks the 9th time Pluta's teams have won the title over his 40 years of coaching.

Flint Metro League Championship Results

2018-19 All-League Team