ROCKFORD, MI – There is no such thing as a prototype bowler.
They come in all shapes and sizes, forms and fashions, makes and models.
But the best ones seem to share a certain something below the surface. And while Rockford’s Matt Buck and Cedar Springs’ Omani Morales don’t display it in the same way outwardly, they possess a similar inner fire.
And that competitive spark helped set them apart as Mr. Bowling and Miss Bowling, the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association awards that recognize them as the top seniors in Michigan for 2019-20.
A left-handed, two-handed, hard-spinning bowler, Buck explodes pins then fist-pumps and high-fives his way off the lanes. Morales methodically knocks ‘em down with a conventional, right-handed style, then steps off the alley in her calm and cool manner.
Both styles are amazingly effective.
“I don’t think I’ll ever have another one like her,” Cedar Springs coach Tim Jackson said of Morales. “She’s the kind of bowler you get once in a lifetime.”
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Omani Morales is a three-time singles state qualifier who led Cedar Springs to the team quarterfinals this season. (Courtesy)
Morales delivered a whirlwind prep career, but she did it in her typical low-key fashion. A three-time state qualifier, she reached the summit by winning the singles state championship in 2019. She returned to the Round of 16 this season before being eliminated by eventual state champ Megan Timm of Flint Kearsley.
Morales also led her team to the state finals three times, highlighted by a run to the quarterfinals this season. She averaged 201 for the year, eclipsing the 200 mark for the second straight season with her dogged, determined – yet low-profile – plan of attack.
“She’s got a nice demeanor about her. She’s a really good person, extremely nice to everybody – then she gets on the bowling alley and becomes a nightmare to the other team,” Jackson said. “She does not like to lose.
“If you meet her, you wouldn’t see that killer instinct. But she gets on the alley and she’s all business. She’s not one who throws a strikes and pumps her fist and comes back all fired up. But, believe me, it’s there.”
A four-time OK White all-conference performer, she led her team to three league championships. She showed her clutch gene by rolling a 299 game in the conference tournament. But Cedar Springs has come to expect such exploits from its three-year anchor bowler.
“She’s got the mentality for (the anchor position),” Jackson said. “When she steps up there, she’s thinking ‘I can make this shot time after time after time.’”
Morales is heading to Davenport University bowling program next season. She got her start in the Rockford Lanes junior bowling program, as the future Miss Bowling competed throughout her youth days alongside the future Mr. Bowling.
Matt Buck is a four-time singles state qualifier for Rockford. (Courtesy)
Buck qualified for the singles state finals all four seasons, winning it all as a sophomore when he caught fire and stunned the field with a head-spinning push through the final 16.
“If you would have seen him his freshman year – wow! – he had a lot of energy and a lot of up and down movement,” Rockford coach Paull Bellgraph said.
“He was uncontrolled chaos as a freshman. He tried to overpower everything. His sophomore year, he was more controlled chaos. Then he became controlled power his last two years.”
Part of a bowling family – father Tony is a Grand Rapids Hall of Famer and sister Heather earned Dream Team honors last season – Buck delivered in dazzling fashion for Rockford. He finished as a three-time all-stater with a 207 career average. Touting an OK Red-leading 215 average as a senior, he was money in the bank as a four-year anchor bowler.
“Whenever we needed three in a row in the 10th frame, we could count on him,” Bellgraph said. “We’d just say ‘Go get ‘em, Matty B!’ And he’d get it done.”
As defending champion, he finished 17th in qualifying in 2019 and missed the Round of 16 by one place. As a senior, he landed on the other side of the equation, placing 16th to nab the final spot. He promptly knocked off the No. 1 seed in bracket play before getting ousted as Brownstown Woodhaven’s Marco Ramirez fired 246 and 238 in the quarterfinals.
“When he saw that he made the cut, he gave me a bear hug that almost cracked my ribs,” said Bellgraph, the 18th year Rockford coach.
“When he lost, Matt said ‘I’m OK with that. He bowled great and I can live with that.’ That’s the type of young man he is. He’s very respectful of the game and whoever he is bowling against.”
Buck plans to attend Baker College next year.
MR. BOWLING
2020 Matt Buck, Rockford
2019 James Ruoff, Battle Creek Pennfield
2018 Luke Cantrell, Genesee
2017 Kyle Tuttle, St. Charles
2016 Jordan Nunn, Flint Carman-Ainsworth
2015 Sam Brandt, Fremont
2014 Alex Ouellette, John Glenn
2013 Jeff Pietryka, Chippewa Valley
2012 Tylor Green, Davison
2011 Zach Brandt, Fremont
2010 Tony Harger, Flint Carman-Ainsworth
2009 Drew Bauer, All Saints
2008 Chad Skinner, Pinconning
MISS BOWLING
2020 Omani Morales, Cedar Springs
2019 Mackenzie Johnson, Vandercook Lake
2018 Natalie Klein, Brighton
2017 Taylor Davis, Davison
2016 Hannah Ploof, Flint Kearsley
2015 Allison Morris, Ann Arbor Huron
2014 Jordan Richard, Tecumseh
2013 Brooke Wood, Davison
2012 Jessica Lubbers, Wyoming Kelloggsville
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