Former state champion Swanberg signs to bowl at Mid Michigan College
CHEBOYGAN – A regional champion as a freshman, a state champion as a junior, and a conference champion as a senior – Cole Swanberg won everything individually during his bowling career.
But the sensational career for the Cheboygan High School senior is far from over.
Swanberg – one of the greatest bowlers in Cheboygan program history – officially committed to play for the Mid Michigan College men’s bowling team during a ceremony held at Cheboygan’s Spare Time Lanes on Thursday.
“It means a lot to finally be able to go to college, do what I want to do – bowl and go into fisheries and wildlife,” said Swanberg, the son of Doug and Sarah Swanberg. (The decision-making process) was hard. The deciding factor was money and what I wanted to go into. I was still deciding what I wanted to go into, and once I figured it out, I chose Mid Michigan.”
It wasn’t until March’s state finals that Swanberg received interest from Mid Michigan. Once he later made a visit to the Mount Pleasant campus, he liked what he saw.
“(Kelli Dingo), a coach from Clare, she gave my name to Mid Michigan’s coach (Jacob Thelen), they got my name, they got a hold of me, and that’s how it happened,” Swanberg said. “The campus was very small, and all the people were nice, everyone I talked to was super nice. I liked the campus, very small, not big class sizes. The way I like it.”
In addition to the conference, regional and state titles he captured, Swanberg’s career also consisted of helping the Cheboygan boys qualify for the state finals and making the Michigan High School Interscholastic Bowling Coaches Association’s (MHSIBCA) Division 3 all-state first team multiple times. This past March, Swanberg made it all the way to the singles state semifinals. Along with Cheboygan senior Izzy Portman – who signed to play for the Madonna University women’s bowling team on Sunday, May 7 – Swanberg is one of just two bowlers in program history to qualify for the singles state finals and compete at states in all four seasons.
Once again on hand to watch one of his bowlers reach the next level was Cheboygan head coach Brian Taylor, who lauded Swanberg for what he accomplished in the program.
“I’m extremely happy for Cole,” said Taylor. “I think it’s outstanding that somebody that has a passion for the game gets to continue on and go off to college, and hopefully he can do good things there, which I’m sure he will. Everyone knows he’s a good bowler, so they’re obviously getting a good bowler, but they’re also getting an outstanding person. He’s a great kid, very easy to coach. He’s always responding, he’ll listen right to you. They’re getting the whole package with him.
“(The Mid Michigan coaches) said he’ll definitely be an instant contributor.”
Taylor said Swanberg is one of those bowlers his program won’t be able to replace.
He also knows the kind of legacy Swanberg leaves with the Cheboygan program.
“I’ve said this with some other kids, but you can’t replace someone like that,” Taylor said. “He’s been on the team all four years, he’s been at the top level every year, whether he was winning the state title or right there close. He does a great job, he’s a great leader for the team, for the school, for the town. Some of the little kids playing in the youth league, they look up and say, ‘You know that Cole kid? I want to bowl like him!’ so that’s pretty cool. Hopefully he can continue on.
“It would be nice to have more players like that, but I won’t hold my breath.”
After four stellar seasons with the Chiefs, Swanberg had plenty to thank, including his coaches, teammates and anyone else who helped him reach this point.
“Everyone’s been a big help,” Swanberg said. “I almost didn’t do bowling my junior year. The one year I won states, I almost didn’t sign up, but they talked me into it. I’m very thankful that I ended up doing it. I’ll miss it a lot. My coaches have helped out a lot. It means a lot because there’s a lot of good bowlers that have come out of this program, like Dawson Campbell when he won states. It just means a lot.”
This article originally appeared on Cheboygan Daily Tribune: Former state champion Swanberg signs to bowl at Mid Michigan College
