4-Time Title Winner Headlines #1 Finals
October 21, 2020
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
When he got to the court at Portland High School, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett senior William Cooksey discovered a realization: He was about to end his storied high school career at the same place he began it.
“His very first match was at Portland High School, and his last match was played at Portland High School,” Liggett head coach Mark Sobieralski said. “Isn’t that crazy?”
Even crazier was the high school career Cooksey ended up producing, as he made it four MHSAA Finals championships at No. 1 singles following a 6-0, 6-3 win over Andrew Solarewicz of Grand Rapids West Catholic in the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Final.
Cooksey became the first Lower Peninsula athlete to win four MHSAA Finals boys No. 1 singles titles since Hamtramck’s Francisco Castillo did so from 1957-60. Only five athletes total, both peninsulas combined, have won four championships at the top flight.
Ranked No. 8 in the nation for his age group, the 17-year-old Cooksey will play collegiately at University of Michigan.
“I was going in there expecting a physical match,” Cooksey said of Wednesday’s final. “I started off playing really clean and hitting big. He wasn’t used to that ball. Towards the middle of the second set, he kind of caught on to it. I kind of adjusted from there and put more balls in play.”
Earlier in the day, Cooksey beat both Malachi Yaffey of Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian and Andrew Frost of Grand Rapids Catholic Central by identical 6-0, 6-0 scores.
In an effort to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the MHSAA Boys Tennis Tournament this fall was adjusted from its usual flighted bracket format to a head-to-head team event. Liggett won the LP Division 4 team title Friday, and Wednesday the top eight No. 1 singles players in each division faced off for individual championships.
Division 1
Okemos senior Josh Portnoy might not have been the top seed going into his Division 1 individual championship match against Gabe Brown of Troy Athens, but he did have two other things going for him.
One was that he had homecourt advantage with the Final taking place at Okemos.
“I really felt like it was an advantage,” said Portnoy, the No. 2 seed. “Having friends and teammates there cheering for me and practicing there gave me an advantage.”
The other edge was having some knowledge of Brown, who beat Portnoy earlier this season.
“Just play free and just play my game,” Portnoy said of his big adjustment for the rematch. “Definitely play more aggressive and be on the offense more.”
Portnoy certainly did that, earning a surprisingly dominant 6-1, 6-1 win over Brown to capture the championship.
It turned out to be a double title for Portnoy after Okemos won the Division 1 team title five days earlier.
Portnoy started off the day with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Angie Zhou of Ann Arbor Pioneer before beating Noah Roslin in their semifinal, 6-4, 6-4.
Brown beat Anthony Van Oyen of Ann Arbor Skyline 6-4, 6-0 and Matthew Freeman of Northville in the semifinals 6-2, 6-2.
Division 2
Mattawan senior Nathaniel Webster said he had never experienced pain like that before on a tennis court.
While up 2-1 in the second set of his championship match at Lansing Waverly against Nick Herdoiza of Walled Lake Central, Webster said he started experiencing a “whole-body cramp.”
Webster won the first set 6-4, but the cramp was so severe that he said he was forced to serve underhand the rest of the match.
“My teammates were there cheering, and I got a lot of adrenaline going,” Webster said. “I don’t know what happened.”
What eventually happened was that Webster overcame the pain and grinded his way to a second-straight No. 1 singles title, beating Herdoiza in the second set 6-2.
Seeded No. 1, Webster beat Alex Wootton of Portage Northern in a quarterfinal, 6-3, 6-0, and Sammy Yin of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in a semifinal, 6-3, 6-1, to earn the opportunity to repeat.
Webster will play collegiately at Ball State.
“This was a lot sweeter,” he said, comparing to 2019. “I was cramping in my last match a lot, so it was more hard-fought than last year. Just to go out my senior year with all my friends, it felt great to go out like this.”
Division 3
Ann Arbor Greenhills junior Mert Oral repeated as No. 1 singles champion in this division in impressive fashion at Mason, beating Owen DeMuth of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in the final, 6-0, 6-1.
“It feels good to be able to back up what I did last year, for sure,” he said.
Oral lost just two games the entire day, beating Sreejay Ramakrishnan of Ada Forest Hills Eastern in a quarterfinal, 6-0, 6-0, and Simon Volkema of Grand Rapids Christian in a semifinal, 6-1, 6-0.
“My serve was pretty good,” Oral said. “I was really consistent. I was able to use my forehand from the baseline and was really happy with the way I was able to compete and battle throughout my matches.”
PHOTO: Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett senior William Cooksey volleys during Friday’s Lower Peninsula Division 4 team championship tournament at Portage Central.
Negaunee Posts Near-Flawless Finals Finish to Complete Perfect Season
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
May 29, 2024
MARQUETTE — The Negaunee boys completed a perfect tennis season here Wednesday, retaining their Upper Peninsula Division 1 tennis title with 22 points.
Negaunee, which finished undefeated over 11 meets, was followed by Marquette with 15 points and Escanaba with six.
“We have four meets which we call the U.P. grand slam, those being the Kingsford and Negaunee Invitational, Mid-Peninsula Conference and U.P. Finals,” Miners’ coach Kyle Saari said. “This is probably the most rewarding among the titles we’ve had because we had to replace seven guys who graduated last year.
"Our No. 2 doubles (Carson Lajimodiere-Blake Holmgren) was down 4-1 to Westwood in the first set (of a semifinal) and were able to come back and win that match, which was instrumental in setting us up for team success.”
This marked the 10th U.P. championship in 13 years for the Miners, who were crowned M-PC champions for the 13th consecutive time.
Senior Gavin Saunders finished 22-0 this season, including Wednesday’s No. 1 singles final in which he outlasted Marquette senior Matt Barsch 5-7, 7-5 (7-4), 6-1.
“I just had to grind it out one point at a time,” Saunders said. “Coach always says it’s 0-0, and the second set went into a tie-breaker. This is the longest and by far the toughest match I had all year. I hadn’t played him before, so I didn’t know what to expect.”
Saunders, who will play basketball at Lakeland College in Sheboygan, Wis., next winter, was the No. 2 singles champ the past two seasons.
“I don’t think there was much difference because the competition was very tough,” he said. “This one is the most special because it’s my senior year.”
Saunders reached the title match by defeating Westwood’s Andrew Niemi (6-0, 6-1), and Barsch topped Kingsford’s Gavin Moore (6-3, 7-5) in the semifinals.
Negaunee’s Mick Kumpula defeated Marquette’s Caden Laurn 6-2, 6-2 in the No. 3 singles final, and Ethan Harris posted a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Westwood’s Jaxson Alderson for the No. 4 crown.
In doubles, Negaunee’s James Thomson and Brady Johnson posted a 6-2, 6-0 triumph over Marquette’s Billy Krebs-Lucas Belkowski at No. 1.
Negaunee sophomores Easton Guenette and Nolan O’Dovero claimed their first title in a 6-1, 2-6, 6-1 conquest of Escanaba junior Adam Prey and sophomore Caden Fulsher in No. 3 doubles.
“We were more consistent getting the ball over the net in the third set,” O’Dovero said. “I think this is a good stepping stone for us. I think this will set us up for success down the road. Going undefeated as a team is definitely good motivation for us. I think we played well overall.”
Guenette said strong net play helped them take the first set.
“They were more aggressive in the second set, then we just got ourselves together and went from there,” he added. “We re-established our net play, and that made quite a difference in the third set.”
Kolten Store and Quinn Walters also provided the Miners with a championship in No. 4 doubles with a 6-4, 7-5 victory over Marquette’s Bode Helman and Conner Henry.
Marquette juniors Abe Kentala and Connor Stade blanked Negaunee’s Lajimodiere and Holmgren 6-0, 6-0 for their first championship at No. 2 doubles.
“Having confidence in myself and my partner and sticking with the fundamentals played a big role today,” Stade said. “Our serves and net play were huge. This is a big confidence builder going into next year. This shows we can play with anybody.”
Kentala had similar thoughts on this sunny and seasonably-cool afternoon.
“This feels great,” he said. “A lot of work goes into it, and we played with consistency. Negaunee is always good. Staying upbeat always makes a difference. It helps you keep your head in the game and stay positive.
Marquette’s Chase Thomsen took No. 2 singles, topping Negaunee’s Tyler Lajimodiere 6-4, 6-3.
(Photo courtesy of the Marquette athletic department.)