Different Team, Same Result for Country Day
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 19, 2013
KALAMAZOO — Behind his blistering serve, senior Garrett Goldman accomplished a tennis hat trick at the Lower Peninsula Division 3 championships, moved inside at Kalamazoo College’s Markin Racquet Center because of rain Saturday.
The East Grand Rapids senior won an MHSAA title at No. 1 singles, clinched second place for his team and kept Detroit Country Day from scoring a perfect 40 points.
Paul Ballard, tournament chairman, said this was an unusually competitive tournament.
“We had three teams with nearly perfect scores: Detroit Country Day up through the semifinals was perfect, East Grand Rapids and St. Joe were one point each from perfect,” he said. “It made for a very tight race up at the top.”
Goldman’s win gave EGR 27 points, one better than St. Joseph. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood was fourth with 20 points.
With just three seniors on the championship team, coach Josh Molino said he’s excited for the future of Country Day tennis.
“Last year, we had a senior-loaded team that did a phenomenal job,” Molino said. “We were one set away from getting 40 (points). This season, it’s a different team: a lot of new guys, a lot of young guys.
“These guys play in the offseason. Each year we come back with a new set of goals of getting better each practice. I think that translates to getting better each match, and hopefully, we’re playing the best tennis come October toward the state tournament.”
The top-seeded Goldman, who defeated Country Day senior Rishi Patel, the third seed, 7-5, 6-4, knew his win would give his team sole possession of second place.
“I did know and that’s why I tried my best,” Goldman said. “I went out there expecting a tough match and I played my heart out and I got it done.
“I played him earlier in the season in a meet in EGR and won 6-2, 6-4. It did give me some confidence. I also beat (second seed Thomas Bellio, St. Joe); he played in the semis, so I went into this tournament pretty confident, expecting to win.”
Goldman took his first lead of the second set at 4-3.
“I sort of came to the realization that I needed to win and I needed to close it out,” he said. “I wasn’t about to let it go to a third set. I tried my hardest.”
Patel, who moved up from No. 3 singles last year, said he’s never faced a serve as hard as Goldman’s.
“He was probably serving above 110 mph and when it went in, it was hard to get back,” Patel said. “It was pretty hard to return indoors.
“It made a little bit of a difference (playing indoors) just because he hits a bigger ball than me. Outdoors, I can use the wind to my advantage and play more defense.”
Although Patel has two MHSAA titles at No. 3 singles, “This (third consecutive team championship) is more important, even though I lost, because I’m a senior.”
Molino credits Patel with the team’s success.
“He stepped up and really led this group of young guys,” the coach said. “We filled six or seven guys into the lineup and we worked hard all year. We had a goal of winning state again.”
EGR junior Grant Bailey gave Country Day sophomore Noah Karoub a battle at No. 2 singles with Karoub, the top seed, winning 7-5, 6-4, in one of the last matches on court.
“I liked being one of the last (on court),” Karoub said. “The (very loud) crowd is really important. It gives you confidence and makes you play better. I was grinding it out.”
Bailey said it was the second time this season he’s lost to Karoub. The first time was in a third-set tiebreak.
“Noah’s a great player,” Bailey said. “Congrats to him. I know he’s just going to scrap it out. I don’t think he missed a ball the whole match.
Bailey was playing on the court next to Goldman.
“I was watching Garrett’s match the whole time,” Bailey said. “I’m so happy for him. The team did fine. I’m really excited for us.”
Being one of the final matches, “I had the whole place watching,” an exuberant Bailey said after learning his team finished second. “Garrett just won, so we have the best player in the state. I’ve got the whole team cheering me on. It was a great experience.
“I love my team, what can I say. I’m really proud of our doubles. They were a big question mark coming in and they stepped up.”
EGR coach Mickey Mikesell had no idea his team finished second.
“I don’t follow that stuff,” he said. “I get out here in the trenches and watch the matches. I don’t really sit back there and count too much because I’d rather stay focused on these guys.
“Garrett is a personal student of mine at MVP, Grand Rapids, so it’s a pretty special day for me as his high school coach and his personal coach.”
Mikesell said his team is designed for tournament play.
“For example, we played Cranbrook earlier and lost three matches to five,” he said. “We played St. Joseph earlier and lost two matches to six.
“We’re all good teams, but from top to bottom, we have a lot of depth. And when you go to tournament play, you can have success that way.”
At No. 3 singles, second-seeded Jakob Gahn, a Country Day sophomore, defeated St. Joseph’s top seed, Kenny Garstecki, 7-6(4), 6-1.
“(Gahn) could pull off the winning shot,” Garstecki, a senior, said. “Other players couldn’t hit that winning shot. It’s just inches that separate wins from losses. In the first set, it was a tiebreaker, so it was pretty tight. He just played a little bit better in that tiebreaker.”
Brendan Childress and Andrew Joslyn, the top seeds on Country Day’s No. 4 doubles team, defeated second seeds Steven Meng and Alex Hubers, Cranbrook-Kingswood, 6-4, 6-3, to clinch the team title, even though they were the first finals match to finish.
Gahn said knowing the team already clinched didn’t make a difference in the way he played.
“Both things are important: the team victory and the individual victory,” he said. “I feel good that we won as a team and I feel good that I won as an individual.
“(Garstecki) played some great tennis. I feel like I was more consistent and more aggressive in the second. I came to the net more. In the first set, I was too passive and let him dictate the point, which he did remarkably well, as I learned.”
A pair of freshmen battled it out at No. 4 singles with top-seeded Davis Wong, Country Day, defeating No. 2 Ahmeir Kyle, St. Joseph, 6-0, 6-4.
Wong said he knew a week before that he could be facing a girl in the final.
“I know she’s a good player,” he said. “I looked up her records and she has really good statistics. I knew coming in, it would be a hard match whoever I played in the finals.
“In the second set, her game rose a lot and we had a battle. She played really well. She changed up her tactics and I just had to adapt to them.”
Garstecki said Kyle is a good addition to the team.
“She’s really good,” he said. “It’s good to play against her (in practice). She hits the ball really hard.”
Said St. Joe coach Pat Hoffman: “Ahmeir has played in our summer program for years and has been on USTA teams, so she seemed to be a natural fit.”
Kyle didn’t lose a set until the finals.
“I was giving away points in the first set,” she said. “In the second set I started serving and volleying more and I was a little more consistent.”
PHOTOS: Detroit Country Day doubles player Blake Burstein (left), coach Josh Molino (center) and No. 1 singles player Rishi Patel pose with their Division 3 championship trophy. (Photo courtesy of Detroit Country Day boys tennis.)
Allegan Earns 1st Title, Hackett 1st Since 2005
October 20, 2019
By Greg Chrapek
Special for Second Half
HOLLAND – After chasing an elusive MHSAA Finals tennis championship for years, what would a few more hours waiting matter for the Allegan boys tennis team?
With all but the No. 3 singles semifinals and final completed Saturday afternoon at the Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals at Hope College, Allegan and Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep were tied for first place with 21 total team points apiece. The No. 3 singles semifinals were moved to the evening, with a match between Hackett and Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard set to determine if Hackett won the title outright or shared with Allegan.
For some six to seven hours Saturday afternoon, the Tigers had to anxiously wait for their fate to be determined by a pair of players from a team other than their own. The coaches kept the team busy with lunch and a trip to the BAM! Entertainment Center, where the team played laser tag to burn off the nervous energy.
While the coaching staff kept the team occupied, the anxiety was still prevalent.
“It was very high stress,” said Walker Michaels, one of five seniors on the team. “It was a lot of stress waiting all day to find out if we would win a state championship or not.”
Allegan’s nerve level was heightened considerably shortly after the semifinals began. After Hackett jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first set, Gabriel Richard senior Rafid Farjo quickly became Allegan’s favorite tennis player not wearing orange and black when he battled back to win the first set. Farjo then made every Allegan tennis player’s dream come true when he won the second set, sending him into the final at No. 3 singles and Allegan to the victory stand where the Tigers shared the team championship trophy with the Hackett team that it previously defeated for the Regional championship.
“This is the first time that Allegan has won a state tennis title, boys or girls,” said Allegan co-coach Seth Arthur. “These guys have worked their tails off. They’ve played with the pressure of being number one in the state all year. To win the first tennis title in school history is an unbelievable feeling.”
For Allegan seniors Tim Lyon, Owen Clearwater, David Roark, Noah Festerling and Michaels, the wait was more than worth it.
“This was everything we worked for and dreamed of,” Lyon said. “All the hard work and every practice paid off.”
“Winning the first-ever state title is very exciting,” Clearwater said. “It’s a blessing to be a part of this and to be a part of Allegan High School.”
Winning required a total-team effort. Freshman Eli Festerling was Allegan’s lone flight champion as he captured the title at No. 4 singles.
“I knew it was going to be really hard,” Festerling said. “I played (finalist Gerry Sherer of Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett) earlier this year, and he has become a lot better. He was a lot more confident, and I was not prepared for that in the first set. I kept the pace up, and that made the difference for me.”
Kalamazoo Hackett earned a share of the Division 4 title without winning a flight championship. Instead, the Irish utilized the same formula that Allegan used as the total-team effort produced the needed points.
Hackett put a total of five flights into the semifinal round, with three flights reaching the finals. Jack Ford advanced at No. 2 singles, while Connor Cavanaugh and Anthony Toweson reached the finals at No. 2 doubles and Jack Gordon and Miklas Johansson reached the finals at No. 3 doubles.
“We have a pretty special team this year,” said Cavanaugh, a senior. “No one expected our team to win a state title. All of our hard work paid off. As a team we collectively put in the hard work, and all of that hard work paid off.”
The Finals title was the first won by Hackett since the Irish tied Grosse Ile for the Division 4 title in 2005.
This year’s Finals were a wide-open competition from the opening volley to the last serve. Liggett finished just one point behind Allegan and Hackett, while Gabriel Richard, Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian, Grand Rapids Catholic Central and Traverse City St. Francis all finished within five points of first place.
“There were just a lot of good teams spread out in Division 4 this year,” said Hackett coach Aaron Conroy. “We had a heck of a season. The guys worked real hard right from the start. It feels great to do it. The margin for error was very small, and we had everybody on the team step up.”
The parity in Division 4 was evident by the number of schools that won flight championships. Liggett was led by William Cooksey, who defeated Gabriel Richard’s Ian Sood at No. 1 singles for his third straight title at that flight. Gabriel Richard’s Tommy Heegan won the title at No. 2 singles, and St. Francis’ Cody Richards won at No. 3.
In doubles action, the St. Francis duo of senior Brendan Chouinard and sophomore Ben Schmude claimed the title at No. 1 doubles.
For Chouinard, it was the second-straight year he was part of a doubles champion.
“We came out with a lot of intensity,” Chouinard said. “We jumped out to a 5-0 lead and won that first set. We got down in the second set, but we picked it up and won it.”
Playing with a new partner in Schmude took a little getting used to, but once the duo became familiar with each other they took off this season.
“I knew that once we got used to playing together that no one would beat us,” Schmude said. “We do a good job of picking each other up when we get down.”
Like Allegan and Hackett, the Gladiators had to wait the long period Saturday afternoon to play in the other No. 3 semifinal.
“It was a long day,” said St. Francis coach Dane Fosgard prior to the conclusion. “We were up at 7 a.m. for breakfast, and the final match will be done around midnight. We’re used to it. We travel a lot. We came down here for a tournament at Hope College at the start of the season and played all day and slept on the courts at night. We will spend the night here. It’s fun for the team.”
A pair of Grand Rapids-area teams claimed the three other doubles championships. NorthPointe won both the Nos. 2 and No. 3 doubles titles. Elan Bosma and Derek Diepenhorst teamed up to win at No. 2, with Chase Berends and Sam Bradley winning at No. 3.
At No. 4 doubles, the Grand Rapids Catholic Central team of Cameron Beachler and Ben English came away with the title.
PHOTOS: (Top) Allegan celebrates its first MHSAA Finals tennis championship Saturday. (Middle) Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep’s Jack Ford is pleased after claiming a point during a No. 2 singles match. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)