Dow Dynasty Continues at Division 2 Final
October 20, 2012
By Greg Tunnicliff
Special to Second Half
GRAND BLANC – Mark Gorte did more this fall than just help Midland Dow capture a fourth straight MHSAA Lower Peninsula tennis championship.
He made some lifelong friendships that despite winning an MHSAA title made it tough to see this fall come to an end.
The Chargers capped a remarkable season Saturday, taking top honors with 35 points at the Division 2 Final at Genesys Athletic Club in Grand Blanc. Gorte and his partner, junior Patrick Eschbach, won the individual title at No. 3 doubles.
The top-seeded duo beat second-seeded Amey Vrudula and Nico Finelli of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 6-3, 6-1, in the championship match.
It was Gorte and Eschbach’s first individual MHSAA championship.
“It makes me proud to be on this team and contribute to winning the state championship for the fourth straight year,” Gorte said. “It also makes it harder to leave. These are some of the best guys I’ve ever known.”
Dow’s depth was the difference during the two-day event, which began at Holly and Fenton high schools but was moved indoors because of inclement weather. The Chargers placed six flights in individual finals, winning five.
Forest Hills Central came in second place with 23 points.
“When they were freshmen, (Austin Woody, Mike Templeman and David Read) made a joke and said they were going for a minimum of an eight-peat,” Dow coach Terry Schwartzkopf said. “They were good for their word their four years.”
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix junior Davis Crocker earned his second straight championship at No. 1 singles, avenging a loss in the Regional final in the process.
Crocker lost to Portage Central’s Billy Heckman, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, in the Regional championship match before coming back Saturday and beating him, 6-1, 6-1 to win the flight.
Crocker ended the season with a 30-1 overall record.
“I had a target on my back all season so I couldn’t let up,” Crocker said. “People were gunning for me so I had to go out on a mission in the state tournament.”
Pacing Dow was senior Austin Woody, who beat second-seeded Rob Stevens of Portage Central, 6-2, 6-3, in the No. 2 singles championship match.
Woody captured his 80th straight victory in the final. The streak is an MHSAA record, eclipsing the previous standard of 60 set by former Grosse Pointe University Liggett standout and ATP professional Aaron Krickstein from 1981-82.
Woody finished with a 41-0 record this season, tying the MHSAA record set by Traverse City Central’s Hunter Bergsma and Caleb Morgan in 2010 and equaled by Dow’s Jonathan Gurnee last year.
It was Woody’s second MHSAA individual championship, having won at No. 3 singles as a junior.
“It makes it a little bigger,” Woody said of his streak. “It’s cool to say you broke a record set by a professional tennis player.”
Dow junior Juli Guerra captured his third straight title Saturday, beating Portage Central’s Trevor VanderKlok, 6-2, 6-2, in the No. 3 singles championship match. Guerra won at No. 4 singles the previous two seasons.
“It’s a great experience,” Guerra said. “I have a lot of pressure on me because I won it the previous years. I have to keep working hard.”
Rounding out Dow’s singles winners was freshman Michael Szabo at No. 4. The first-year varsity player beat Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern’s Justin Minzlaff, 6-1, 6-1, in the championship match.
“I’m just proud to be here,” Szabo said. “This is just amazing to do this and win.”
Leading Dow at doubles was its No. 1 team of juniors Vikram Shanker and Jason Chang, who downed sixth-seeded Mat Denison and Stan Lassen of Battle Creek Lakeview, 6-0, 6-3, in the championship match.
It was Chang’s third individual MHSAA title, having won at No. 3 doubles in 2010 and at No. 2 doubles last year. It is Shanker’s first crown. The twosome ended 37-0 as a team.
“It’s still so awesome, and to share my whole season with him is great,” Chang said. “It’s awesome to know you won your whole state tournament.”
One of the big surprises came at No. 4 doubles where the unseeded team of sophomore Joey McClure and senior Matt Gebhardt of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central won the championship.
The twosome upset top-seeded Andrew Camp and David Read of Midland Dow, 4-6, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (8-6), in the semifinals before downing sixth-seeded Alex Cross and Will Geller of Birmingham Seaholm, 6-1, 6-0, in the championship match.
It was McClure’s second title, having won at No. 3 doubles last year. It was Gebhardt’s first.
“The big deal was beating Dow,” said McClure who, along with Gebhardt, lost to Dow, 6-3, 6-0, earlier this season. “We had an insane match (Saturday) against them. We stayed intense and we did it for our school.”
At No. 2 doubles, second-seeded Zach Tayler and Griffin Neel of Birmingham Seaholm upset top-seeded David Goslin and Colin Angell of Midland Dow, 6-4, 6-4, in the championship match. It was the first championship for the Seaholm team.
“A lot of intensity,” Tayler said. “A lot of games went to deuce, a lot of holding serve. We just won a couple more points.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Midland Dow claimed its fourth straight MHSAA team title Saturday. (Middle) Kalamazoo Loy Norrix senior Davis Crocker repeated as individual champion at No. 1 singles. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Liggett Ends Greenhills' 8-Year Reign
October 15, 2016
By Tim Robinson
Special for Second Half
HOLLY – Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett went into Saturday’s Finals as the winningest program in Division 4 tennis history despite not having won an MHSAA title in 14 years.
That changed Saturday, as the Knights both ended their long drought and also snapped Ann Arbor Greenhills’ eight-year championship streak by edging the Gryphons at Holly High School.
“Liggett was a good team,” Greenhills coach Eric Gajar said. “They beat us head-to-head, they beat us in (Liggett’s) tournament and they beat us in this tournament. They were the better team this year.”
Liggett finished with 32 points to Greenhills’ 30. Traverse City St. Francis and Whitehall tied for third with 22 points.
It was the 35th title overall for Liggett.
Knights coach Mark Sobieralski has a talented core of seven juniors who have been preparing three years for Saturday’s Final.
“These guys came in as freshman two years ago,” he said. “They were good, but they didn’t know how to close out (matches). Last year, we got closer, got more of a taste. We finally beat Greenhills in a dual, and that gave us a lot of confidence.”
The Knights have just two seniors, and got an especially gutty performance from the one at the top of the lineup.
T.J. Dulac, playing at No. 1 singles, competed despite a fractured hamate bone in his right hand. He injured it in the Regional, having to withdraw after a fall while leading 5-0 in his match.
He was cleared to play earlier this week and took the court Friday with his right wrist bandaged.
“It hurt, but it’s all for the team,” said Dulac, who played last year with a broken bone in his left foot. “I worked my backhand more than I’m used to. It worked (Friday) and it almost worked today, so I was happy with how it worked out.”
Dulac got to the semifinals, getting three crucial points for the Knights.
“That really was an incredible, gutsy performance,” Sobieralski said. “It was three points, and it was huge, huge, huge for him to get to the semis when he was hurt. I give him a lot of credit for that.”
Another stellar performance came at No. 1 doubles, where the Greenhills team of Mitchell Gajar and Jack Harris won the title after being seeded fifth.
It was the second Finals title in a row for both, and their first as a team after competing with different partners last year.
For Eric Gajar, watching his son, Mitchell, win another title was special.
“Tough to describe,” Eric Gajar said. “That was a special moment, (but) I think he would trade that title to keep the team title for his teammates.”
“Our coach told us that if seeds determined how the tournament would go, there would be no need to play,” Harris said. “We worked on the match we were playing in and didn’t look too far ahead.”
Williamston’s Oliver Weaver won the No. 1 singles title in straight sets, beating Austin Koenes of Grand Rapids NorthPointe Christian 6-4, 6-1.
“Last year, I lost in three sets,” the junior said. “It was a tough match and I was really upset about that. I was really motivated to win it this year, and I’m really happy with how I played today.”
Saturday marked the fifth time in the last seven years a player from the Capital Area Activities Conference’s White division had won the No. 1 singles crown.
For Dulac, the fall season isn’t over. He will compete for the Liggett cross country team during the final three weeks of the season, something he has done the last couple of autumns after the end of the tennis season.
Only one player on the Liggett roster plays only tennis, and Sobieralski says his players’ multi-sport participation served them well Saturday.
“It makes you tough, mentally tough and strong,” he said. “And they’re competitive. That’s important. I think tennis, a lot of times, is 80 percent mental and 20 percent ability. You win a lot of matches with guts and just hanging in there. I always say a good player can win even when they’re not playing their best, because they’ll try something different and they keep fighting. That’s the team I’ve got. I’m really proud of their fight.”
“My hat’s off to Liggett,” Gajar said. “They’re good players, and they’re going to have most of them back next year, unfortunately for the rest of the state.”
PHOTO: (Top) University Liggett poses with its championship trophy Saturday after ending Greenhills’ title run. (Middle) Williamston’s Oliver Weaver returns a shot during Friday’s play. (Top photo courtesy of University Liggett school.)