Escanaba Ends Title Wait, Stops Negaunee Title Streak
By
Ryan Stieg
Special for Second Half
June 2, 2021
NEGAUNEE – Heading into Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 1 Finals, the Escanaba boys tennis team hadn’t won a championship in 14 years.
Maybe all it needed was some heavy rain to end that title drought.
The Eskymos battled through two lengthy weather delays to win their first U.P. Finals title since 2007. Escanaba’s win also ended Negaunee’s three-season tenure as champion as the Miners finished with 13 points, six behind the Eskymos.
Escanaba took three of the four doubles finals (Nos. 1, 2 and 3) and Nathan Howes took home the championship at No. 3 singles to lift the team to victory.
“It’s been 2007 since we’ve won this, and that’s a long time,” Escanaba head coach Tom Penegor said. “I’m just proud of these guys. They worked hard. Our two biggest goals throughout the year were to have fun and to get better.
“Normally in past years, Negaunee was always the team to beat. We’d play them early in the year and we’d be somewhat close to them, but by the end of the year, they’d widen the gap. This year, we actually closed the gap. It’s a great accomplishment for these guys because Negaunee, that’s a program that we try to get close to and this year, we did and passed them. So I’m very proud of that. Plus, we only have four seniors, so hopefully we can come back and do some damage again next year. That’s something to shoot for.”
Negaunee got title wins from Will Luke at No. 1 singles and Luke Syrjala at No. 2, while also getting the victory at No. 4 doubles to keep pace with the Eskymos. However, those just weren’t enough to overtake them.
Even though Negaunee’s reign at the top came to an end, Miners head coach Kyle Saari was proud of how his team of newcomers performed.
“If you look at it, we entered this year, we had 10 new kids in the varsity lineup and this is kind of a big unknown,” he said. “When you end up entering the UPs, it’s kind of seeing and kind of trying to predict how they will respond on this day. That includes how do they respond to a 1 or 2 seed, how do they respond if they have a first-round match. And I think kind of as a whole, what it turned into for us today, it was just pretty much a learning experience, how to handle that down time.
“If you kind of look at the day as a whole, Escanaba had a terrific day; hats off to them. They responded and they had a really strong showing at 3 singles today, at 4 singles. With them being able to get through the finals into those flights, that really kind of set the table for them to be successful later in the day.”
Menominee finished third with 10 points and won the last match of the day as Danny Birch defeated Escanaba’s Connor Smale in a three-set thriller (6-4, 2-6, 6-2) at No. 4 singles. Marquette took fourth with five points, followed by Gladstone with two and Kingsford with one.
PHOTOS: Escanaba’s Nathan Howes returns a serve during his No. 3 singles match Wednesday in Negaunee. He went on to win the match and the flight. (Middle) The Miners’ Will Luke serves during a No. 1 singles match. He finished the season undefeated. (Photos by Ryan Stieg.)
Repeat Champs Cranbrook, Greenhills' Oral Reign in Division 3
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
October 16, 2021
MIDLAND – Since 2011, Ann Arbor Greenhills, Detroit Country Day and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood have dominated the Lower Peninsula Division 3 Boys Tennis Finals.
Saturday was no exception at the Midland Tennis Center.
Heading into the semifinal and final rounds, Cranbrook had a one-point lead over DCD with Greenhills four points behind but with a contender in each of the four singles flights.
But strong in singles and doubles, Cranbrook repeated its 2020 championship, edging both Greenhills and Country Day. Cranbrook won with 32 points, while DCD had 27. Greenhills was third with 25.
The No. 1 singles showdown was a repeat of last year’s with senior Mert Oral of Greenhills facing Cranbrook junior Owen DeMuth. Last year Oral won 6-0, 6-1 as No. 1 singles was the only individual championship contested due to COVID-driven Finals format changes.
On Saturday, Oral was gunning for his third straight title.
“We’ve played a couple of times this year, and things didn’t go my way,’’ said DeMuth heading into the match. “I’m looking to change things.’’
“I’ve played him three times this year and won all three,’’ said Oral. “I don’t know if there’s an advantage there. We know each other, and we’re going out there to do our best.’’
Up 2-1 in the second set, DeMuth started cramping in his left leg – limiting his mobility and evaporating his chance at the upset. He ended up retiring trailing 5-3.
“It’s kind of surreal right now,’’ said Oral. “Heading into this year, I definitely felt the pressure after winning the last two state titles. I couldn’t take a match or a practice off because I knew I was a target. I tried to stay focused and not think about the undefeated season and defending what I had done the last two years. I had seen everyone so many times, and I knew everyone was gunning for me.
“I’ll always remember my teammates. I can’t believe it’s over. More than success on the court, (I’ll cherish) the relationships and memories with my teammates and coaches.’’
Cranbrook’s No. 2 doubles team of Jacob Coburn and Sebs Taubman defeated Country Day’s Aiden Khagany and Clay Hartje, 6-4, 6-7 (4-6), 6-3 in a matchup between past Finals flight champions.
“My partner and I have played these guys before; they’re a really good team,’’ said Coburn. “They’ve won a state championship; we’ve won a state championship. We lost to them this year.
“We won the first set. They came back on us and won the second. We got it together in the third. It was 2-2 and we have a chance to break and (Tabuman) hit one down the line for the break.’’
Coburn credited the championship to great leadership.
“We have four great captains, and this is just a solid group,’’ said Coburn. “We have some young kids coming up who are going to be good. I didn’t join the team until my junior year. It’s a great overall program.’’
In No. 4 singles, sophomore Caden Che of Cranbrook beat top seed Kabir Rajendra of Ann Arbor Greenhills 6-4, 6-5 before Rajendra retired due to injury.
“I’m in awe,’’ said Che. “This was a great tournament. I’m happy to be here, and it’s great to win.’’
At No. 3 singles, Kabir’s brother, Chakor, won 6-3, 6-0 against Patrick Tiwari of Cranbrook.
At No. 1 doubles, Country Day’s Alex Pollak and Petros Kalabat upset top-seeded Tanner Warners and Dream Kwon of Grand Rapids Christian, 4-6, 7-6 (9-7), 6-2.
At No. 2 singles, Rishi Verma of Greenhills held off Ian Pinnoo of St. Clair 7-5, 1-6, 7-6 (6-4).
Country Day’s No. 4 doubles team of Razi Nassif and Aayush Dagar beat Aryan Tiwari and Praneel Pillarisetty of Kingswood, 5-7, 7-5, 6-1.
Cranbrook’s Ryan Michaels and Andrew Fink bettered Sam Van Schepen and Ethan DeBlecourt of Grand Rapids Christian, 4-6, 6-2, 6-0, at No. 3 doubles.
PHOTOS (Top) Cranbrook Kingswood’s Owen DeMuth returns a volley during Friday’s opening rounds at Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) Detroit Country Day finished runner-up in Division 3. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)