Fearless Approach, Memorable Finish
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 18, 2012
Billy Heckman has known Davis Crocker for a while. Sharing a corner of Michigan’s tennis community, they’ve crossed paths at USTA tournaments, played each other once two winters ago, and were teammates on a junior Davis Cup team. They plan on hitting together this winter.
And to be honest, Heckman remembers being a little afraid of Davis’ game – the big serve and big volleys that helped the Kalamazoo Loy Norrix senior win the MHSAA Division 2 championship at No. 1 singles last season.
But Heckman felt no fear at last week’s Regional at Portage Northern.
“I was thinking to myself, this is my senior year and I want to end it with a bang,” Heckman said.
The Portage Central senior has two more days left in his high school career. But it’s fair to say that regardless of what happens at this weekend’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Finals in Holly, Heckman’s straight-set win over Crocker in the Regional Final will be a memorable moment he’ll hold onto forever.
Heckman receives a Second Half High 5 this week after downing Crocker 7-6 (5), 6-1. The loss was Crocker’s first, against 26 wins, and more or less guaranteed Heckman the top seed this weekend.
“It felt great because it was my last Regional,” Heckman said. “No matter what happens at states, I won the Regional and he can’t take that away from me.”
Heckman is 25-4 this season – although three of those losses came when a back injury forced him into a default and two forfeits. The other loss came to Ann Arbor Huron’s Jack Peterson, the fourth-seeded No. 1 singles player in Division 1.
An experience and an evolution helped set Heckman up to finish his high school career on top. A year ago, he faced Midland Dow’s Jonathan Gurnee in the MHSAA championship match at No. 2 singles. Heckman had beaten Gurnee badly earlier that season, 6-0, 6-0, but at the Finals ended up becoming the final high school win for the player with the most for a career according to the MHSAA record book.
“At first I was just devastated. I’d beaten him 0, 0 a month before, and there was no way I was going to lose,” Heckman remembered. “I was the one seed, and I was going in with a lot of confidence.
“Not to take anything away from him, but that day I just played really badly. It made me want to work harder, especially for high school season. You can’t go in knowing you’re going to win.”
But a player can prepare. And doing so led to a big jump in Heckman’s evolution this summer.
He admits he was like most freshmen and sophomores, immature, joking around too much and “just being annoying.” He’s always had talent; he’s played No. 3 singles or higher all four years for one of the state’s top programs. But after last season, he decided it was time to put the team first.
A busy two months of running tennis tournaments plus a death in the family kept Portage Central coach Peter Militzer from being as involved as usual with the team’s traditional summer hitting workouts. So Heckman volunteered to organize, started a Facebook group to get the word out, and soon had 20-25 players training three times a week. During summers past, that number was usually 8-10.
“JV kids started coming, and there were more kids in the group than at any of the clubs around here,” Heckman said.
“I like to think of myself as (a leader). I just like especially when people can see results, and I contributed toward that.”
He saw plenty in his game as well. ITA tournaments during the summer in Kalamazoo, Bloomington, Ind., and Columbus, Ohio, allowed him opportunities to face bigger, older competitors.
Heckman also grew the last two years – finally, and in a giant burst. Militzer said Heckman was the size of a 10-year-old until he was nearly 16. More size meant power and the ability to play more of an offensive game.
Militzer calls Heckman “unbelievably quick” and one of the smartest tennis players he’s coached – pretty powerful words considering Militzer has coached two MHSAA championship teams.
“I call him a tennis addict. He’s passionate about the game, and of all the boys I’ve coached, he’s got the best tennis IQ,” Militzer said. “On the court, he senses what opponents do not like to do and repeatedly makes them do that. He makes them hit shots they don’t want to hit.”
Heckman was up 5-4 in the first set against Crocker, but pulled back on his attack. He realized quickly he shouldn’t have, and didn’t hold back the rest of the match.
And he surely won’t if they meet again this weekend.
“I didn’t think I’d win the first set, honestly. (But) I knew right from the beginning of the second set that I had to get up from the beginning and not give him (a chance to come back),” Heckman said.
“I’m pretty sure I’ll see him at the Finals again. I’m expecting it.”
PHOTO: Portage Central's Billy Heckman returns a shot during last season's Division 2 Final at No. 2 singles against Midland Dow's Jonathan Gurnee.
Doubles Deliver Ishpeming's 1st Boys Tennis Finals Title Since 1994
By
Alexandria Bournonville
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2023
ISHPEMING — Through a rousing fight on neutral tennis courts at Westwood High School, Ishpeming won the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 2 Finals on Tuesday.
It capped off quite a rollercoaster of a season for these Hematites, who hadn’t won a U.P. title in the sport since 1994 when they competed in the Class C-D division. They hadn’t even been a U.P. runner-up since finishing second in Division 2 in 2004, just a couple of years after the U.P. split into numeric divisions for tennis.
On Tuesday, Ishpeming captured three flight championships, all in doubles, to score 12 points to 11 for runner-up Iron Mountain, which won only one flight but scored points in all but one of the rest.
Munising and West Iron County tied for third with nine points, while Menominee was a relatively close fifth with seven.
Each of the five schools present won at least one flight, with Munising – with two – the only other team to win multiple championships besides the Hematites.
But it proved to be Ishpeming’s day, though that came about almost completely through doubles.
“I feel amazing,” Ishpeming head coach Kaitlin Rich said. “I was watching the last match, and the kids came over with their arms pumped in the air and … I’m just really proud of them.
“This is something that really hasn’t happened in Ishpeming for the tennis program, and it just shows how dedicated these kids are to excellence.
“I have so many kids that are dual sporting. They play baseball and AAU (basketball), and to edge out Iron Mountain by one point? I’m just really proud of them.”
Rich had a relatively inexperienced team and thought it might’ve been too soon for her lineup to contend for the title.
“I have three seniors … one senior had never played before, and I’m really happy because our other two seniors are U.P. champions,” the coach said. “I’m really glad their last meet of the year they took the gold, and I’m really proud of them.
“We’ll have a very stocked team next year as well. … Hopefully, we can work a little bit in the summer and come back for another one next year.”
The Hematites scored 11 of their 12 points in doubles, winning championships at Nos. 2, 3 and 4 and finishing as runners-up at No. 1.
At No. 2, Logan Hurkmans and Ben Rubick scored a 6-1, 6-3 win in the championship match over Tanner Theurerkauf and Landon Daigneau of Menominee.
No. 3 proved to be one of the most competitive finals matches of the day, even though it went only two sets. Ishpeming’s Caden Luoma and Ryan Maki hung on for a 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4) win over Munising’s duo of Mike Robinson II and Logan Walsh.
And No. 4 appeared to be more typical only by that standard set at No. 3 as the Hematites’ Griffin Argall and Ethan Corp won 6-1, 6-4 in the final over West Iron’s Dominick Brunswick and Jackson Secord.
The only doubles flight not won by Ishpeming still proved important to its team title as the Hematites’ Hayden Hares and Hunter Smith picked up two points for reaching the finals as they lost in another close match to Munising’s Carson Kienitz and Kane Nebel, 6-7 (2-7), 6-2, 6-3.
“Hayden Hares had a little accident (last) weekend,” Rich said. “He had a gash (over the whole) bottom of his foot … but he played it out.”
And also just as important to the Hematites’ success was No. 4 singles player Tramon Gauthier winning his first-round match 6-0, 6-0.
That win gave Ishpeming its one final point to push it over the top.
“We knew the numbers coming in (to the finals) were going to be really tight between us, Iron Mountain, Munising, West Iron,” Rich said. “I told my singles players we need one point somewhere, we need one point and Tramon Gauthier stepped it up and he won his first-round match.
“That sealed it for us, and I couldn’t be prouder of him specifically, too.”
Gauthier advanced to face eventual No. 4 singles champion Zander Birmingham of West Iron in the semifinals, where Birmingham prevailed 6-3, 6-2 before going on to defeat Iron Mountain’s Colin Schneider in the final, 6-4, 6-4, to give the Wykons their lone flight championship of the day.
Iron Mountain picked up its flight title at No. 2 singles, where Kaden Sheldon pulled off a 1-6, 6-4, 6-2 comeback against Menominee’s Danny Birch in the final.
“It just wasn’t enough team-wise for us to come away (with the team title), but I’m really happy for Kaden, he was our one first-place finish for the whole day,” Mountaineers coach Marcus Celello said. “Overall, we finished second and I’m really proud of the guys for that.
“We only won one dual match during the (regular) season, but we had a lot of tough opponents and we split with Ishpeming. We knew that we were going to be right there with them at the end of the day, and it came right down literally to the final match.
“We’ve come a long way. Our singles have been pretty strong all season, but our doubles teams really were a work in progress, and today they showed up and obviously we finished ... a little short, but all the guys improved so much from the beginning of the season.
“We lost to a really good Ishpeming team, and I’m really happy for them.”
Iron Mountain added a pair of runner-up finishes, and just as importantly, got through the first round at four other flights to ring up its 11 points.
Munising’s two titlists came at No. 1 doubles, with Kienitz and Nebel winning, and at No. 3 singles, where Ashton Wymer could make a case for the best championship match of the day when he defeated West Iron’s Drew Alexa 6-2, 6-7 (2-7), 6-3.
“I’m happy with how our guys competed, and I think the program’s in good standing going forward,” said Mustangs head coach Noah Ackerman, himself a Munising tennis star not quite a full decade ago. “That was my goal, taking over, was hopefully we can get (our) foot in the door, get back into competing for U.P.s.”
West Iron’s champion was Birmingham as the Wykons had a pair of runner-up finishes and Munising had one as well.
For Menominee, No. 1 singles player Brock Murphy picked up the Maroons’ flight championship with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Iron Mountain’s Reece Kangas. In fact, Murphy never lost a game all day, as after receiving a bye in the first round, he also posted a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Munising’s Danny Goss in the semifinals.
Menominee also had a pair of runner-up finishes.
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming's Hayden Hares returns a volley at No. 1 doubles during Tuesday’s UP Division 2 Finals at Westwood. (Middle) Munising’s Carson Kienitz returns a shot during a No. 1 doubles match. (Below) Menominee’s Danny Birch chases down a shot at No. 2 singles. (Photos by Alexandria Bournonville.)