FHN Earns 3rd Finals Championship in 4 Seasons, Dow's King Crowned Again
By
Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com
October 19, 2024
KALAMAZOO – Another Lower Peninsula Division 2 boys tennis championship trophy will be added to the showcase at Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
After finishing as Finals runners-up two of the last three seasons, Steve Olson's Huskies totaled 26 points to win Saturday at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.
Forest Hills Northern narrowly edged co-runners-up Midland Dow and Birmingham Seaholm, which tied at 24 points followed by Byron Center and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central in fourth place with 21 and Mattawan sixth with 12 points.
Olson, who took over last year as head coach replacing the legendary Dave Sukup, guided Forest Hills Northern to its first Finals title since 2020. The Huskies had finished runners-up in 2021 and 2022.
"Tennis is a big sport at our school. We put a lot of time into this sport ,and we take it very seriously,” Olson said. “Our goal every season is to win a state championship, but there are a lot of great teams out there that make that a tough thing to do. We knew the tournament was going to be a close one.”
Olson pointed to the success of the Huskies' doubles flights as critical. All four of made the semifinal round.
"Our success in doubles was huge. Our No. 4 doubles team of Markus Bernard and Will Hernly were unseeded and played above that. I'm very proud of how they stepped up for us," Olson said.
Junior Sebastian Madlangbayan was the only Forest Hills Northern player to win his respective flight. Madlangbayan captured the crown at No. 2 singles with a 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 win over Dylan Hodgman from Mattawan.
"There were a lot of ups and downs. I was just focused on opening up the angles on the court against him (Hodgman),” Madlangbayan said. “I can control court position with my forehand and give myself the chance to volley at the net."
Olson praised Madlangbayan's performance.
"Sebastian came in as the top seed, and he had some tight moments but he really dominated this tournament. But the reality is that our whole team contributed. To have six flights reach the semifinals, get those first-round byes and win a lot of early-round matches were also big for us," Olsen said. "We are senior and freshman heavy, but we have a good nucleus returning to build upon in the future."
Midland Dow senior Austin King completed his season unbeaten at 38-0 after earning the No. 1 singles crown with his 6-4, 7-5 win over Portage Central sophomore Sam Schumacher. King breezed through his morning semifinal with a 6-1, 6-0 victory over Nolan Ackerman of Mattawan.
"I had already played (Schumacher) a couple times this year, so I knew he'd be one of my tougher opponents. I made sure I got a good warmup in before I got out there, but it turned out to be quite a battle. My ability to not give up was key. I was down twice today, once in each set, so I knew I could do this, especially after winning the title last year," said King, who despite receiving Division I full-ride scholarship offers from several schools, including Villanova, has decided to forgo playing at the next level to concentrate on his pre-medical studies at Michigan or Michigan State.
Schumacher complimented King on his performance.
"It just means a great deal to me to be able to share the court with a player like Austin. I have to give him a ton of credit. I really hung in there and played my best match of the season," Schumacher said.
North Farmington senior Jack Weingarden came into the tournament unseeded, but won the No. 3 singles flight on a 5-3 injury default by Mattawan's Connor Schultz in the first set. Weingarden had defeated Forest Hills northern freshman Vikram Krishnan in the semifinals 6-4, 6-3.
"My consistency helped me get through the semifinals and finals. I was definitely playing my best tennis of the season this weekend," Weingarden said.
Seaholm fourth seed Alex Ting topped Dow's Siddarth Venkatesan 6-2, 6-3 to win at No. 4 singles.
"My semifinals match went almost three hours. I started cramping up in both my legs, but I persevered through it. My team and family supported me through the whole day, and that really helps my mindset," Ting said.
Forest Hills Central's Willem Knoester and his partner Austin Rowland knocked off Forest Hills Northern's tandem of Tanav Shenov and Matthew Chan in the No. 1 doubles finale 7-5, 3-6, 6-3. At No. 2 doubles, FHC's Hayden Tanner and Joseph Song defeated Byron Center's duo of Rylan Vandenberger and Casey Schans 6-1, 7-6 (9-7).
Seaholm's No. 3 tandem of Britton Leo and Aarvan Senthilvanan disposed of FHC’s No. 3 tandem of James Notarnicola and Sawyer Jordan in the finals 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. The No. 4 doubles crown was also claimed by Seaholm's tandem of Connor Champion and Andrew Wachowicz with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Forest Hills Northern's Benard and Hernly.
PHOTOS (Top) Midland Dow's Austin King hits a backhand during an early No. 1 singles match Friday at Kalamazoo College. (Middle) Forest Hills Northern's Vikram Krishnan sends a forehand at No. 3 singles. (Below) North Farmington's Jack Weingarden volleys during his first match at No. 3 singles. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Black Hawks Soar Again in Division 1, while Kumar Repeats with Top-Flight Title
By
Scott DeCamp
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2022
HOLLAND – While Bloomfield Hills boys tennis coach Greg Burks was being interviewed late Saturday afternoon at Hope College’s Etheridge Tennis Complex, the Black Hawks’ team canopy lifted in a gust of wind and toppled onto the court.
That was about the only thing that went wrong for Bloomfield Hills this weekend. The Black Hawks used their supreme depth to run away with the MHSAA Division 1 boys tennis championship, the program’s third in six years and fourth in eight seasons – and also their first since 2018.
Bloomfield Hills capped the chilly, two-day tournament by capturing titles in five of eight flights and finishing runner-up in two others. The top-ranked Black Hawks tallied 35 points to win going away.
Northville was runner-up with 25 points, followed by Troy with 24. Novi was fourth with 17 points.
Each of the top four teams was ranked in the top four of the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association poll.
“We had a lot of depth. We had a couple kids come in – a couple freshman, Jonah Chernett and Connor Shaya – and they kind of extended that lineup even further to where we were just very, very deep,” said Burks, who also guided the Black Hawks to Division 1 titles in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
“To be honest, everybody just worked very hard in the offseason. They knew that we were getting those couple of guys and we only graduated one from last year, so they just knew – these are the stakes, and we knew that Troy and Northville and Novi were going to be tough. Yeah, it was great.”
Bloomfield Hills settled for a Finals runner-up finish last season behind Troy. This time, championships at two of the four singles flights and three of the four doubles flights helped push the Black Hawks over the top.
Bloomfield Hills senior Daniel Stojanov repeated at No. 2 singles with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 victory over Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice’s Patrick Cretu. At No. 4 singles, the spunky Shaya defeated Troy’s Dhruv Gupta in the Finals match, 6-2, 6-3.
The doubles teams of Pierce Shaya-Merrick Chernett (No. 1), Michael Dillon-Ryan Rose (No. 2) and Kierth Lingam-Dominic Pascarella (No. 4) earned big points for Bloomfield Hills with flight championships.
Bloomfield Hills’ Aaron Rose was runner-up to Detroit Catholic Central’s Alec Maynard at No. 3 singles (6-2, 6-4). The Black Hawks’ Drew Davis and Toni Vasile finished second at No. 3 doubles, falling to Ann Arbor Huron’s Warren Gunnar and Hassan Hejazi in the final.
Northville junior Sachiv Kumar repeated at No. 1 singles winning a championship rematch against Rochester junior Clayton Anderson, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1. Kumar defeated Anderson in last year’s title match, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5). Kumar finished 34-1 this season with his lone loss coming against Anderson during a dual meet.
It was a different Finals experience for Kumar this time around. Last year’s Division 1 Finals in Kalamazoo was moved indoors because of rain.
“The conditions – just way too cold outside, and (too) windy to play tennis, but somehow I didn’t cramp and the conditions didn’t get to me,” the even-keel Kumar said with a smile, alluding to temperatures hovering at or just below 50 degrees.
“It’s really, really nice, especially to say I won it once and I won it again – won it twice in a row.”
Stojanov knows the pressure of attempting to repeat as well.
It wasn’t easy for him Saturday, but the reward was well worth it, especially since his teammates also can call themselves state champions.
“It was great to get it done as a team. Fell short last year, so getting it done as a team was great this year,” Stojanov said.
“Down a set, I had to raise my level, I had to raise my game. I played a great player, so everything had to align for me to get the win. I want to give credit to my coaches and my teammates for cheering me on. It was great overall.”
Burks recalled how the 2018 Division 1 title team also displayed superior depth and won six of eight flights.
He considers that a “fantastic year,” but said what differentiates this group is that every single person on the team held his own and played an important role.
This Black Hawks squad is relatively young, so the future looks bright, too.
“It felt amazing because, like, I was really nervous because early in the season. I barely beat (Gupta) in the third set, but I really felt in that third set (Saturday), I knew his game. When I came here to play him today, I felt great,” said Shaya, who goes by the nickname “Cosmo.”
“It’s amazing (to win the team title) because we all just feel like champions. It was the perfect season.”
PHOTOS (Top) Bloomfield Hills senior Daniel Stojanov sends a volley on the way to repeating at No. 2 singles. (Middle) Northville junior Sachiv Kumar fires a backhand during his No. 1 singles final. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)