GNC Champ Escanaba Hoping to Serve Up More History
By
John Vrancic
Special for MHSAA.com
June 2, 2021
ESCANABA — Fourteen years have passed since the Escanaba boys were last crowned Upper Peninsula tennis champions.
The Eskymos, fresh from earning their first Great Northern Conference title since 2003, will try to change that at today’s U.P. Division 1 Finals at Negaunee.
“We have a very nice opportunity ahead of us,” said fifth-year coach Tom Penegor. “We just went through a tough GNC meet (May 27 at Marquette). We’re hoping that will give us an edge in the U.P. Finals. I think we have some momentum.”
Standing in the way is five-time reigning champ Negaunee.
“They’ll be tough, and Marquette has good singles players,” said Penegor. “The other schools also have some good players. There’s pressure out there, and everybody responds to that differently. The game is just as much mental as physical. The scoring system is different from the GNC. You need every single point.”
The Eskymos have an all-junior singles lineup with Gunner Dlugas holding a 14-5 record at No. 1. Filling out singles are Shawn Beauchamp (13-7) at No. 2, Nathan Howes (15-3) at No. 3 and Connor Smale (10-2) at No. 4.
“It felt great to win the GNC,” said Dlugas, who among latest improvements to his game has made the transition from a two-handed to a one-handed backhand shot. “We hadn’t won the GNC since I was born. Four of us have played for two years, and the rest of the guys are first-year players. We’re a fresh team, and that’s why this is so important for us. We have a lot of No. 1 seeds and we’re definitely improving, which gives us a pretty good feeling going into the Finals. I think we’re ready to go.”
Also part of today’s lineup are senior Ryan Moreau and junior Viktor Pospisil, an exchange student from Mladá Boleslov in the Czech Republic, who together are 10-2 at No. 1 doubles.
“I wasn’t supposed to play tennis, but I started playing with the guys at first, then decided to join the team,” said Popisil. “I had been playing in my hometown in Europe and appreciate having the opportunity to play here. I didn’t think we’d be this good at the beginning of the season, but everything kind of progressed as the season went on. We’ve been coming together as a team.”
Moreau said he truly enjoys playing with his partner.
“Viktor’s a great player, and we’ve become great friends,” he added. “All the players from the other schools come up and talk to him.
“I’m real excited about the Finals. Negaunee has a great program. We’re coming in as kind of an underdog. We definitely have to play our game and take the title away from them. If we do that, we should take it.”
Junior Isaac Maki and sophomore Dawson Williams fill the No. 2 flight.
“This experience has been awesome,” said Williams. “I learned a lot about tennis and made a lot of new friends. This is actually my first high school sport. Our first match (this season) against Menominee was exciting. I didn’t know how it was going to go, but I thought we performed beyond expectations.
“Negaunee as a great team, and West Iron County is very good. I thank God for giving me the strength to play at a high level and Coach, my teammates and parents for all their encouragement and support. Winning the GNC gave us a boost going into the Finals.”
Joining them in the doubles lineup are seniors Tanner McDonald and Jordan Nance (13-1) at No. 3 and senior Brayden Roberts and junior Joe Hubert at No. 4.
Should the Eskymos prevail today, it would mark the first time they’d have won the GNC and U.P. Finals in the same year since 1999.
“We had four practices before the U.P. Finals,” said Penegor. “After the GNC meet, we asked the guys if they wanted to practice over the weekend and they decided they wanted to do that.
“Our team has worked hard, and our assistant coaches (Chris Ogren and Alan Adams) have been a tremendous asset to our team this year.”
Tennis is a self-supporting program at Escanaba, and Penegor said one of the reasons he took over after retiring from the city was out of love for the sport.
“We appreciate the support of our sponsors, and the parents have driven us to some of the meets,” said Penegor. “They’ve also been big supporters of our team.
“We started with four seniors. It’s nice to have a mixture of younger kids with our seniors. This is definitely the best mix we’ve had in my five years as coach. We stress to the kids the importance of having fun, making improvements and working on their game.”
John Vrancic has covered high school sports in the Upper Peninsula since joining the Escanaba Daily Press staff in 1985. He is known most prominently across the peninsula for his extensive coverage of cross country and track & field that frequently appears in newspapers from the Wisconsin border to Lake Huron. He received the James Trethewey Award for Distinguished Service in 2015 from the Upper Peninsula Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association.
PHOTOS: (Top) Escanaba’s Ryan Moreau returns a volley this season against Ishpeming Westwood. (Middle) The Eskymos celebrate their Great Northern Conference championship. (Top photo courtesy of the Escanaba Daily Press; middle photo courtesy of the Escanaba athletic department.)
Negaunee Caps Near-Perfect Season by Taking Back Top Spot in UPD1
By
Jerry DeRoche
Special for MHSAA.com
May 31, 2023
KINGSFORD – The Negaunee Miners are no strangers to lifting Upper Peninsula Division 1 tennis title hardware.
Coach Kyle Saari’s program has been a powerhouse over the past 14 years, winning eight championships and finishing runner-up three times.
Still, the Miners entered the 2023 event having finished second behind Escanaba the last two seasons. But this Negaunee squad was dripping with confidence, having gone through the regular campaign unbeaten and barely losing a set along the way.
With that in mind, the Miners' championship Wednesday at Kingsford High School was rather expected. But take nothing away from the 12 Negaunee players who shined nearly as brightly as the blazing sun overhead with seven flight championships and one second-place finish to recapture the trophy in emphatic fashion.
The Miners finished the day with 23 points, well in front of 2022 champion Escanaba, which recorded 11 points. Kingsford took third with eight, Marquette placed fourth with six, Westwood wound up fifth with five and Gladstone did not post a win and finished sixth.
“From day one, they wanted to bring a U.P. title back home,” Saari said of his squad. “So for us to take seven out of eight finals, it’s a great feeling. You have to play your best on the final day, and today they were able to do that. They answered the bell.”
Frankly, the Miners have done that all season, to a remarkable degree. Negaunee not only beat every opponent they faced along the way, the Miners' players won a staggering 155 of 160 matches they played combined.
And to cap it all off, Negaunee lost just two of 32 sets on the final day of the season.
“This year has been kind of unprecedented,” Saari said. “I don’t think you can ever see (155-5) coming. Our 2012 team was 162-7, and this team beat that as far as winning percentage.
“The unique thing was they were able to answer the challenge every single day. They’re a humble group, they do it the right way and they handle it the right way, too.”
The Miners swept the four doubles flights. At No. 1 doubles, Jace Turri and James Thomson knocked off Kingsford’s Ben Trevillian and Gabe Lafraniere 6-1, 7-5, while Gavin Jacobson and Gavin Downey defeated Gabe Tossava and Reid Frustaglio of Westwood 6-1, 6-1 at No. 2 doubles.
In the No. 3 doubles flight, Philip Nelson and Zack Brundage posted a 7-5, 6-2 win over Nick Chaillier and Vincent Guindon of Escanaba, and at No. 4 doubles, Ethan Harris and Brandon Borlace upended Brett Berglund and Isaac Lebouef of Kingsford 6-3, 6-3.
The only flight that didn’t end with a Negaunee win was No. 1 singles, where Escanaba senior Dawson Williams defeated Negaunee senior Luke Syrjala in two tough sets, 7-6 (2), 6-4.
Williams was overwhelmed with emotion after putting his name in the U.P. boys tennis record book.
“I’m lost for words right now,” Williams said, fighting off tears. “I never thought when I was a freshman walking into tennis, I’d be winning a U.P. title at one singles.”
Williams said the matchup with Syrjala, their fifth duel of the season, came with the added difficulty of playing a left-hander.
“It is always tough to deal with a lefty, and he’s a very competitive player,” said Williams, who won four of the five matches with Negaunee’s top singles player along the way.
But in the overall competition, Negaunee’s depth was too much for all the other competitors.
“We feel that from one singles to four singles, on any day, they could have each other’s (flight) numbers, so all four of them were able to push each other during the course of the year to make us better,” Saari said. “And I think that’s true within our doubles lineup, too.”
PHOTOS (Top) Negaunee’s James Thomson returns a volley during a No. 1 doubles match, with partner Jace Turri. (Middle) The Miners are presented with the championship trophy Wednesday. (Below) Escanaba’s Dawson Williams sends a backhand during the championship match at No. 1 singles. (Photos by Dennis Mansfield.)