Greenhills Extends D4 Dynasty
October 19, 2013
By Greg Tunnicliff
Special to Second Half
GRAND BLANC – Growing up in a family known for basketball, Teddy Oosterbaan decided to break from tradition and become a server – of tennis balls.
The Kalamazoo Hackett freshman is the son of J.P. Oosterbaan, who was a three-year letterwinner at the University of Michigan from 1987-89, helping the Wolverines win the 1989 NCAA championship. Teddy also is the grandson of John Oosterbaan, a two-year letterwinner at Michigan from 1962-63.
“I just try to do the best that I can,” Teddy Oosterbaan said. “(Tennis) is exciting and our team making states was cool.”
While the youngest Oosterbaan isn’t sure if he will suit up for Hackett on the hardcourt, he already has left his mark on the tennis courts.
Saturday, he was rarely challenged en route to posting a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Cal Willa of Grand Rapids West Catholic in the Lower Peninsula Division 4 No. 2 singles championship match at Genesys Athletic Club in Grand Blanc.
“I was in a pretty good rhythm the whole year,” said the 6-foot-4 Oosterbaan, who ended 24-1. “I felt I was getting better the whole season.”
Top-ranked Ann Arbor Greenhills continued its dominance in the team competition, capturing five of the eight fights en route to earning its sixth straight team championship and seventh in the last eight seasons.
The Gryphons finished with 33 points in the 24-team field, nine more than runner-up West Catholic (24).
“It’s a new group of guys each year; it’s a new challenge each year,” Greenhills coach Eric Gajar said. “They were well prepared. All the stuff we asked them to do, they brought together this weekend. They delivered at crunch time.”
At No. 1 singles, Lansing Catholic junior Matt Heeder overcame a slow start to post a 6-4, 6-3 victory over West Catholic’s Nicholas Solarewicz in the championship match.
Heeder fell behind 3-0 in the opening set before winning six of the next seven games. He was never seriously threatened after that en route to capturing his first Finals championship.
“After getting down 3-0, I started staying down on the ball,” Heeder said. “I was a little nervous the first couple of games, but coach settled me down and I got into a groove. I tried not to over think. I just did what I was capable of doing.”
Pacing Greenhills was its No. 4 singles player, sophomore Gage Feldeisen, who captured his second championship and first at singles. Feldeisen, who was seeded second, won all four of his matches in straight sets, including a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over top-seeded A.J. Samdal of Grand Rapids South Christian in the final.
“Being the No. 2 seed, you don’t have any pressure to win,” said Feldeisen, who won at No. 4 doubles last year. “You can go out and just play the best you can. I hit my forehand a lot, tried to stay consistent.”
Greenhills captured all four double flights, led by its No. 1 team of senior Adhi Rajaprabhakaran and freshman Sam Talsma. The second-seeded tandem upset top-seeded Alex Lemire and Mike Nowicki of West Catholic, 6-1, 7-5, in the championship match.
“We were expecting a lot from ourselves from the beginning,” Talsma said. “We knew we had what it took to win the title. We never thought about anything else during the match.”
It is the third doubles championship for Rajaprabhakaran, who won at No. 3 in 2011 and No. 2 last year.
“It’s all I could ask for,” Rajaprabhakaran said. “I never lost in Division 4, and I wanted to keep that streak going. Along with our team winning, which is more important, I couldn’t be happier.”
Greenhills’ No. 2 doubles team of senior Neil Sykes and junior Isak Akervall needed back-to-back three-set victories to capture their flight Saturday. The twosome posted a 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5) come-from-behind triumph over Alan Jurcak and August Bonacci of Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett in the final.
“I never expected to get here the first year, upset the No. 1 seed,” Akervall said. “We had to stay strong the whole time. I’m just ecstatic.”
It is Sykes third Finals title, having won at No. 4 doubles the previous two seasons.
“I’m shaking right now,” Sykes said. “It took a lot of work in the offseason and during the season, trying to keep up with the competition. (Winning a third straight championship) is a good way to go out.”
The Gryphons’ freshman No. 3 doubles tandem of Andy Xie and Matt Chatas entered the tournament as the top seed and showed the field why, winning all four of their matches in straight sets.
“We just had to stay loose and not get down if we lost a game,” Xie said. “After a couple of games, we just got into our zone.”
The duo rolled through their first three matches, yielding no more than four games in a set. In the championship match, they held off second-seeded Jack Ninivaggi and Alex Dow of Liggett, 7-6 (7-4), 6-2.
“For the first day, we just had to get through,” Chatas said. “The second day, we had to play hard and make sure not to give (opponents) anything.”
Junior David Groden and sophomore Brandon Johnson joined Greenhills’ team this fall, and they got their careers off to fast start by winning the No. 4 doubles championship.
“I still can’t believe it,” Johnson said. “I’m so happy, it’s unreal.”
The twosome, which was seeded No. 2, upset top-seeded Jackson Benning and Davey Sekhon of Liggett, 4-6, 7-5, 6-4, in the championship match.
“We realized we were playing for the title,” Groden said of his and Johnson’s performance in the third set. “We wanted it, and we did it.”
Rounding out the individual winners was Hackett freshman Henry Hedeman, who won at No. 3 singles. Hedeman, who was seeded No. 1, captured all four his matches in straight sets, yielding no more than one game in a set.
He beat third-seeded Nick Link of West Catholic, 6-1, 6-1, in the championship match.
“It was pretty nerve-racking; you don’t want to have a big upset happen,” Hedeman said. “I had to play smart. I had to focus on the tournament.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Ann Arbor Greenhills poses with its latest MHSAA championship trophy. (Middle) Greenhills players huddle after repeating as Lower Peninsula Division 4 champions. (Photos courtesy of Greenhills tennis.)
Finals Preview: Pushing the Powers
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 18, 2012
Midland Dow has won three straight MHSAA tennis championships. Ann Arbor Greenhills has won four. And Detroit Country Day has finished among the top two in each of the last four seasons.
To find them as favorites again at this weekend's Lower Peninsula Finals is no surprise. But there could be a few.
Novi has never won an MHSAA team tennis title, but is ranked No. 1 in Division 1. And St. Joseph, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett and Portage Central are all looking to get back into the championship mix.
Click for links to Finals qualifiers in all four divisions. See below for some of what to expect at every tournament this weekend, and come back Saturday evening and Sunday for coverage from all four Finals.
Division 1 at Midland Community Tennis Center
Neither the top-ranked team going in nor the team with the reigning individual champion have won an MHSAA team title – which could mean an interesting shake-up at the top.
Novi: With every flight at least a number five seed, and five flights seeded No. 1, Novi is both considered the favorite and set up for contention. The Wildcats won a Regional featuring No. 4 Northville and 2010 champion Detroit Catholic Central.
Birmingham Brother Rice: The Warriors finished second by four points last season and last won in 2009, but come in with seeds at every flight but one and three of those top seeds. The only player not seeded for Brother Rice is No. 1 singles player Gunnar Peery, but he’s the reigning MHSAA champion at No. 2. Reigning No. 3 doubles champs Joey Hildebrand and George Hamaty also are back this weekend, but split up – Hamaty is at No. 2 with a new partner.
Ann Arbor Huron: The River Rats are always in the Division 1 conversation, with two titles and a runner-up finish over the last four seasons. They are the reigning champions and seeded in every flight – with five No. 2 seeds and none lower than No. 4.
Individuals of note: Northville’s Tyler Gardiner is the reigning No. 1 singles champion and seeded No. 1 in that flight. But Utica Eisenhower’s Ed Covalschi also is nationally recognized, and comes in as the second seed.
Division 2 at Holly/Fenton
This division has belonged to Midland Dow the last three seasons, and the Chargers are ranked No. 1 again after faring well this season against many of the top teams regardless of division.
Midland Dow: The reigning champions graduated the winningest player in MHSAA history in Jonathan Gurnee, but have seven top seeds including returning champions Austin Woody (No. 2 singles now, won at No. 3) and Juli Guerra (3 now, won at 4). Reigning No. 2 doubles champs Jason Chang and David Goslin also are back, with Chang playing No. 1 this weekend.
Portage Central: The Mustangs are seeking their first MHSAA championship since splitting the title in spring 2007, the last season before boys tennis moved to fall. They’re paced at the top by top-seeded No. 1 singles player Billy Heckman. He’s one of seven seeded flights, with three coming in as No. 2 seeds.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central: The Rangers finished runners-up last season and come in ranked No. 3. They’re seeded at all but No. 4 doubles – but that pair includes Joey McClure, who teamed with Greg Andrews to win the No. 3 doubles championship in 2011. Andrews is playing No. 1 doubles this weekend.
Individuals of note: Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Davis Crocker is the reigning champion and seeded second after falling to Portage Central’s Heckman at the Regional. Okemos’ Elan Dantus was part of the No. 1 doubles champion last season and is playing No. 1 singles. Reigning No. 4 doubles champions Andrew Murtland and Rob Chapekis of North Farmington are playing No. 1 doubles this weekend.
Division 3 at Holland Christian
Detroit Country Day has finished among the top two in this division nine of the last 10 seasons and is ranked No. 1 again heading into these Finals.
Detroit Country Day: The Yellow Jackets earned the top seed at every flight for this weekend. Rishi Patel will attempt to repeat as the champion at No. 3 singles, and four doubles players who were part of three championship pairs are back as well but with different partners. Sven Kranz was the No. 1 singles runner-up last season, and is playing No. 2 this weekend with teammate Max Fliegner – considered one of the top players his age in the nation – seeded first at No. 1.
St. Joseph: The reigning runner-up is lined up for another run with seven No. 2 seeds and a No. 3. Both members of the reigning No. 4 doubles champion, Sam Singler and Jared Kuntz, are back but at higher flights. St. Joseph last won the team title in fall 2007.
East Grand Rapids: The Pioneers are ranked No. 3 and seeking their first top-two finish since winning the 2007 spring championship and then finishing runner-up that fall. Garrett Goldman won the No. 2 singles title last season and is seeded third at No. 1. East Grand Rapids is seeded in all but one flight.
Division 4 at Kalamazoo College
Ann Arbor Greenhills is in the midst of a dynasty with four straight titles and five over the last six seasons. That only non-championship season, fall 2007, Greenhills finished second. Seven of the top 10 ranked teams have never won an MHSAA title.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The Gryphons have six No. 1 seeds this weekend – three for singles and three for doubles. Reigning doubles champions Adhi Rajaprabhakaran (No. 3) and Nick Sandhu (No. 4) are paired up this fall and the top seed at No. 2.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights are ranked No. 2 and going for their first top-two finish since sharing the championship in 2002. They are seeded at four flights, with three of those coming in doubles.
Ludington: The Orioles have broken in among the contenders with some impressive finishes this season including wins over University Liggett and No. 6 Almont. Ludington is ranked No. 3 and has seeded players at Nos. 2-4 singles.
Individuals of note: Players from the Capital Area Activities Conference White have claimed the last two No. 1 singles championships, and hold the top three seeds this weekend: Williamston’s Michael Sienko is the first seed, followed by Portland’s Chance Conley and Lansing Catholic’s Matt Heeder with the third. Conley beat Sienko 6-4, 6-2 in last season’s championship match. Sienko won the No. 2 singles title as a freshman in 2009.
PHOTO: Ortonville-Brandon's Spencer Navarre, playing a match earlier this season, will lead his team into the Division 2 Final at Holly and Fenton. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com).