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.)
3-Seed Liggett Regains D4 Championship
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 16, 2020
PORTAGE — With teammates screaming and cheering on the sidelines, a stunned senior and freshman doubles team clinched the winning point for Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett on Friday.
Senior Tarun Jarial and freshman Tommy Ugval pulled out the two-set win, leading Liggett on its way to an 8-0 team sweep of Hudsonville Unity Christian in the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 4 boys tennis championship match at Portage Central High School.
After falling a point short last year, Liggett was hungry for that team title.
“It never gets old,” said coach Mark Sobieralski, who has three team titles in his seven years as head coach. “It’s another special group of kids.”
Both finalists pulled upsets in the semifinals.
Unity Christian, the fourth seed, ousted top seed Traverse City St. Francis, 5-3, while No. 3 Liggett defeated No. 2 Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Prep, 6-2.
The second-place finish was a win of sorts for Unity Christian.
“Last year was the second time we ever went to state, and we tied for 11th. So making it to the finals this year is pretty special,” first-year coach Brad Miedema said. “Personal best for the school so far.”
With Liggett leading, 4-0, Jarial and Ugval pulled out a hard-fought 7-6(6), 7-5, win against Jake McNamara and Micah Riddering.
Neither realized their point was the clincher at the time.
“Right after I came (off the court), my team said I was the clincher, me and Tommy,” Jarial said.
“It was just an amazing feeling. I can’t explain it. We’ve been working for this all year, and I’m really excited to hold that trophy up.”
Ugval, a freshman, was literally speechless when he got the news.
He credited his senior partner with keeping him calm during the match.
“(Jarial) taught me a lot about the game and helped motivate me,” Ugval said.
“I was really nervous toward the beginning of the year and especially today since it’s my first state championship.”
Sobieralski said that was one reason he paired the two.
“For a freshman, (Ugval) really handled himself well out there,” he said. “It was nice to have a senior with a freshman because the senior was able to calm him down and give him confidence.”
One Liggett senior still has one more goal to meet.
Will Cooksey, who is headed to University of Michigan next fall, will try to make it a four-year sweep next week at the Division 4 No. 1 singles championships at Portland High School.
“This is my last ride,” said Cooksey, the three-time reigning D-4 champion at No. 1 singles. “I’m going to try to bring home that fourth title.”
Cooksey, who is ranked eighth nationally in the USTA 18-under division, was first off the court, defeating Unity Christian’s Ryan Broek, 6-0, 6-1.
That was just perfect for a guy who is one of the most vocal cheerleaders for his teammates.
“I love cheering on the team,” he said. “It’s exciting to get the guys energetic and going. I just love the team environment.”
Sobieralski said Cooksey is a great team leader.
“He’s a national champion, 18-under, and he plays on our team because he loves the boys,” the coach said. “He’s a leader.
“He comes to practice but doesn’t practice. He takes four or five kids and works with them and then goes (and) practices on his own. He’s a great cheerleader, always up and down, screaming and yelling.”
Sobieralski said his team took a few unexpected hits to start the season.
“We had a freshman who was supposed to come in this year and he moved to Florida,” he said.
“We had a starter from our team from last year who decided to stay in Maine. Those were two people we were counting on, so we didn’t know how we were going to be.”
But a few others stepped up.
“I have to commend Alec Leonard,” he said. “He just came out for the first year. He’s the captain of the baseball and the hockey teams.
“He just wanted to play tennis with his friends and worked his butt off. Fourth doubles (with Rocco Scarfone) were just amazing today. They won both their matches, and it was just shocking how well they did today.”
The duo defeated Will Anama and Jacob Lanning, 6-0, 6-2.
Sobieralski also gave kudos to No. 1 doubles player Jacob Tomlinson.
“He was in quarantine 14 days,” the coach said. “He didn’t have the virus; he was around somebody.
“He had four negative tests, and he was released (Friday). He hasn’t played in two weeks. With all this going on, it’s just amazing we did this. It’s just exciting.”
The Knights also had an angel, a porcelain one, on their side.
“It’s from the 1930s and every coach from Liggett has passed it down, and we bring it every year and the kids all take it and hold it, rub it,” said Sobieralski, who kept the angel in his car during the matches.
“It’s a special thing we have every year, and I freak out because I don’t want it to get broken.”
In upsetting the No. 1 seed in the semis, Miedema said starting fast was a key.
“I just knew that we had to get going right away,” he said. “I knew if we came out with energy right away and ready to play, we could take it to them and hopefully get the upset, which we were able to do.”
He said the finals match was closer than the 8-0 score indicates.
“We started off well and stayed in a lot of matches,” he said. “We had two matches that went three sets and a couple other close matches out there.
“The boys played their hearts out, and I’m not disappointed in anything they did out there.
“It’s been wild. I knew we were good going into the year, so we had pretty high expectations. But this definitely exceeded what we were hoping for.
Other singles winners were Sebastian Courtright, 6-1, 4-6, 6-1, over Kaden Dykstra at No. 2, George Anusbigian, 6-3, 6-2, over Chafer Jolman at No. 3 and Gerry Sherer, 6-1, 6-1, over Austin Widner.
Other doubles winners were Vince Maribao and Tomlinson, 5-7, 7-5, 6-2, over Brendan Bremer and Jack Christian at No. 1, and Bennett French and Campbell Marchal, 6-2, 7-5, over Nate Lenters and Ben Timmermans.
PHOTOS: (Top) A Liggett player returns a volley during a match Friday at Portage Central. (Middle) Hudsonville Unity Christian advanced to the Final with an upset of top seed Traverse City St. Francis. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)