Greenhills Near-Perfect in New Division

By Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com

October 19, 2019

KALAMAZOO — Saturday was a perfect day for tennis and almost perfect for Ann Arbor Greenhills.

The Gryphons grabbed 39 of 40 points to win the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Boys Tennis Finals at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.

Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Detroit Country Day tied for second with 24 points each, while East Grand Rapids and St. Clair tied for fourth with 22.

This is the first year in Division 3 for Greenhills, the D-4 reigning champ who had won that division nine of the last 11 years.

“We were looking forward to coming in to see what it’s like (in D-3),” Greenhills coach Eric Gajar said. 

“It lived up to expectations. There are a lot of very good teams here on the second day of the tournament. We did well (Friday), but the kids felt it was a step up.”

Greenhills, which clinched the team title in the semifinal round, had the top seed in every flight except No. 4 singles.

That was a motivator for Gryphons freshman Chakor Rajendra, the second seed at that flight.

“He had a little chip on his shoulder because he had such a good year and was undefeated,” Gajar said.

“But then in three doubles, we were the one seed and lost to some guys seeded lower. That’s why you go out and play. Anything can happen.”

Rajendra defeated the top seed, St. Clair freshman Ian Pinnoo, 6-3, 6-3, and lost just two games heading into the final.

“I never knew that high school tennis could be this fun,” he said. “I’m part of a great team with so many amazing people.

“I learned a lot from this experience. I play USTA tournaments, and this is going to definitely transfer some of these things I’ve learned and help me become a better player and a better person overall.”

As for being seeded second, “I wanted to prove that I had what it took to be a state champion,” he said. 

“I just wanted to do the best I could. Seeding is great, but in the end it doesn’t matter.”

Playing on adjacent courts, a pair of brothers, Kaan and Mert Oral, also took home championship medals.

At No. 1 singles, Mert, a sophomore, defeated St. Clair’s third seed, Derek Distelrath, 6-4, 6-2.

At No. 2, Kaan, a senior, beat St. Clair’s second seed, Eli Pinnoo, in a 6-2, 7-6(11) barn-burner.

Playing behind his younger brother is not a problem for the senior.

“Last year he played No. 3 singles, and I played No. 2,” Kaan Oral said. “He grew a lot and got a lot better. I’m happy for him.”

The No. 1 singles match finished first and “I didn’t want him to one-up me,” the senior said. 

“There were intervals in my match when I was somewhat distracted with his match a little bit because I wanted him to win so badly, especially since he was down in his first set and had to claw back.”

Oral was up 2-0 in the second set, but then the momentum changed.

“(Pinnoo) hit some good shots, attacked more and was more aggressive,” he said. “I had like 10 set points.”

Pinnoo said the cheers from teammates helped motivate him.

“I kept fighting, keeping him in the point, making him move, tiring him out,” Pinnoo said.

“I just don’t give up and keep fighting for every point. I was trying to win for the team.”

Mert Oral admitted that being a top seed leads to a bit of extra pressure.

“I just tried not to focus on the seed (Friday) and play my way into the tournament and get a feel for everything. 

“(Saturday), I was really able to find my A game.”

In the semifinal, “The guy (No. 4 seed Ben Collins of East Grand Rapids) brought the best out of me, and in the finals that was a great match. I was able to just get by.

“I mean, I had to come back in the first. It was just trusting my game.”

Distelrath upset No. 2 seed Nikolas Gruskin of Detroit Country Day, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinal.

“It felt good because I lost to him in a full third during the regular season, and I was glad I got to play him again and get a chance to get some revenge,” he said.

Facing Oral, “He’s very good,” Distelrath said. “I went in with the mentality that I’ll give my best and work my hardest until I’m out of gas.”

At No. 3 singles, another freshman, Rishi Verma, defeated St. Clair’s Michael Mascarin, the second seed, 6-3, 6-2.

Verma was broken twice to start the match down 0-3, but “it feels nice to bring it back and then bring it home.

“I generally don’t like to be the top seed, actually, because of the pressure. But I guess it worked out this time.”

Verma said he was inspired by his teammates.

“I looked at my teammates, and they were all fighting, too,” he said. “I was like, we came all this way.

“You’ve just gotta push, gotta put in that effort and find that extra gear, and I did.”

Detroit Country Day’s second seeds at No. 3 doubles, Clay Hartje and Aidan Khaghany, spoiled Greenhills’ team sweep attempt with a 6-4, 6-3 win over top seeds Nathan Rosenberg and Finn Feldeisen.

Both teams advanced to the finals with three-set wins in their semifinals.

At No. 1 doubles, Henry Branch and Sahil Deenadayalu defeated Grant Moorhead and Tanner Warners, the second seeds from Grand Rapids Christian, 6-1, 6-1.

At No. 2, Joey Formicola and Daniel Stojanov beat Cranbrook’s second seeds, Hayes Bradley and David Hermelin, 6-3, 6-2.

At No. 4, Alex Schwendeman and Thomas Zeng defeated Cranbrook’s second seeds, Calvi Teste and Ben Conti, 6-2, 6-3.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS: (Top) Greenhills’ Kaan Oran reacts after winning a 13-11 second-set tie-break at No. 2 singles. (Middle) Greenhills’ Chakor Rajendra. (Below) St. Clair's Michael Mascarin serves at No. 3 singles. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)

FH Northern Finishes Long Climb Back to #1

By Jason Schmitt
Special for MHSAA.com

October 19, 2019

ANN ARBOR – Cole Rynbrandt had been there before. He’d seen his older brothers capture individual MHSAA Finals championships.

On Saturday, he wanted to experience that achievement for himself.

The Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern junior and his doubles partner, Justin Lee, finished off a barn-burner of a tie-breaker, defeating Detroit U-D Jesuit’s Charlie Young and John Dahmer, 6-2, 7-6 (6), in the No. 2 doubles championship match, helping seal not only a flight title for Rynbrandt himself, but clinching the school’s first team Finals title since 1998.

“Knowing that (our win) clinched the team title makes it all that much sweeter,” Rynbrandt said. “The team hasn’t won a title in about 20 years and two of my older brothers had won state titles, so it’s something I’ve always wanted to do.”

What made it even more special is that Rynbrandt’s older brothers – Quentin and Aidan – both won their titles at No. 2 doubles as well. Oh, and to top it off, Saturday’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Finals were played at the University of Michigan.

“I’ve been a die-hard Michigan fan my whole life, so to play on these courts has been so incredible,” Cole Rynbrandt said. “I’ve always dreamed of going to school here and to play on these courts.”

The Huskies’ 1998 title came when they competed in Division 3.

“It feels good that we could go out and win it,” said longtime Northern head coach Dave Sukup, who also was the head coach of that 1998 team. “We’ve come close a lot of times, some seconds and thirds and fourths. It feels good to fight back. Earlier this year we were (ranked) fourth or fifth, but we’ve come back and worked for this.”

The Huskies finished with 28 team points and had seven of eight flights reach Saturday’s semifinals, with four making it to the championship round. Along with Rynbrandt and Lee, two other doubles teams won titles for the Huskies. The No. 1 team of Nav Dalmia and Jeff Consolla defeated Jesuit’s Kagan Shetterly and Theodore Yaldoo, 6-3, 6-4, in their championship final. And Northern’s Jack Sparhawk and Ty Ulchman defeated Jesuit’s Teodore Melnyczuk and Nathan Comerford in the No. 3 doubles championship match, 6-4, 7-5.

Jesuit, which along with Birmingham Seaholm shared the lead with Northern after the first day, sent all four of its doubles teams into Saturday’s finals. But the Cubs came up empty from there, finishing with 25 team points – good for second overall.

“They definitely were the favorite (coming in), but we had every opportunity to take it from them,” Jesuit head coach Jim Slaughter said. “They were the ones who had to play tense, and we could have come in and snatched it. But it didn’t happen today. We didn’t do the things that we normally do. We didn’t play our game. That happens.”

At No. 1 singles, Mattawan’s Nathaniel Webster defeated Berkley junior Adnan Alousi in the final, 6-1, 6-2. It was redemption for Webster, who lost in last year’s championship match.

“I wanted to win a state championship so bad,” said Webster, who did not drop a set and lost just seven games over his four matches on the weekend. “My team, we were so excited to compete at the state championships. I’m glad I could win this for myself and for them.”

Birmingham Groves finished third overall thanks to a pair of individual championships Saturday. Senior Brett Kovan defeated Northern’s Owen Goodrich in three sets in the No. 4 singles final, 6-2, 5-7, 6-3. The No. 1 seed entered the tournament with just two losses and entered the match against Goodrich having lost just a single game over his previous three matches.

The Falcons were also the top seed at No. 4 doubles, where the team of Will Hess and Will Kostello breezed to a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Jesuit’s Jake Kuredjian and Alex Mackillop in their final.

The final two individual flight championships were both won by Midland Dow – which finished fifth overall with 19 team points. Freshman Colson Wells – the second seed – defeated top-seeded Nolan Kovan of Groves, 6-3, 6-2, in the championship match at No. 2 singles. And senior Saketh Kamaraju needed three sets to defeat Portage Northern’s Graham Holley, 7-6, 6-7 (4), 6-2, in the No. 3 singles final. 

The team title was the third overall for Sukup and his program, and it may not take 20 years to get to number four. The Huskies are young. They graduate just three starters and should return all four of their singles players in 2020.

“We’re really young,” Sukup said. “We’ll have all of our singles back and a good chunk of our doubles, so we’re excited about that.”

Click for full results. 

PHOTOS: (Top) Forest Hills Northern's Nav Dalmia (front) and Jeff Consolla celebrate their No. 1 doubles title that contributed to the Huskies' first team championship since 1998. (Middle) Mattawan's Nathaniel Webster won the No. 1 singles flight title. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)