It's Huron Again at Division 1 Tennis Final
October 20, 2012
By Fred Kelly
Special to Second Half
MIDLAND — For Ann Arbor Huron, some of the faces were new. But the end result was the same at Saturday’s MHSAA Division 1 Tennis Final.
The River Rats reached finals in six of eight flights and won three flight championships en route to compiling 33 points and claiming their second straight team championship at the Midland Community Tennis Center.
Birmingham Brother Rice, last year’s runner-up, and Novi tied for second with 27 points apiece. Both the Warriors and Wildcats finished Friday’s opening day of competition with 22 points, only two behind Huron.
“Brother Rice and Novi did a good job getting 22 points yesterday, so we knew they were right on our heels, and we still had a lot of work to do coming into today,” River Rats’ coach Stefan Welch said. “(Our players) came out and executed. I’m just really happy for them.
“... It means a lot, obviously,” Welch added of winning back-to-back titles. “It’s hard to do it once, let alone twice. For the seniors, it’s nice to send them out on top. I’m really pleasantly surprised by how we performed this year. We had eight seniors leave last year’s lineup, so a lot of new faces stepped right in and performed.”
Huron junior Colin Williams said he felt his team had something to prove heading into the tournament.
“At the beginning of the year, we had a big target on our back, being defending champions,” said Williams, who won the No. 3 singles championship Saturday. “And then we played a dual match with Novi, and they beat us 6-2. They were in the spotlight then, but we felt like we didn’t play our best tennis that day, and we felt we were better than them.
“Today, we proved it,” he added. “We came out, we beat them, and we’re state champs now.”
Troy and Northville tied for fourth with 17 points each, while Traverse City Central was sixth with 14 points.
One of the individual highlights of the day was second-seeded Ed Covalschi of Utica Eisenhower upsetting top-seeded Tyler Gardiner of Northville 6-2, 7-5 in a hard-fought No. 1 singles final.
“It was definitely tough. I was a little tired from my semifinal, but it’s great to pull it off,” said Covalschi, who had to rally to beat sixth-seeded Brett Forman of Troy in three sets in the semifinals.
“He’s a great player,” Covalschi added of University of Michigan-bound Gardiner. “It was a great win. ... I picked up my serve a ton, and my returns were pretty good. Staying in long points really helped me; being patient (was the key).”
Covalschi, a senior who is headed to Notre Dame, said capping off an undefeated season with a No. 1 singles title was memorable.
“It’s unbelievable. It’s great to celebrate with my team,” he said. “My family supported me, and our fans supported me. I really appreciate it.”
Northville’s third-seeded freshman Connor Johnston finished his first Finals with a 6-1, 6-2 upset of top-seeded Jack Hamaty of Brother Rice in the No. 2 singles title match after rallying from a one-set deficit to beat second-seeded Kevin Mei of Huron in the semis.
“I was just being really aggressive, and I kept going at it the whole time. I never stopped,” said Johnston, adding of winning the match, “... I was speechless when it happened. I just dropped my racquet and screamed. I didn’t know what to do, honestly.”
Williams, who was seeded second at No. 3 singles, notched a straight-set victory over Brother Rice’s Chase Peery in the semifinals, and then swept Novi’s top-seeded Koushik Kondapi 6-3, 6-3 in the final. It was Williams’s first individual championship after two years of finishing as a runner-up.
“It feels great. ... To finally get the individual title after two years of losing in the finals is great. It’s really special,” said Williams, a runner-up at No. 3 doubles last year and at No. 4 doubles as a freshman.
At No. 4 singles, Novi’s top-seeded Pavan Rao breezed past Troy’s fifth-seeded Tarun Kalyanaraman in the semifinals, then swept Huron’s second-seeded Jon Seyhun 6-2, 6-2 in the final.
At No. 1 doubles, Huron’s third-seeded Akihiro Ota/Aaron Bradkey rallied to beat second-seeded Andrew Cansfield/Connor Johnston of Port Huron Northern in a three-set semifinal, then swept top-seeded Jason Carless/Andrew Ying of Novi in the final. At No. 2 doubles, second-seeded Max Teener/Ryan Stark of Huron beat third-seeded George Hamaty/Connor Parks of Brother Rice in the semifinals, then defeated top-seeded Nishant Kakar/Michael Chang of Novi 6-4, 1-6, 6-3 in the final.
At No. 3 doubles, top-seeded Joey Hildebrand/Johnny Cameron of Brother Rice defeated fourth-seeded Max Knoblock/Nick Yergens of Traverse City Central in the semifinals, then rallied to beat second-seeded George Lu/Michael Bondin of Huron 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final. And at No. 4 doubles, top-seeded David Weatherford/Brendan Dillon of Brother Rice ousted fifth-seeded Trey Pezzetti/Yani Beeker of Traverse City Central in the semifinals, then swept third-seeded Austin Luker/Will Brenner of Huron 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
Ota, a junior at Huron who claimed his first flight championship, said it was satisfying to defend the team title.
“We have a big tradition to hold up, so we just practice hard every day, and we come up big at the right moments,” he said.
Asked if an individual or team title is more rewarding, Ota replied without hesitation, “The team (title), definitely. ... It’s high school tennis. It’s all about the team.”
PHOTO: (Top) Ann Arbor Huron celebrates its MHSAA team championship Saturday at the Midland Community Tennis Center. (Middle) Utica Eisenhower's Ed Covalschi won the individual No. 1 singles championship and finished this fall undefeated. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Preview: Power Programs Locked In
October 18, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s rematch time for many of the powerhouse programs in Lower Peninsula boys tennis.
This weekend’s MHSAA Finals feature the same No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in both Divisions 3 and 4 as a year ago, a pair of rivals that tied for the 2015 title holding down the top spots in Division 1, and the two programs with the most championships in Division 2 history heading that field again.
Play both Friday and Saturday begins at 8 a.m. Click for full brackets for all four tournaments, plus Regional results, and come back to Second Half early Saturday evening for coverage from all four Finals.
LP Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills, 2. Novi, 3. Birmingham Brother Rice.
Bloomfield Hills missed a second straight championship last season by two points, scoring 28 to finish behind Ann Arbor Huron – which is ranked No. 6 heading into this weekend. Novi, which shared the 2015 title with the Black Hawks, also won in 2014 and finished fourth a year ago. Brother Rice finished runner-up in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and is seeking its first MHSAA title since 2009.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks are seeded in seven flights with six flights seeded first or second, including all four in doubles. Andrew Zhang is the second seed at No. 1 singles after winning No. 2 last season, and Constantin Hemmrich is the top seed at No. 3 singles as he looks to win that flight for the third straight season. Cade and Sebastian Burman at No. 1 doubles and Kyle Peres and Alex Walkon at No. 4 also carry top seeds.
Novi: Six flights are seeded, led by No. 1 doubles pair Robert Chen and Aditya Chitta as the second at their flight. Alex Wen enters as the sixth seed at No. 1 singles for the second straight year although he made the semifinals last season and won No. 2 as a sophomore and No. 3 as a freshman. Sid Amarnath is the third seed at No. 2 singles and was the No. 3 singles runner-up in 2015.
Brother Rice: The Warriors are seeded at three singles flights and three doubles flights as they seek to improve on last season’s sixth-place finish. Niko Mamatas and Riley McNulty are the top seed at No. 2 doubles, the highest seed among the team’s six. McNulty was part of the No. 2 runner-up last fall with Jack Brockhaus, who this season is part of the third-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles. No. 2 singles fifth seed Josh Anschuetz was part of last season’s No. 1 doubles runner-up, and No. 1 singles third seed Jarreau Campbell was part of the No. 1 doubles champion in 2015.
Troy’s Steve Forman: Now a senior, Forman improved from the semifinals as a sophomore to win No. 1 singles last fall while losing only one set during Finals weekend.
Clarkston’s Luke Baylis: The Wolves’ sophomore No. 1 singles player looks like an inevitable champion and enters as the fourth seed after finishing No. 2 runner-up last fall.
Ann Arbor Huron’s Brendan Chen and Max Brodkey: Chen was part of last season’s No. 1 doubles champion and with Brodkey is seeded fifth this weekend.
LP Division 2 at Kalamazoo College
Top-ranked: 1. Okemos, 2. Birmingham Groves, 3. Birmingham Seaholm.
Midland Dow, ranked fourth heading into the weekend, is the reigning champion and has won six of the last eight titles in this division. Okemos is seeking its first since running off four straight championships from 2004-07 – when Groves finished runner-up three times, their last three placings among the top two at a Finals. Like Groves, Seaholm also is seeking its first Finals championship and was runner-up two years at the end of last decade.
Okemos: This lines up much like the dominant Chiefs teams of old, with seven flights seeded and all seeded first or second at those flights. Josh Portnoy (No. 2), Shrey Patel (No. 3) and Daniel Gorelik (No. 4) all have top seeds in singles, while Rohan Shah and Siddharth Nagisetty (No. 2) and Deniz Kalfa and Druv Talluri (No. 3) are top-seeded in doubles. Kalfa was the champion at No. 4 singles last season and Gorelik was runner-up at No. 3 as Okemos finished third as a team, up from eighth in both 2015 and 2014.
Midland Dow: Although ranked just fourth heading into the postseason, Dow looks to be in the best position to challenge Okemos with all eight flights seeded and six seeded to make the semifinals. Aditya Middha and Saketh Kamaraju are the top seed at No. 1 doubles after Middha was part of last year’s champion at the flight and Kamaraju was runner-up at No. 4 singles. Reigning No. 3 singles champ Tyler Conrad is seeded third at No. 2, and last season’s No. 2 runner-up Anish Middha is seeded fourth at No. 1. Daniel Zhang and Gopal Parthasarathy are the top seed at No. 2 doubles after winning No. 3 last year, and Noah Nichols – part of last year’s runner-up at No. 2 – is seeded third at No. 3 singles. Ryan Killmaster is part of the fifth-seeded No. 3 doubles pair after finishing as part of the No. 4 runner-up in 2016.
Groves: The Falcons tied for fifth last season and return half of an individual champion – Aerik Joe, who is playing No. 1 doubles after helping earn the No. 4 championship in 2016. Groves’ strength is at singles, however, with all four players coming in as third seeds or higher. Junior Gabe Liss is the top seed at No. 1 singles after making the quarterfinals last season as the fifth seed in that flight.
Seaholm: The Maples actually won their Regional ahead of Groves last week after tying with the Falcons at last year’s Final, and they enter with five seeded flights and strength especially in doubles. Alex Acho and Ben Adams are paired as the top seed at No. 4.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Connor Genschaw: The second seed at No. 1 singles made the semifinals last season as the fourth seed and took the first set from eventual champion Varun Shanker.
Portage Central’s Lucas Guy: Entering as the third seed at No. 1 singles for the second straight season, Guy also made the semifinals last season at the top flight.
LP Division 3 at Holland
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
Cranbrook Kingswood has won the last two Division 3 titles ahead of runner-up Country Day, by eight points in 2015 but only one point a year ago. Together, they’ve won the last nine Division 3 championships and earned five runner-up finishes in that time as well. Cranbrook Kingswood beat Country Day by two points at their Regional last week.
Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes have three top seeds in singles and two in doubles, with championship experience all over the lineup. Benji Jacobson is top-seeded at No. 1 singles and looking to repeat as champion and claim his third Finals title after winning No. 2 singles in 2015. Lucas Bosch is top-seeded at No. 2 singles after making the semifinals at that flight in 2016, and Justin Luo is top-seeded at No. 3 coming off a runner-up finish there and after winning No. 4 in 2015. Sohum Archarya is the second seed at No. 4 after also earning a runner-up finish there a year ago. Andrew Du and Jacob Yellen are the top seed at No. 1 doubles after Du was part of last year’s champion and Yellen a runner-up at No. 2, and Joseph Croskey and Nikhil Deenadayalu are top-seeded at No. 2 after Croskey teamed with Yellen and Deenadayalu was part of last season’s runner-up at No. 3. Eshaan Kawlra and Jack Trees are the second seed at No. 3 doubles after winning No. 4 a year ago.
Country Day: The Yellowjackets will bank on six seeded flights to lead them back to the top this weekend. Among top seeds are Tom Nardicchio and Eric Liu at No. 3 doubles and Nick Sicilia and Justin Lee at No. 4; Nardicchio was part of last season’s champion at No. 3 and Sicilia was part of the runner-up at No. 4. Eric Wang earned the top seed at No. 4 singles after winning that flight last year, and Nik Gruskin is the fourth seed at No. 1 after finishing runner-up at No. 2 a year ago. Prathik Chukkapalli was Sicilia’s partner last season but is teaming up for the second-seeded No. 1 pair with Ryan Murakawa, who was part of the runner-up at that flight last year with Rick Warnicke – who is seeded second at No. 2 singles.
Ada Forest Hills Eastern: If either of the Oakland County powers above falters, Forest Hills Eastern could swoop in for its first top-two Finals finish. The Hawks are seeded in seven flights and expected to make the semifinals in six of them. No. 2 doubles pair Evan Schwalm and Karsyn Vanderweele are seeded second, the highest in the lineup.
Coopersville’s Jack Dausman: He’s the second seed at No. 1 singles after surprising by making the semifinals last year as the fifth seed, before falling to Jacobson.
Holland Christian’s Ryan Rhoades: Last season’s runner-up returns as the fifth seed at No. 1 singles, meaning a rematch with Jacobson would come in the semifinals instead of the championship match.
Williamston’s Oliver Weaver: The Hornets moved to Division 3 this fall, and Weaver will test his skills against a new field after winning No. 1 singles in Division 4 last year and finishing runner-up in that division in 2015.
LP Division 4 at Novi
Top-ranked: 1. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 2. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 3. Traverse City St. Francis.
University Liggett broke Greenhills’ eight-year hold on the Division 4 title by finishing two points ahead to win last season’s championship. The pair actually have shared the top for a while, with Greenhills of course finishing second last year and Liggett finishing runner-up in both 2015 and 2014. Traverse City St. Francis remains on the verge of its first top-two finish after tying for third place in 2016.
University Liggett: Only three flights are top-seeded, but all eight flights are seeded third or higher. Thomas Van Pelt and Spencer Warezak at No. 2 doubles and Matthew Lesha and Craig Buhler at No. 3 have two of those top seeds, and all four played in championship matches last year – Warezak and Buhler won No. 3 doubles, while Van Pelt was part of the No. 1 runner-up and Lesha part of the runner-up at No. 4. Andrew Staricco is the lone top seed in singles, at No. 4 after winning that flight last fall, but No. 2 singles third seed Christian Illitch was runner-up at his flight two years ago. Maddie Fozo and Alec Azar are the second seed at No. 1 after Fozo teamed with Van Pelt last year and Azar was part of the No. 2 doubles champion. Freshman William Cooksey will lead the next wave and he’s already started, pulling in the second seed at No. 1 singles for his first Finals.
Greenhills: Like Liggett, Greenhills has all eight flights seeded third or higher. Kaan Oral has the top seed at No. 2 singles after making the semifinals at that flight last season (as the second seed), and Jack Harris and Trey Feldeisen are the top seed at No. 1 doubles after Harris was part of last season’s champion at that flight and Feldeisen was part of the runner-up at No. 3. Drake Rosenberg was a champion at No. 4 doubles last year and is part of the second seed at No. 3, while Sushruta Shankar was part of the runner-up at No. 3 and is part of the third seed at No. 2. Henry Branch is seeded third at No. 3 singles after finishing runner-up last season at No. 4.
St. Francis: The Gladiators might have their best shot yet at moving up with all eight flights seeded fourth or better. St. Francis also has one top seed in singles – Nathan Sodini at No. 3 – and one top seed at doubles with Alex Thelen and Tyler Tafelsky at No. 4. Joe Primeau will look to take some of the Finals experience he earned last year as part of the No. 2 doubles runner-up to No. 4 singles, where he’s seeded fourth.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Ian Worthington: Last season’s champion at No. 2 singles (as a third seed) has moved up to No. 1, where he enters the weekend seeded fifth.
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Ian Sood: After finishing runner-up to Worthington at No. 2 singles last season, and as a fifth seed, Sood is back as the second seed at the same flight.
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Evan Sood: Evan Sood is playing No. 1 singles for the third straight year and is the top seed after making the quarterfinals last season while unseeded.
PHOTO: Cranbrook Kingswood’s Benji Jacobson, left, and Holland Christian’s Ryan Rhoades meet at the net after Jacobson won last season’s No. 1 singles final in Lower Peninsula Division 3. Both return this weekend. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)