No Just-Miss This Time: Groves Breaks Through with 1st Finals Win

By Greg Chrapek
Special for Second Half

October 16, 2021

HOLLAND – This year’s Lower Peninsula Division 2 Boys Tennis Finals had a new look.

Along with the return to their traditional format after last year’s COVID-driven changes, the tournament featured a new champion, several new competing schools and some brand new names to the Division 2 tennis scene.

Birmingham Groves, a five-time Finals runner-up, broke through and claimed the first boys tennis team title in school history. Groves finished the two-day tournament Saturday with 27 points to edge a familiar name, two-time reigning Division 2 champion Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, by one point. Last year’s Division 1 champion, Okemos, had moved into Division 2 this season and tied for third place with Midland Dow as both teams totaled 20 points.

For Groves and coach Dave Farmer, the title meant the end of a chase lasting a decade.

“I’ve been coaching here since 2010 and we’ve had several second and third-place finishes,” Farmer said. “This one is very special because it’s the first high school title I’ve ever won. I won three titles at Eastern Michigan University, but this is my first in 12 years of coaching high school tennis.

“We have a veteran team this year, and that is a big reason why we won it. We had great senior leadership and a lot of good juniors as well.”

Groves came into the tournament with nine seniors on the team and seven in the starting lineup. The Falcons were paced by their singles lineup but received big efforts from doubles down the stretch.

“We have a good group of singles players that carried us for the bulk of the year,” Farmer said. “Our doubles teams really picked it up in the tournament and really helped solidify the team.”

The Falcons also had a talented freshman in the singles lineup, and he made his high school Finals debut in a big way. Groves freshman Michael Liss won the No. 3 singles title as he defeated Will Seymour of Detroit U-D Jesuit 6-4, 6-3.

“It feels absolutely amazing,” Liss said. “I just tried to stay calm and not get upset at anything at all. I feel that as a team we were a cohesive unit, and we all pushed each other to get better. I’m just a freshman, but I know we’ve been really close to winning it as a team. We’ve finished second and third a lot so we really wanted to win it this year.”  

Liss was not the only freshman to win an individual flight championship. Okemos freshman Suchir Nagisetty arrived on the Finals stage in a big way as well as he defeated Andrew Williams of Mattawan 7-5, 6-1, to clinch at No. 4 singles.

The win was especially meaningful for Nagisetty as he followed in the footsteps of his older brother Sid who won an individual flight title during his freshman season at Okemos in 2017. Sid was in attendance cheering and supporting his brother and has played his own role in Suchir’s development as a player.

Okemos tennis“My brother coached me and trained me this summer,” Suchir said. “I wanted to follow in his footsteps and win a state title in my freshman year. It is something I’ve thought about for a long time. There is some pressure, but once you start playing the match your love of tennis takes over and you just concentrate on playing the game. Winning the title feels great, and it’s nice to have something in common I can share with my brother.” 

A new name to Division 2 tennis but a familiar face on the state scene, Okemos sophomore Ethan Portnoy, came away with the No. 1 singles championship. Portnoy, who played doubles last season, moved up to No. 1 singles and defeated Connor Stafford of Grosse Pointe South 6-3, 6-4.

Like Nagisetty, Portnoy had a good example of what it takes to win an individual championship under his own roof as his older brother Josh Portnoy was a two-time Finals flight champion during his high school career at Okemos.

“It’s really cool to follow in my older brother’s footsteps,” Portnoy said. “I had a lot of confidence that I could do it. I played a lot of USTA (United States Tennis Association) tournaments in the summer and had a lot of tough matches, and I knew I could bring that experience to high school tennis.” 

At No. 2 singles, senior Owen Goodrich of Forest Hills Northern wrapped up his career in a memorable way by outlasting Okemos senior George Fan in a grueling, three-set struggle 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.

“I just took it one point at a time,” Goodrich said. “I’ve played him before, and I knew it was going to be a tough match. I knew he’s a great player, but he’s not invincible.”

Winning his final match as a senior was a fitting way to go out for Goodrich, who lost in the final at No. 4 singles as a freshman.

“I lost in the state finals to a player from Okemos as a freshman,” Goodrich said. “Now I win my final match in the state finals against a player from Okemos. I couldn’t ask for a better way to finish my senior year. It’s amazing.”

In doubles competition, winners came from four schools.

Grosse Pointe South, in Division 2 for the first time after having played in Division 1 for years, finished in a tie for sixth place and was led by seniors Blake Discher and Alex Prather. Discher and Prather teamed up to stop Thomas Ladwein and Aaron Li of Midland Dow 6-4, 6-3, at No. 1 doubles.

“We played really good,” Prather said. “It was one of our best days ever. This is the second year that we’ve played as partners, and we do a great job of supporting each other.”

The duo was determined to bring home a title for South, and even though they believed they could win, there was an element of awe when it was over.

“I thought we could take it with how much we put into it,” Discher said, “but in the end we were kind of shocked that we actually did it.”

The Jesuit No. 4 doubles team of Sam Owens and Stephen Cibulas won a tough struggle against Andrew Weitzman and Gabe Klein of Groves 7-5, 7-6 (2). The win was made even harder considering the duo had just spent plenty of energy getting past a tough Forest Hills Northern team in the semifinal round.

“We had a real tough match with Forest Hills Northern, and it drained a lot of our energy,” Owens said. “We had to be more mentally tough in this match. They were up 4-1 in the second half so we had to come back to win it.”

“We just played with more energy,” Cibulas added. “It was all about the energy. We also support each other really well.” 

At No. 2 doubles, the Forest Hills Northern duo of Aaryan Singh and Anderson Halland were pushed to the limit before claiming a 3-6, 6-1, 6-3, victory against Dylan Wolf and Alexandras Abarius of Groves.

Birmingham Seaholm, which tied for sixth with Grosse Pointe South, was paced by its No. 3 doubles team of Alex George and Alex Lewis. The Seaholm duo won the No. 3 doubles title by stopping Kyle Wang and Joey Lamberg of Forest Hills Northern 6-3, 6-3.

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PHOTOS (Top) Birmingham Groves' Michael Liss returns a volley Saturday during his run to the No. 3 singles championship. (Middle) Okemos' Ethan Portnoy drives a shot during a No. 1 singles match. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.) 

Escanaba Edges Negaunee to Claim Anticipated Battle for Best in UPD1

By Jerry DeRoche
Special for MHSAA.com

June 1, 2022

KINGSFORD — All season long, the Escanaba Eskymos and the Negaunee Miners were the top two boys tennis teams in the Upper Peninsula, seemingly on a collision course to fight for the Division 1 championship for the second-straight year.

Turns out that premonition was accurate, and for the second-consecutive season, the Eskymos left with the championship, recording 17 points compared Negaunee’s 15. Marquette finished third with 13, Kingsford took fourth with five, Menominee placed fifth with two points and Gladstone did not score.

Escanaba won flight championships at No. 4 singles, No. 1 doubles, No. 2 doubles and No. 3 doubles. The Eskymos also finished runners-up at No. 2 singles and No. 4 doubles.

“I’m just happy for the kids,” said Escanaba coach Tom Penegor. “This is all about them. They put in a lot of hard work and practice time, and it’s just a bunch of kids that worked together. They deserve this.”

The Eskymos can thank their doubles players for their repeat. At No. 1 doubles, Isaac Maki and Dawson Williams upended James Thomsen and Jace Turri of Negaunee 6-1, 6-2, while No. 2 doubles Joseph Hubert and Joseph Montel defeated Negaunee’s Gavin Downey and Bryce Storms by the same score.

The No. 3 doubles tandem of Connor Smale and Troy Delvaux knocked off Marquette’s Isaac Johnson and Liam McFarren 6-2, 6-4 for the third doubles point.

Escanaba’s other flight championship came off the racquet of Sam Rivera, who battled back from a slow start to get past Mick Kumpala of Negaunee 0-6, 6-2, 6-3.

The No. 1 doubles match was indicative of the Eskymos’ efforts.

“I would say these were some of the best performances we had,” Williams said of his and Maki’s road to the championship. “I’m not going to look back and say, ‘Hey, we could have done better.’”

Marquette tennisWilliams, the ground stroker, and Maki, the imposing net presence at 6-foot-4, drew a bye into the second round where they battled past Kingsford’s Isaac Nash and Ben Trevillian 4-6, 7-6, 6-4. With the win in the final, the Escanaba duo closed the season unbeaten and secured their second-straight U.P. Finals title.

Escanaba’s depth was in evidence during its run Wednesday and all season, Penegor said. 

“We have 35 kids that went out this year, and that’s unusual,” said the seventh-year Escanaba coach. “There are some teams out there that barely have 12 kids. I think part of that is if you have success, that can bring more kids to play. And Escanaba for many years has been a tennis community. We have had a lot of past U.P. champions, a lot of people that played in college.”

Runner-up Negaunee, which had its three-year run at the top of Division 1 in the Upper Peninsula end last season, received championship efforts from No. 2 singles player Gavin Saunders and No. 3 singles Tyler Lajimodiere. Saunders defeated Nathan Howes of Escanaba 6-2, 7-5, while Lajimodiere knocked off Chase Thomsen of Marquette 6-2, 6-3.

Marquette scored victories in the other two flights. Senior Nick Olivier showed his powerful game in beating Luke Syrjala of Negaunee 6-3, 6-1 at No. 1 singles, and Seppi Camilli and Toby Camilli topped Evan St. Peter and Parker LaFond of Escanaba 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4 doubles.

For Olivier, his title was another in the long line of family U.P. singles championships. His father Wayne won the 1983 No. 1 singles flight, while his brother Alec won four titles at No. 1 singles from 2016 to 2019.

Additionally, Nick’s sister Elysa captured top flight singles championships in 2018 and 2019.

The new family champion said he improved his athleticism and his feet during the summer, and he showed that Wednesday as he was often able to run around his backhand in order to blast away with his forehand.

Olivier said his performance was inspired by the late Jordan DeMay, a friend and basketball teammate at Marquette High School who died in March.

“A lot of motivation to do this,” he said, “was for my friend Jordan.”

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PHOTOS (Top) Escanaba's Nathan Howes gets airborne to return a shot during Wednesday's Division 1 Final at Kingsford. (Middle) Marquette's Nick Olivier returns a volley during a No. 1 singles match. (Photos by Dennis Mansfield.)