Preview: Big Moves = Big Opportunities
October 16, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Familiar faces in new places could lead to some substantial shaking up at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals.
Two-time reigning Division 2 champion Okemos is playing in Division 1, and reigning Division 4 champion Ann Arbor Greenhills will take a run at Division 3 this time. That means new champions for sure in their former divisions – among a lot of other opportunities all over the brackets for teams and individuals hoping to make history.
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.
Lower Peninsula Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Huron, 2. Troy, 3. Northville.
Huron tied with Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice for a distant second behind reigning two-time champion Bloomfield Hills a year ago, but is expected to emerge for what would be its fifth championship this decade (after most recently winning in 2016). Northville was fourth and Troy fifth a year ago, and both are seeking their first MHSAA Finals championship in this sport. Another team of note might be Okemos, ranked sixth but coming off two straight Division 2 championships.
Ann Arbor Huron: The River Rats are seeded at six flights, and all six are seeded third or higher. Doubles will be the key; Nos. 2-4 are top-seeded and No. 1 is seeded second. The No. 2 pair of Nick Grosh and TJ Bai made the semifinals at that flight as the top seed last year, and Sammy Clyde and Jacob Hejazi are seeded first at No. 3 with Clyde last season’s champion at that flight with a different partner. Nikhil Gandikota and Vincent Tremonti are the top seed at No. 4, and Max Brodkey and Anvit Rao are the second seed at No. 1 after making the semifinals at that flight last season. Owen Kelley is unseeded at No. 1 singles but made the semifinals at that flight in 2018.
Troy: The Colts are seeded at five flights, with serious power at the top of the lineup with Brennan Cimpeanu the top seed at No. 1 singles and Jagen Nallani the top seed at No. 2. Cimpeanu made the quarterfinals and Nallani the semifinals at the same flights a year ago. Additionally, three doubles flights earned third seeds.
Northville: Five flights are seeded, led by second-seeded Rachit Jain and Rohith Kesamneni at No. 4 doubles. Other veterans could play big roles. Matthew Freeman is seeded sixth at No. 1 singles and won No. 4 last year. Daniel Dong is part of the an unseeded No. 1 doubles and Justin Yang is part of the fifth seed at No. 3 after they combined to finish runner-up at No. 2 doubles in 2018.
Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice’s J.J. Etterbeek: He came back after losing the first set of the final to win No. 2 singles last year as a freshman, and this time he’s the fourth seed at No. 1.
Clarkston’s Luke Baylis: The Wolves senior will attempt to cap an accomplished high school career with his first championship. He’s seeded second at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals the last two seasons and finishing runner-up at No. 2 as a freshman.
Troy Athens’ Gabe Brown: He made the No. 1 singles quarterfinals last year as a sophomore and enters this weekend as the third seed in the top flight.
Okemos’ Druv Talluri and Siddharth Nagisetty: With different partners they’ve won a combined three flight championships over the last two seasons. Talluri was part of the Division 2 No. 2 champ last year when Nagisetty was part of the runner-up at No. 3, and together they are seeded first at No. 1 this weekend.
Lower Peninsula Division 2 at University of Michigan
Top-ranked: 1. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 2. Detroit U-D Jesuit, 3. Birmingham Seaholm.
With Okemos moving to Division 1, there is guaranteed to be a new champion for the first time in three years – and it would be a special celebration if any of the top three-ranked teams finished first. Forest Hills Northern is seeking its first title since 1998, while U-D Jesuit and Seaholm have never won an MHSAA Finals in this sport. All three have finished Division 2 runner-up at least once, however, over the last six years.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies are seeded at every flight as they play for their first top-two finish since coming in second in 2014. They finished fourth a year ago with Owen Goodrich placing second at No. 4 singles, and he’s the second seed at that flight this weekend. Three other flights are seeded as high or higher, with top-seeded Cole Rynbrandt and Justin Lee leading the way at No. 2 doubles.
Detroit U-D Jesuit: Seven seeded flights are a great start for the Cubs, with top seeds at No. 1 doubles in Kagan Shetterly and Theodore Yaldoo and No. 3 doubles in Teodore Melnyczuk-Gould and Nathan Comerford. Yaldoo and Comerford played singles at the Finals last season as U-D Jesuit tied for seventh as a team.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples tied Birmingham Groves for second last season, their highest Finals finish since also coming in second back-to-back in Fall 2007 and 2008. Six flights are seeded this time, all fourth or higher for their respective flights. Cameron Lee was a champion at No. 3 doubles last season and Jonny Cross was part of the runner-up at No. 2, and they make up the third seed this time at No. 1. Fred Kassab was part of the No. 4 doubles winner last year and is part of the fourth seed at No. 2, while his former championship partner Nolan Werner is part of the second seed at No. 3 doubles.
Mattawan’s Nathaniel Webster: Last season’s runner-up at No. 1 singles has moved up one spot to the top seed as a junior for his third run at the title as a seeded player at this flight.
Portage Northern Alex Wootton: Also a junior, Wootton moved up to the second seed at this flight after winning a match a year ago while unseeded. He made the quarterfinals while unseeded as a freshman in 2017.
Midland Dow’s Anish Middha: He’ll try to cap his career as a No. 1 singles champion, entering with the third seed after finishing runner-up at No. 2 last season and as a freshman in 2016.
Lower Peninsula Division 3 at Kalamazoo College
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 3. Detroit Country Day.
Cranbrook Kingswood has won four straight Division 3 championships, with Country Day the runner-up all four seasons. Country Day won the previous four titles from 2011-14. No other team has won in Division 3 since Fall 2007, in fact. However, Greenhills is the reigning champion in Division 4 and has won that division nine of the last 11 seasons, finishing runner-up the other two. Greenhills won every flight at its Regional last week, with Country Day the runner-up at seven of those flights.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: All eight flights are seeded. Seven are top seeds, and the eighth is a second seed. Three flights were Division 4 champions a year ago – Mert Oral is the top seed at No. 1 singles after winning No. 3 in D4, Kaan Oral is the top seed at No. 2 singles after winning No. 2 in D4 the last two years, and Nathan Rosenberg and Finn Feldeisen are the top seeds at No. 3 doubles after winning No. 3 in D4 in 2018. Rounding out the lineup are No. 3 singles top seed Rishi Verma, No. 4 singles second seed Chakor Rajendra, No. 1 doubles top seed Henry Branch and Sahil Deenadayalu, No. 2 doubles top seed Joey Formicola and Daniel Stojanov and No. 4 doubles top seed Alex Schwendeman and Thomas Zeng. Deenadayalu, Formicola and Branch are past Finals flight runners-up.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: All eight flights are seeded, led by two second seeds – Hayes Bradley and David Hermelin at No. 2 doubles and Calvi Teste and Ben Conti at No. 4. Bradley and Hermelin were champs last year at No. 3 doubles and runners-up in 2017 at No. 4. The Cranes won all four singles flights last season and only one of those players returns – Nolan Sherwood is the fourth seed at No. 2 after winning No. 3 in 2018 – but fourth-seeded No. 4 Patrick Tiwari and third-seeded No. 3 Geoffrey Qin were part of champions at Nos. 2 and 4 doubles, respectively, a year ago.
Detroit Country Day: As noted, Country Day was right behind Greenhills in seven flights at the Regional, and a pair of second seeds highlight the fully-seeded lineup. Nikolas Gruskin is the second seed at No. 1 singles and a two-time Finals runner-up, at No. 1 last season and No. 2 in 2016. No. 3 doubles Clay Hartje and Aidan Khaghany also are a second seed. Fourth-seeded No. 3 singles Christian Grozev was the runner-up at that flight last year, and Zain Rodger is part of the fourth-seeded No. 1 doubles after finishing No. 4 singles runner-up in 2018.
St. Clair’s Eli Pinnoo: Last season’s No. 2 singles runner-up as a junior is the second seed at that flight this weekend as he takes one more swing at a high school title.
East Grand Rapids’ Ryan Post and Jack Schultze: Post and Kole Butterer won No. 1 doubles last season as a third seed, and Post and Schultze enter in the same spot this time. Schultze was part of the No. 2 doubles runner-up last season.
Lower Peninsula Division 4 at Hope College
Top-ranked: 1. Allegan, 2. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 3. Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard.
With Greenhills playing in Division 3, this tournament will have a different look and perhaps some interesting opportunities. Liggett was the Division 4 champion in 2016 and 2017 and runner-up in 2014 and 2015. Allegan has a long history of success but is working for its first top-two Finals finish, as is Gabriel Richard. In fact, the rest of the top 10 after Liggett – including two teams tied for the 10th spot – have won a combined three MHSAA Finals.
Allegan: The Tigers finished third a year ago, just three points out of second, after three doubles flights finished runners-up. The strength is in doubles again, as all four flights are seeded led by David Roark and Chase Williams in the top spot at No. 4. Noah Festerling and Ben Groth are the second seed at No. 3 after Groth was part of the No. 4 runner-up last season, and Owen Clearwater and Walker Michaels are the fifth seed at No. 2 after coming in second at No. 3 in 2018. Two singles flights are seeded as well; Eli Festerling is the top seed at No. 4.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights are expected to climb substantially after tying for eighth a year ago. Liggett is seeded at six flights, with two-time reigning No. 1 singles champion William Cooksey leading off as the top seed at that flight. Gerry Sherer adds a second seed at No. 4 singles, and all four doubles are seeded with three in the third slot.
Ann Arbor Father Gabriel Richard: The Irish tied for fifth last season and could ride a strong singles lineup into contention. Senior Ian Sood is seeded second at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals last season and finishing No. 2 runner-up as both a freshman and sophomore. Tommy Heegan adds a second seed at No. 2, and Rafid Farjo is the third seed at No. 3.
Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Andrew Solarewicz: The sophomore singles standout will play in the No. 1 bracket for the second time, this weekend as the third seed after winning a match last season.
Traverse City St. Francis’ Brendan Chouinard and Ben Schmude: The top seed at No. 1 doubles is made up of Chouinard, part of last year’s No. 2 champion, and Schmude coming off the quarterfinals at No. 3 a year ago.
Traverse City St. Francis’ Charlie Schmude and Cody Richards: They are seeded first at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively, after finishing runners-up at Nos. 3 and 4 a year ago.
PHOTO: Kaan Oral will attempt to lead Ann Arbor Greenhills to a Division 3 championship this weekend as he also plays for a third individual flight Finals title. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)
Champion Coaches Lead Title Contender
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
September 21, 2015
PORTAGE — Sometimes fate works in strange ways.
And the Portage Central boys tennis team is benefiting from some very good fate – in this case, a chance meeting between coaches Peter Militzer and Erik Anderson.
Both have won Lower Peninsula Division 2 championships, but with different teams. Militzer has two with Portage Central and Anderson two with East Lansing.
They first met at the MHSAA Finals in 2008, which East Lansing won.
“We helped him win it,” said Militzer, whose team tied for fourth that year. “He came up and thanked me because my singles players beat singles players from Rochester Adams that propelled him to the title.”
Six years later, this could be the season the two win a championship together.
Portage Central is ranked No. 1 this week in the coaches association Lower Peninsula Division 2 poll. The Mustangs are loaded with talented veterans and depth at both singles and doubles – and on the coaching staff as well.
The year before their chance meeting, in 2007, Militzer and Anderson both won but didn’t share MHSAA titles. Portage Central won in the spring and East Lansing in the fall, as Lower Peninsula boys tennis made the transition from spring to fall over that calendar year.
After the 2008 Final, fate brought the two coaches together again when Anderson took a position with the Greater Kalamazoo Area YMCA, where he is now director of tennis operations. Militzer is director of healthy living and membership.
Anderson, who also coached two years at DeWitt, said it’s not only the sport but the kids who keep him motivated to coach high school.
“Tennis is a sport that’s individual, and in high school you can make it a team sport,” he said. “That’s what’s really unique about tennis. A lot of people look at it as an individual sport, and it’s a way to bring a group of guys together and realize that what you do also affects somebody else within the team.
“It also gets them ready for college if they’re looking to go on to college because it becomes more team aspect there, too.”
Militzer, who has coached the Mustangs for 23 years, asked if Anderson would be interested in co-coaching at Portage Central. After a year of commuting from Kalamazoo to East Lansing to continue coaching the Trojans, Anderson jumped at the chance to make the switch.
They also have a junior varsity coach with a ton of experience: Nancy Martin is a former Portage Northern coach.
“Between Nancy, Erik and myself, we all have such different coaching styles that when we get to our big tournaments we can mix or match depending on the player’s needs, their mental state at the time, how the match is going,” Militzer said.
“I’m more the mental coach, trying to keep them in a positive state of mind. Nancy is a great tactical coach. She’ll see the weakness in the other player right off the bat. She does that as well as anyone in the state. Erik is a blend of those two and he’s really a great motivator.”
One advantage for the team, or disadvantage depending on a player’s perspective, is that Militzer also is an umpire for the USTA Boys 18-16 National Championships, tournaments at the Y and some ITA competition for Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College.
“As tennis coaches, we are the officials at the match,” he said. “Regionals and State, there are USTA officials so then we back off.
“I can say that I am definitely harder on our own players than I am on the other teams. So if you’re an opponent and you say something, I’ll tell you know not to do it. But our own player, the team’s running the second time it happens.”
Portage Central has six seniors, but just one, Ben Orwin, has cracked the singles lineup – and that’s not because they’re stacking the doubles deck.
Two singles players, sophomore Bill Duo and freshman Lucas Guy, compete in USTA events outside the high school season.
At Portage Central, Duo is competing at No. 1 for the second year and Guy at No. 3. Sophomore Camilo Bautista rounds out the singles lineup.
“Our teams have always done best when we’ve had good leadership, and we have three captains and neither Duo or Guy are captains,” Militzer said. “Because of their experience, players will look up to them anyway, so it’s one more layer of leadership.”
Orwin, senior Sahil Tandon and junior Cameron Raedy are team captains.
Duo’s record last year was 27-5 with four of those losses to Portage Northern the-senior Stew Sell: dual, conference, regionals and MHSAA Finals. The other was to Grosse Pointe South’s Nick Paolucci. So far this year, Duo is undefeated.
“Bill’s USTA experience is invaluable,” Militzer said. “He’s a leader even though he’s a sophomore. He’s just a great talent. Everyone looks up to him.
“I think playing USTA helps with his nerves a little bit when he plays big players because he’s seen them before.”
Duo said enjoys the team aspect of high school tennis.
“It really feels nice to be part of this team. part of this community and be surrounded by friends,” he said. “With high school they make things a lot more fun. You have all your teammates there supporting you. They have food here, which is a huge plus. It’s just immeasurable.
“I’d love to help our team get a state title. I’d love to be a supporting teammate, play my best out there, have fun and have all my teammates have fun and come together as a team in the end and just have a blast.”
Said Orwin: “Duo’s a really strong player. He helps a lot. Just because he’s a sophomore doesn’t mean he’s not experienced. He’s played a lot of tennis in his life.”
Orwin made it to the finals at No. 2 singles last year before losing to Midland Dow’s Colin Angell.
“Ben is a three-year captain, which is pretty unusual,” Militzer said. “He leads by example. He’s not very loud but his game speaks for itself. He’s a really good on-court leader.”
When Orwin was asked what it would take to beat Duo in a challenge match, Bautista jumped in, laughing, “ A whole lot of praying.”
Guy said he always hoped to play high school tennis because he also enjoys team events.
“The team atmosphere takes the pressure off a little bit,” he said. Compared to USTA events, “The intensity level is a little less with a team as far as being pressured.”
“Lucas is going to be a great player,” Militzer said. “Even though he’s only a freshman, he’s very, very good right now. He’s a nationally ranked player in (USTA boys) 14s. He’s only 13 but he’s big.”
Bautista said he has one regret from last year.
“I was an alternate on varsity,” he said. “Last year, I tried out for singles, but I didn’t make it because Joey Liu took the 4 singles spot. I didn’t want to play doubles so I went down to JV.
“I’ve never been a big doubles fan, but now that I look back, I regret it. I would have rather been on the varsity team and help them do maybe better.”
Militzer said Bautista is a “great No. 4 player.”
“Camilo battles,” he said. “He doesn’t really have any weaknesses and that’s unusual at 4 singles. He barely lost out on No. 4 singles last year.”
With five seniors, the doubles lineup is filled with experience, and there is at least one senior in each pairing.
Senior Kento Hirakawa and Raedy play at No. 1.
“Cameron played 1 doubles last year and lost in the semis,” Militzer said. “He and Kento haven’t lost to anyone in Division 2 this year. They have a couple Division 1 losses. They’re a very, very good team.”
The No. 2 duo of Liu, a senior, and Tandon have just one loss. Senior Elijah Lentz and sophomore Cody Lewis play at No. 3, and senior Kyle Wang and junior Andrew Beering at No. 4.
Orwin said he would like nothing better than to end his high school career with a team championship. The Mustangs finished his freshman and junior seasons in third place in Lower Peninsula Division 2, sandwiched around an eighth place when he was a sophomore.
“We’ve got to come together as a team when it really counts,” he said. “To go out with a championship would be amazing.”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She continues to freelance for MLive.com covering mainly Kalamazoo Wings hockey and can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS: (Top) Portage Central No. 1 singles player Bill Duo prepares to return a shot during a recent workout. (Middle) Peter Militzer, left, and Erik Anderson. (Below) No. 2 singles player Ben Orwin prepares to connect. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)