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Preview: Champions Hope to Reign On
October 17, 2013
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
All four reigning champions at this weekend’s MHSAA Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals are playing to continue incredible strings of success atop their respective divisions in the sport.
Ann Arbor Greenhills in Division 4 is playing for its sixth straight title, while Midland Dow in Division 2 is hoping for its fifth consecutive. Ann Arbor Huron in Division 1 and Detroit Country Day in Division 3 are going for their third straight titles – and all four are ranked No.1 in their respective divisions entering Friday’s first rounds of play.
Below is a brief look at top contenders at all four tournaments. Play begins Friday morning and finishes Saturday. Click for more including brackets and seeds for all 32 flights.
DIVISION 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top ranked: No. 1 Ann Arbor Huron, No. 2 Birmingham Brother Rice, No. 3 Novi.
Huron has won the last two LP Division 1 championships, by six points last season and four in 2011. Both times Brother Rice finished second, tying with Novi last fall. Novi has never won an MHSAA team championship, but brings back experienced players from last year’s run.
Huron: The River Rats are lined up with two top seeds and four second seeds – and all four doubles pairs among those six. Reigning No. 3 singles champion Colin Williams is back as the top seed in that flight, and reigning No. 1 doubles champions Akihiro Ota and Aaron Brodkey also are back to attempt a repeat. They top a veteran doubles group: Michael Bondin was half of last season’s MHSAA runner-up at No. 3 and teams with Danny Friedman for the second seed at that flight, and Austin Luker and Will Brenner were No. 4 runners-up last season and are back with new partners – Luker with Jason Chen as the second seed at No. 2 and Brenner with Orion Sang as the second seed at No. 4.
Brother Rice: The Warriors are seeded at seven flights with four top seeds including three and a second in doubles. Connor Parks and George Hamaty made the semifinals at No. 2 doubles last season and are the second seed at No. 1, while reigning champions Joey Hildebrand (No. 3) and David Weatherford (No. 4) have teamed up for the top seed at No. 2. Brendan Dillon, Weatherford’s partner last season, is part of the top seed at No. 3 doubles with Joe Paradiso.
Novi: The Wildcats are seeded at every flight, led by top-seeded Tim Wang at No. 1 singles – he made the quarterfinals last season. Koushik Kondapi is back as the second seed at No. 3 singles after finishing runner-up at that flight in 2012, and Andrew Ying is back at No. 1 doubles with new partner Michael Chang after finishing runner-up in the top doubles flight last season. Chang was half of the runner-up at No. 2 doubles.
Northville’s Connor Johnston: He’s the second seed at No. 1 singles after winning the No. 2 championship in straight sets in 2012. He lost to Novi’s Wang at the Regional.
Detroit Catholic Central’s Michael Dube’: He’s the third seed at No. 1 singles after making the second round while the fifth seed last season. He also fell to Novi’s Wang during the Regional.
Troy Athens’ Richard Zhang: He made the quarterfinals at No. 1 last season after entering the tournament unseeded.
DIVISION 2 at Hope College/Holland Christian
Top ranked: No. 1 Midland Dow, No. 2 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, No. 3 Detroit U-D Jesuit.
Reigning No. 1 individual champion: Davis Crocker, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix.
Dow has owned this division the last four seasons, beating runner-up Forest Hills Central by 12 points last season and 14 in 2011. U-D Jesuit finished seventh last season and could make a substantial jump.
Dow: All eight flights are seeded first or second. Julian Guerra is the top seed at No. 2 singles after winning No. 3 last season, and Michael Szabo is the top seed at No. 4 as he plays for a repeat title. Jason Chang and Vikram Shanker also are back as reigning champions, at No. 1 doubles, and Patrick Eschbach and Colin Angell are the top seed at No. 2 doubles after Eschbach was part of last season’s No. 3 champion and Angell was part of the No. 2 runner-up.
Forest Hills Central: Another run could be keyed by the doubles pairs; all four are seeded third or better. Nico Finelli and Joey McClure are the third seed at No. 2 after Finelli was part of the runner-up last season and McClure was half of the No. 4 champion pair. Carson Schmidt and Andrew Fox are the top seed at No. 3, and two singles flights also are seeded.
U-D Jesuit: The Cubs bring back an identical singles lineup from last season’s Finals, plus No. 1 doubles pair Timmy Hoffman and Marty Nagle, who made the semifinals at No. 2 last season. Jesuit never has finished among the top two at a Finals, but does have seeds at every flight this weekend.
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix’s Davis Crocker: The reigning No. 1 singles champion won last season as the second seed, but enters with top billing this time.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern’s Justin Minzlaff: He’ll try to claim the No. 2 singles title after finishing runner-up at No. 4 in 2012; he enters as the fifth seed.
Birmingham Seaholm’s Griffin Neel and Kenji Johnston: They’re seeded second at No. 1 doubles with Neel coming off the No. 2 doubles championship last season – when Johnston played No. 2 singles.
DIVISION 3 at Kalamazoo College
Top ranked: No. 1 Detroit County Day, No. 2 St. Joseph, No. 3 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood.
Country Day and St. Joseph have a rivalry growing atop Division 3 as the Yellowjackets have won the last two Division 3 titles, with St. Joseph second both times. Players from the two met in six of the eight flight championship matches last fall. Watch for East Grand Rapids, which is seeded fourth or higher at every flight.
Country Day: Some of the names at the top of the lineup have changed, but not the level of play. Country Day enters with six top seeds – including at all four doubles flights – and led by two-time No. 3 singles champion Rishi Patel, who is the third seed at No. 1 this weekend. Rishabh Nayak and Adam Dunn are the top seed at No. 2 doubles with Nayak coming off last season’s No. 3 championship, and Matt Stebbins and D.J. Bailey hope to add a title at No. 3 after winning No. 4 doubles in 2012.
St. Joseph: The Bears also return some veterans after finishing eight points behind Country Day a year ago. Thomas Bellio was the No. 2 singles runner-up and returns as the second seed at No. 1 (he also won No. 3 singles as a freshman), and Kenny Garstecki is the top seed at No. 3 after winning No. 4 last season. Matt VanWinkle and Ed Nieh hope they are a championship combination as the third seed at No. 1 doubles after VanWinkle was part of last season’s runner-up and Nieh was part of the runner-up at No. 3. Nick Stants and Peter Kim are the third seed at No. 2, with Stants formerly part of last season’s No. 4 doubles runner-up.
Cranbrook-Kingswood: The Cranes are the only team aside from Country Day to win a Division 3 title over the last five seasons; Cranbrook-Kingswood won in both 2010 and 2008. The Cranes enter this weekend with seven seeds, including three seconds in doubles. Marc Sable is the sixth seed at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals at No. 2 in 2012.
East Grand Rapids' Garrett Goldman: The top seed at No. 1 singles entered 2012’s Finals as the third seed and fell in the quarterfinals to eventual runner-up Jan Krakora from Plainwell. Goldman did win No. 2 singles as a sophomore.
DIVISION 4 at Gland Blanc/Holly
Top ranked: No. 1 Ann Arbor Greenhills, No. 2 Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, No. 3 Lansing Catholic.
Greenhills is looking to continue its MHSAA-best current streak of five straight boys tennis titles and last season won six flights including all four in doubles. Lansing Catholic has finished runner-up twice during that five-year run and University Liggett tied for third a year ago.
Greenhills: Many of the Gryphons’ top players this season succeeded at lower flights during last fall’s run. Zach Martell is the fifth seed at No. 1 singles after winning as part of the No. 1 doubles pair in 2012 (and at No. 4 singles in 2011), second-seeded No. 2 singles player Nick Sandhu was part of last season’s No. 2 doubles champ, and second-seeded Zach Tsai at No. 3 singles is coming off winning the No. 4 title. Adhi Rajaprabhakaran (No. 1 doubles) and Neil Sykes (No. 2) both were part of championship pairs at lower flights last season, and Gage Feldeisen is the second seed at No. 4 singles after teaming with Sykes to win No. 4 doubles.
University Liggett: A pair of top-seeded doubles teams anchor a lineup with six seeds total. Alan Jurcak and August Bonacci made the No. 2 doubles quarterfinals last season and are the top seed at that flight, and Jackson Benning and Davey Sekhon are the top-seeded pair at No. 4.
Lansing Catholic: The top three seeds at No. 1 singles last season all were from the Capital Area Activities Conference White, and with both finalists graduated Lansing Catholic’s Matt Heeder moves up from the third to first seed. No. 2 singles player Anthony Davis also returns to his 2012 flight, this time as the fifth seed, and three other flights carry seeds into the tournament.
Kalamazoo Hackett Catholic Central’s Danny Moyer: He made it to the quarterfinals at No. 1 singles last season as the fourth seed and enters Friday as the second.
Kalamazoo Christian’s Andrew Klein: Last season’s runner-up at No. 2 singles is the sixth seed at No. 1.
PHOTO: Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Zach Tsai returns a volley during his Division 4 championship match at No. 4 singles against Comstock Park’s Zac Rossman last fall. (Click to see more from High School Sports Scene.)
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Preview: Powers Could Prevail Again
October 18, 2018
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
This year’s Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals will again feature a number of contenders we’re used to seeing raise trophies during the season’s closing weekend.
Reigning champions Okemos in Division 2 and Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood in Division 3 are loaded with top seeds, as is Ann Arbor Greenhills in Division 4 as it looks to build off two straight runner-up finishes. The closest competition might come in Division 1, where reigning champion Bloomfield Hills must fend off the usual cast of contenders including Ann Arbor Huron and Birmingham Brother Rice – but will take them on with a lineup topped by victorious veterans.
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. Bloomfield Hills, 2. Ann Arbor Huron, 3. Birmingham Brother Rice.
Bloomfield Hills has won two of the last three Division 1 titles, last year by two points ahead of Troy and eight ahead of third-place Ann Arbor Huron. Huron claimed the championship in 2016, by two points ahead of the Black Hawks. Brother Rice has finished runner-up three times this decade and as recently as 2014, and will play for its first title since 2009. The Warriors came in fourth last season.
Bloomfield Hills: Seven of eight flights are seeded first or second, led by top-seeded Andrew Zhang at No. 1 singles. He’s finishing a career that’s seen him win No. 2 singles as a sophomore and finish runner-up at No. 2 in 2015 and No. 1 a year ago. Sebastian Burman is the top seed at No. 3 singles after being part of last season’s No. 1 doubles champion with brother Cade, the second seed this weekend at No. 4 singles. Noah Rosin and Adrian Wilen are top-seeded at No. 1 doubles – Wilen was part of the No. 3 runner-up a year ago.
Ann Arbor Huron: The River Rats have won four of seven team titles this decade. They also are seeded at seven flights and pack the most power with three top-seeded doubles pairs – Nick Grosh and T.J. Bai at No. 2, Sammy Clyde and Pranav Sharma at No. 3 and Nikhil Girish and Vincent Tremonti at No. 4. Grosh and Bai were runners-up at No. 4 a year ago.
Birmingham Brother Rice: The Warriors are seeded at six flights and should stack up some singles points led by second-seeded Jarreau Campbell at No. 1 and top-seeded JJ Etterbeek at No. 2. Campbell made the No. 1 singles semifinals a year ago and was part of the No. 1 doubles champion in 2015. Second-seeded No. 1 doubles pair Josh Anschuetz and Niko Mamatas have enjoyed previous Finals success as well, Mamatas as part of the runner-up at No. 2 doubles last season and Anschuetz as part of the runner-up at No. 1 in 2016.
Clarkston’s Luke Baylis: The Wolves junior is the third seed at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals last season and finishing runner-up at No. 2 as a freshman.
Lower Peninsula Division 2 at Holland Christian/Hope College
Top-ranked: 1. Okemos, 2. Birmingham Groves, 3. Birmingham Seaholm.
The Chiefs swept their Regional flights and are looking to repeat as a Finals champion for the first time since winning four straight titles from 2004-07. They finished 15 points ahead of runners-up Groves and Midland Dow a year ago, while Seaholm finished fifth. The runner-up finish was Groves’ fourth, and the Falcons are seeking their first championship. Seaholm owns two runner-up finishes and also is seeking its first title.
Okemos: The Chiefs won six flight championships a year ago, and they’re seeded first in all eight heading into this weekend. Shrey Patel was the No. 3 singles champion in 2017 and is seeded first at No. 2 doubles with Druv Talluri – part of last season’s No. 3 doubles champion. Daniel Gorelik is the reigning No. 4 singles champ and part of the top seed at No. 1 doubles with Zal Chinoy, part of last season’s champion at that flight. Josh Portnoy was the runner-up at No. 2 singles last season and is seeded first at that flight, with freshman Ozan Colak the top seed at No. 1, Benjamin Letzer the top at No. 3 and Rohan Shah the top at No. 4; Shah was part of the No. 2 doubles champ a year ago. Siddharth Nagisetty and Aditya Kandula at No. 3 doubles and Abhi Shukul and Diego Casagrande at No. 4 round out the top seeds; Nagisetty teamed with Shah for that No. 2 title last season and Kandula was part of the winning No. 4 flight.
Birmingham Groves: All eight flights are seeded, and five third or higher. Gabe Liss is the third seed at No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up a year ago, while Gabe Vidinas is the second seed as the reigning champion at No. 2 and Jonah Liss is seeded third at No. 3 after finishing runner-up at that flight last season. Aerik Joe is part of the sixth-seeded No. 1 doubles pair and was part of the No. 4 champion in 2016.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples are seeded at five flights with three second-seeded doubles pairs. Ben Adams and Aidan O’Neill are teamed up for the second seed at No. 1 – Adams was part of the runner-up last season at No. 4 and O’Neill was part of the No. 3 runner-up. Max Levitsky teamed with Adams at No. 4 last season and this weekend is part of the second-seeded pair at No. 3.
Mattawan’s Nathaniel Webster: After making the second round as the fifth seed at No. 1 singles as a freshman last year, Webster enters this weekend third-seeded at the top flight.
Midland Dow’s Tyler Conrad: The Chargers’ senior is seeded fourth at No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up at No. 3 as a freshman, champion at No. 3 as a sophomore and making the semifinals at No. 2 last fall.
Lower Peninsula Division 3 at Novi
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. East Grand Rapids.
Cranbrook Kingswood and Detroit Country Day have finished as the top two in this division the last four seasons, with the Cranes winning the last three titles after Country Day won four straight from 2011-14. In fact, they’ve combined to win the last 10 championships, and last year Cranbrook cleared the field by eight points. East Grand Rapids has finished runner-up twice over the last 11 seasons and is seeking its first title since spring 2007. The Pioneers tied for third last season with Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes are seeded at every flight and carry six top seeds into the weekend, with three returning 2017 champions. Lucas Bosch is the top seed at No. 1 singles after winning No. 2 a year ago, and similarly Justin Luo is the top seed at No. 2 coming off the No. 3 singles titles. (Luo also was No. 4 champion as a freshman and No. 3 runner-up as a sophomore.) Joe Croskey was part of the No. 2 doubles champion in 2017 and is seeded first at No. 4 singles. Nolan Sherwood played No. 1 singles for Forest Hills Eastern last season and is seeded first at No. 3 for the Cranes. Patrick Tiwari and Sohum Acharya are the top seed at No. 2 doubles – Acharya was the runner-up at No. 4 singles last season – and Geoffrey Qin and Isaiah Croskey are top-seeded at No. 4. Nikhil Deenadaylu teamed with Croskey to win No. 2 last season and is part of the fourth-seeded No. 1 pair this time with Jack Trees, a runner-up at No. 3 in 2017. Hayes Bradley and David Hermelin are seeded third at No. 3 doubles after finishing runner-up at No. 4 a year ago.
Detroit Country Day: All eight flights are seeded second or third at their respective flights. Nikolas Gruskin is the second seed at No. 1 singles and Ricky Warnicke is the third seed at No. 2 – they finished back-to-back runners-up at No. 2 in 2016 and 2017, respectively. Nick Sicilia was part of the No. 4 doubles champion last season and is part of the second-seeded No. 2 pair. Alex Mettler and Alex Pollak are the second seed at No. 1.
East Grand Rapids: The Pioneers are seeded at seven flights including with one of the top seeds that didn’t go to Cranbrook. Nick Lambert and Graham Haslem earned it at No. 3 doubles after making the semifinals for that flight together last season. Kole Butterer was part of the No. 2 doubles runner-up last season and is part of the third-seeded pair at No. 1. Ben Collins made the quarterfinals at No. 1 singles last season as a sixth seed and returns in the third spot in that flight.
St. Clair’s Derek Distelrath: The Saints freshman enters his first MHSAA Finals as the fourth seed at No. 1 singles.
Ada Forest Hills Eastern’s Anish Premkumar and Anish Kokkula: They’re the top seed at No. 1 doubles after Kokkula made the semifinals last season at No. 3 singles and Premkumar was part of the champion at this flight.
Lower Peninsula Division 4 at Kalamazoo College
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Allegan.
Greenhills won eight straight Division 4 titles from 2008-15 before Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett won the last two with the Gryphons finishing second both times. Liggett is ranked No. 7 entering this weekend, and Greenhills is poised to take back the title after coming up two points short a year ago. St. Francis was third last season, six points off the lead, and it is seeking its first top-two finish. So too is Allegan, which tied for fifth in LPD3 last season.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The Gryphons have six top seeds and two second seeds. Kann Oral is the reigning champion at No. 2 singles and seeded first at that flight, and Taha Zirapury is the top seed at No. 4 after pairing for the No. 3 doubles championship last fall. Trey Feldeisen is back at No. 1 doubles as the reigning champion but with new partner Henry Branch, a No. 3 singles semifinalist last season. Nathan Rosenberg and Finn Feldeisen at No. 3 doubles, Harrison Li and Alex Schwendeman at No. 4 and Mert Oral at No. 3 singles also carry top seeds into the weekend. Drake Rosenberg and Joey Formicola are the second-seeded pair at No. 2 doubles after Rosenberg teamed with Zirapury for the No. 3 title last season and Formicola was part of the runner-up at No. 2. Sahil Deenadayalu is the second seed at No. 1 singles.
Traverse City St. Francis: Seven flights are seeded, with one top seed and four second at their respective flights. Tyler Tafelsky is part of the second-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles after combining to win No. 4 last season, and Sean Navin and Brendan Chouinard own that top seed at No. 2 doubles. Andrew Gerling is the fourth seed at No. 1 singles, topping a lineup with the second seeds at the other three flights.
Allegan: Five flights are seeded, all third or higher, and with four seeds coming in doubles. In singles, Kody Harrington is the third seed at No. 2 after finishing No. 3 runner-up in Division 3 a year ago. Zach Sisson made the semifinals at No. 1 doubles in last season and is part of the third seed at that flight with Zach Lang, who made the quarterfinals at No. 2 doubles in Division 3 a year ago.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett’s William Cooksey: Last season’s No. 1 singles champ as a freshman returns as the top seed at that flight as a sophomore.
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Ian Sood: A junior, Sood finished runner-up at No. 2 singles both of his first two seasons and this weekend is seeded third at No. 1.
PHOTO: Okemos’ Druv Talluri returns a volley during a No. 3 doubles match at last season's Finals; he returns this weekend as part of the top-seeded pair at No. 2. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)