Preview: Pair of Reigning Boys Tennis Finals Champs Set to Pursue 3-Peat
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 17, 2024
All four of last season’s Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals champions are considered among top contenders again as we head into our season-ending tournaments, and two will be playing for third-consecutive titles – but only three at most will repeat.
Bloomfield Hills in Division 1 and Midland Dow in Division 2 are playing for three-peats and enter this weekend top-ranked in their divisions according to the final state coaches polls. Last season’s Division 3 champion Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood is ranked No. 1 as well, but will have the added challenge of fending off Ann Arbor Greenhills, which is back in Division 3 after winning the Division 4 title a year ago.
The Division 1, 2 and 3 Finals will be played Friday and Saturday at the sites listed below. Division 4 will be played Monday and Tuesday of next week.
Play begins between 8:15-8:30 a.m. Friday at the various sites for opening rounds, and between 8:30-9 a.m. Saturday for anticipated semifinals and championship matches. Visit the Boys Tennis page to find out which flights will be played at each location and to track results as they are received.
LP Division 1 at Byron Center West Sports Complex & Grand Rapids South Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills, 2. Troy, 3. Northville.
Two-time reigning champion Bloomfield Hills has been ranked No. 1 all season. Similarly, Troy has been No. 2, Northville has ranked No. 3 and Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice has been listed No. 4 in all five state coaches polls as well. Troy most recently was champion in 2021 and co-runner-up last season, and Northville finished runner-up alone in 2022 and shared second with Troy last fall – the Mustangs’ highest finishes in program history.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks finished nine points ahead of the field in winning last season’s championship, and they are set up to score big again with three top seeds, three second seeds, a third and a fourth seed. Senior Pierce Shaya (20-1) and junior Connor Shaya won Nos. 2 and 3 singles last season and are seeded first at No. 1 and second at No. 2, respectively, for this weekend. Both are seeking third Finals singles flight titles. Sophomore Zev Spiegel is seeded first at No. 3 after making the No. 4 semifinals last season, and sophomore Brady Winston is the second seed at No. 4. Seniors Asher Langwell and Dominic Pascarella lead the doubles lineup as the top-seeded pair at No. 1; Pascarella was at No. 3 and Langwell No. 4 last year as Bloomfield Hills swept doubles flight championships. Juniors Meyer Saperstein and Sajan Doshi earned the top seed at No. 3 for this weekend.
Troy: All eight flights are seeded, and only one player will graduate after this season. A pair of highly-regarded freshman will lead the Colts’ singles lineup, with Dheeraj Yelleti on the top line at No. 4 and Krish Gupta second-seeded at No. 3. Juniors Varun Shetty and Anthony Wu are top-seeded at No. 2 doubles, freshman Sourish Darui and junior Nate Wanstreet are second-seeded at No. 3, and freshman Jackson Kraus and junior Raghav Karur are second-seeded at No. 4. Shetty and Vu were the flight runners-up at No. 3 doubles last season, and sophomore Jesse Hao was part of the runner-up at No. 4 and will team with junior Derrick Kim for the third-seeded No. 1 doubles pair.
Northville: Strong doubles are expected to pace Northville’s team title pursuit, with all four flights seeded third or higher. Seniors Nick Song and Josh Kim are seeded first at No. 1, and juniors Michael Rogala and Rohi Maddali are top-seeded at No. 4. Kim was the runner-up at No. 3 singles last season.
Chad Anderson, Rochester junior: Last season’s runner-up at No. 2 singles is the third seed this time at No. 1, carrying a 24-2 record with his only losses to Shaya a month ago and Stoney Creek’s Andrew Vincler (see below) in three sets at the end of August. He then defeated Vincler in three sets at their Regional last week.
Patrick Cretu, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice senior: Cretu was the runner-up at No. 2 singles as a sophomore and made the semifinals at No. 1 as the fifth seed last season. He’s 21-3 with losses to Shaya and Vincler, plus a default.
Andrew Vincler, Rochester Hills Stoney Creek senior: He’s 26-1 and seeded second at No. 1 singles, with his only loss last week to Anderson and as the only player to defeat Shaya, which he achieved Sept. 5. He’s made a solid jump after entering as the sixth seed a year ago.
LP Division 2 at Kalamazoo College & Western Michigan University
Top-ranked: 1. Midland Dow, 2. Birmingham Seaholm, 3. Byron Center.
Dow also has been the season-long favorite in this division, with Seaholm and Byron Center pushing into the second and third coaches poll spots, respectively, in mid-September. The Chargers are seeking their third-straight Division 2 championship. Seaholm finished runner-up last year and is seeking its first Finals title, as is Byron Center coming off a seventh place in 2023.
Midland Dow: After winning last season’s title by five points and then graduating seven seniors from that lineup, Dow will go for the three-peat with seven seeded flights including two top seeds and two seconds. Senior Austin King (34-0) is seeking to finish his high school career with a second-straight championship at No. 1 singles and is top-seeded at that flight, and senior Nimai Patel (31-0) won No. 4 the last two seasons and is top-seeded this time at No. 3. Junior Siddarth Venkatesan is the second seed at No. 4 singles, and junior Ian Kohl and senior Dominic Griffin are seconds at No. 2 doubles.
Birmingham Seaholm: The Maples also were quite senior-heavy last season, graduating all but three starters from their runner-up lineup. Seven flights are seeded this time, with junior Britton Leo and sophomore Aaryan Senthilvanan second-seeded at No. 3 doubles and seniors Connor Champion and Andrew Wachowicz second-seeded at No. 4. Seniors Leo Kim and Carson Wright are the fourth seeds at No. 1 doubles; Kim was part of the flight winner at No. 4 last season, and Wright was half of the runner-up at No. 2.
Byron Center: The Bulldogs are seeded at six flights and with plenty of anticipated scoring opportunities in both singles and doubles. Sophomore Terrence He is second-seeded at No. 2 singles and junior Cole Krauss is the top seed at No. 4. All four doubles flights are seeded, led by sophomores Brayden Slot and Zeke Sandholm on the top line at No. 3. Terrence He reached the quarterfinals at No. 2 singles last season, and Krauss did the same at No. 4, while Slot and Rylan Vandenberge (now part of the third seed at No. 2 doubles) made the semifinals at No. 3 doubles.
Tanner Cooley, Traverse City Central senior: Cooley is back in the mix this season as the second seed at No. 1 singles. He’s 35-3, with his only losses twice to King and in a default.
Michael Liss, Birmingham Groves senior: As a freshman, Liss at No. 3 singles was Groves’ only flight winner on a team champion, and he’ll close his career as the fourth seed at No. 1 singles with all of his six losses to contenders in either Division 1 or Division 3. He made the quarterfinals while unseeded at No. 1 last season.
Sam Schumacher, Portage Central sophomore: He reached the quarterfinals at No. 1 singles as the seventh seed last season and returns as the third seed. He’s 26-5 also with a pair of losses to King and one to Cooley, plus two defaults.
LP Division 3 at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Ann Arbor Greenhills.
No surprises here; one of these three teams has won the championship every season since 2008, and some combination of these three has finished first or second every season since 2014. Reigning champion Cranbrook took over the top spot in this season’s rankings from Country Day in the Sept. 2 poll and hasn’t given it back.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: All eight flights are seeded third or better, with six first or second seeds. Senior Ryan Michaels, last season’s runner-up at No. 1 singles, is seeded first this time with an 18-3 record and all three losses to contenders in Divisions 1 or 4 – plus a pair of wins over reigning champion Saahith Reddy (see below). Juniors Kenneth Hu and Jace Bernard are seeded second at Nos. 2 and 3, respectively, with freshman Eli Rosen the top seed at No. 4 singles. Bernard was the No. 3 champion a year ago and part of the No. 1 doubles champion as a sophomore. Junior Cole Kirschenbaum and sophomore Ryan VanDyke are the second seed at No. 2 doubles, and senior Sanjay Lokum and junior Daniel Ma are second-seeded at No. 3. Kirschenbaum and Hu teamed up to win No. 2 doubles last season, while VanDyke was half of the champion at No. 3.
Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets are seeking their first team title since 2014 and finished second and nine points back a year ago. All eight flights also are seeded third or higher, and like Cranbrook again six flights are seeded first or second. Senior Saahith Reddy (11-5) is the second seed at No. 1 singles but last season’s champion at the flight. Senior Dan Marin is the top seed at No. 2 singles after finishing runner-up last season, and freshmen Ricky Jeong and Adam Mahmoud are seeded first at No. 3 and second at No. 4, respectively. Junior Charlie Khaghany and senior Achyut Reddy have teamed up again this season at No. 1 doubles and are the top seed after finishing runner-up at that flight in 2023, and junior Rick Nie and sophomore Preston Blum are second-seeded at No. 4. Seniors Thomas Bresson and John McKany also are teamed up again as the third seed at No. 3 doubles after finishing runner-up at that flight last fall.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The 2022 team champion moved into Division 4 for last season and won that Finals title as well before returning to Division 3 this fall. Doubles are where the Gryphons are expected to dominate with three tops seeds and a second seed. Sophomore William Pearce and senior Kabir Rajendra are that second seed, at No. 1, with Rajendra last season’s Division 4 runner-up at No. 1 singles and Pearce part of last year’s No. 3 doubles winner in that division. Juniors Ajay Purohit and Charlie Rich are top-seeded this weekend at No. 2 doubles, junior Richard Wu and sophomore Kirtan Palapattu are top-seeded at No. 3, and sophomores Lander Whelan and Deven Pimputkar are top-seeded at No. 4. Wu teamed with Pearce on last year’s Division 4 No. 3 winning pair, and Rich was the No. 3 singles champion. No. 1 singles senior Teddy Staebler, seeded fourth, was the No. 2 champion in Division 4 last year.
Bhavesh Burramukku, St. Joseph senior: He’s seeded third at No. 1 singles and advanced to the semifinals at that flight and that seed last season as well before losing in a three-set match to Michaels. He’s also played several of the highly-seeded players from all divisions this season in going 19-7.
LP Division 4 at Midland Tennis Center
Top-ranked: 1. Holland Christian, 2. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 3. Maple City Glen Lake.
As reigning champion Greenhills moved back into Division 3 this season, Holland Christian moved into Division 4 after finishing fourth in Division 3 a year ago. The Maroons are seeking their first Finals championship in this sport since 1965, and first top-two finish since 1998. Liggett is a familiar contender in this bracket, most recently winning it in 2022 and 2020 and finishing runner-up last season and in 2021. Glen Lake could be on the verge of history as it seeks its first top-two Finals finish. The Lakers moved back up to No. 3 in the rankings after edging No. 4 Traverse City St. Francis by three points at their Regional.
Holland Christian: The Maroons have the top seeds at every doubles flight plus No. 4 singles, and the second seeds at Nos. 2 and 3 singles. Senior Henry Langejans and junior Lucas VanWieren are the top seed at No. 1 doubles after Langejans made the semifinals at No. 1 in Division 3 last fall. Seniors Tyler Hemmeke and Gavin Swiftney are the top seed at No. 2; Hemmeke was part of a semifinalist at No. 2 in Division 3 last season, and Swiftney reached the quarterfinals at No. 4. Sophomores Michael Gorno and Graham Tanis are the top seed at No. 3 after teaming up to reach the Division 3 semifinals at No. 3 last year, and senior Levi King and junior Jack DeYoung earned the top seed at No. 4 doubles. Also earning a top seed for this weekend was freshman Nico Grosso at No. 4 singles, and juniors Dylan Becksvoort and Evan Disselkoen are the second seeds at Nos. 2 and 3 singles, respectively. Both made quarterfinals playing those flights, but in Division 3, last season.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights edged St. Francis by three points to finish second to Greenhills a year ago and have six seeded flights this weekend, all fourth or higher. Juniors Griffin Marchal and Niko Cooksey are the second seeds at No. 2 doubles, and sophomore Davis Ford and freshman Lucas Ferguson are seeded second at No. 4. Cooksey and junior Landen Maltby – part of the third-seeded No. 1 doubles this weekend – finished runner-up at No. 2 last year, and Marchal was part of the No. 3 champion in 2022.
Maple City Glen Lake: The Lakers finished two points out of third place and five out of second a year ago. All four singles and three doubles flights are seeded, with senior Michael Houtteman the top seed at No. 3 singles after making the No. 2 quarterfinals as a sixth seed a year ago. Sophomore Hawthorn Sutherland is the fourth seed at No. 2 this weekend after finishing runner-up at No. 3 in 2023.
Oliver Caldwell, Grand Rapids West Catholic freshman: Caldwell enters his first Finals as the top seed at No. 1 singles with a 29-1 record after falling to Traverse City St. Francis’ Owen Jackson in August but winning the rematch a month later.
Stephen Gollapalli, Lansing Christian sophomore: He’s 23-0 and the third seed at No. 1 singles after reaching the quarterfinals as a sixth seed a year ago.
Owen Jackson, Traverse City St. Francis senior: The second seed at No. 1 singles will cap a career that included the No. 3 championship as a freshman, No. 2 title as a sophomore and a run to the No. 1 semifinals last season. He’s 31-5 this fall.
PHOTO Byron Center’s Terrence He prepares to send a forehand back to his opponent during a match at last season’s LPD2 Finals. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Preview: Return of Traditional Finals Format Joined by Return of Annual Contenders
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 14, 2021
What’s old is new again at the Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals, but with plenty of what we’re used to expected this weekend as well.
After a format switch to a head-to-head team championship tournament last year due to COVID-19 precautions, the traditional format has returned with team and individual qualifiers at four sites – Division 1 playing on Thursday and Friday and the other three divisions Friday and Saturday.
Many of the usual favorites are expected to push for championships again. Okemos is the top-ranked team in Division 2 after winning Division 1 a year ago, while Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood is top-ranked and the reigning champion in Division 3. A number of other recent champs should be in the mixes again as well.
See below for a look at many of those contenders, and check out the MHSAA Website for brackets and more (Final rounds will be played at sites listed first below):
LP Division 1 at Kalamazoo College & Western Michigan University
Top-ranked: T-1. Bloomfield Hills, T-1. Troy, 3. Novi.
Bloomfield Hills and Troy have been tied for the top spot since the second set of rankings were posted in mid-September, and there are good stories accompanying both being in contention. Bloomfield Hills won outright or tied for the championship three of four seasons from 2015-18, while Troy’s only top-two finish came to the Black Hawks in 2017. Bloomfield Hills, Troy and Novi all won their Regionals, Novi against the toughest field finishing a point ahead of No. 8 Northville and eight points better than No. 9 Detroit Catholic Central. Bloomfield Hills and Troy did face off Sept. 9, with Troy winning 5-4 playing a fifth doubles flight, and Bloomfield Hills was first and Troy second at a quad Oct. 2.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks are seeded at seven flights with the top seeds at all four singles – Noah Roslin at No. 1, Daniel Stojanov at No. 2, Pierce Shaya at No. 3 and Aaron Rose at No. 4. Roslin advanced to the No. 1 semifinals last season and is the lone senior in the starting lineup – he has wins over the second and third seeds at his flight this season. Stojanov is one of only three juniors in the starting lineup, so Bloomfield HIlls could make a run at team championships over at least the next two seasons.
Troy: The Colts have found the same success as the Black Hawks but thanks to different strengths, with seven seniors and a junior anchoring the lineup and the top seeds at all four doubles flights – Andrew Wang and Nikhil Tatineni at No. 1, Srihari Ananthalwan and Aryan Gupta at No. 2, Pranav Bellad and Zach Saad at No. 3 and Dhruv Gupta and Rushil Kagithala at No. 4. Three singles flights also are seeded, including Haresh Anand second at No. 4 singles.
Novi: The Wildcats also have seven seeded flights, led by second seeds Cole Anderson at No. 2 singles and Rohit Saripelle and Nikhil Daniel at No. 4 doubles. Novi had four flight champions at its strong Regional and will be making a run at its first team Finals title since sharing with Bloomfield Hills in 2015.
Dimitri Moriarty, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice: After a solid season at No. 2 singles last fall, Moriarty moved up to No. 1 and is 16-4 and seeded second as a junior.
Anthony Van Oyen, Ann Arbor Skyline: Van Oyen, also a junior, made the No. 1 singles bracket in 2020 as the eighth seed and returns to the Finals this weekend third at No. 1 singles.
LP Division 2 at Hope College and Holland Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Okemos, 2. Mattawan, 3. Detroit U-D Jesuit.
Okemos is back in Division 2 after winning last season’s Division 1 team championship, which combined with Division 2 titles in 2017 and 2018 was the program’s third in four years. Mattawan is seeking its first Finals championship in this sport and was the Division 2 team runner-up a year ago, while Jesuit twice has been runner-up – most recently in 2019 – and also is seeking its first Finals championship. These three in order have been ranked the top three since the Sept. 20 poll.
Okemos: Despite almost an entirely new lineup from last year’s team championship run, Okemos has five flights seeded and all four singles seeded first or second. Ethan Portnoy is seeded second at No. 1 singles after playing No. 2 doubles last season as a freshman, and junior George Fan is the top seed at No. 2 singles and played No. 4 a year ago. Hannah Letzer is the second seed at No. 3, and Suchir Nagisetty is the top seed at No. 4.
Mattawan: The Wildcats are chasing a historic finish with a strong singles lineup featuring three of the team’s four seeded flights. Luke Hodgman at No. 2 and Andrew Williams at No. 4 singles are both third seeded, as is the No. 2 doubles pair of Garrett Cheng and Brady Sullivan.
Detroit U-D Jesuit: Doubles drove the team’s runner-up finish in 2019, and that could be the scenario again this weekend. Five seeded flights total are expected to lead the Cubs into contention, with Sam Owens and Stephen Cibulas the top-seeded pair at No. 4 doubles and Alex Kuplicki and Luke Padilla the second seed at No. 2.
Sammy Yin, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central: The junior singles standout is seeded first at No. 1 after reaching the semifinals last season, and he has wins over the next two seeded players at his flight.
Connor Stafford, Grosse Pointe South: Stafford, also a junior, carries the third seed at No. 1 into this weekend and has played the top flight all three seasons.
LP Division 3 at Midland Tennis Center and Midland High School
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Ann Arbor Greenhills.
These three programs have taken turns winning the Division 3 title going back to 2008, with Greenhills entering the mix in 2019 after dominating Division 4 previously. Cranbrook Kingswood won last season’s Division 3 team title, with Greenhills the runner-up, and Greenhills was the 2019 champion with Cranbrook and Country Day tying for second place.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes moved into the top spot in the rankings this week after winning a Regional that included No. 6 St. Clair. All eight flights are seeded, including one top seed and five second seeds. No. 3 doubles pair Ryan Michaels and Andrew Fink earned that top spot, while Owen DeMuth at No. 1 singles, Patrick Tiwari at No. 3 and Caden Che at No. 4 are all second-seeded as are No. 2 doubles Jacob Coburn and Sebs Taubman and No. 4 Aryan Tiwari and Praneel Pillarisetty. DeMuth was the No. 1 singles runner-up last season.
Detroit Country Day: The Yellowjackets have finished Finals runners-up five of the last six seasons since concluding a four-year championship run in 2014, and they were Regional runners-up to Greenhills by two points last week. All eight flights are seeded as well, with doubles particularly powerful. No. 2 pair Aiden Khaghany and Clay Hartje and No. 4 Ramzi Nassif and Aayush Dagar are top seeds, and No. 1 Alex Pollak and Petros Kalabat and No. 3 Nick Kalkanis and Charlie Holman are second seeds. Hartje and Khaghany won No. 3 doubles in 2019.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: The Gryphons went from No. 1 to No. 3 in the team rankings despite the Regional win mentioned above, but they’ll no doubt remain in this weekend’s mix with seven seeded flights – including the top seeds at all four singles. Senior Mert Oral is the two-time reigning champion at No. 1 singles, with Rishi Verma slotted No. 2, Chakor Rajendra at No. 3 and Kabir Rajendra at No. 4. Verma won at No. 3 and Chakhor Rajendra at No. 4 in 2019.
Simon Volkema, Grand Rapids Christian: The Eagles senior is the third seed at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals at the top flight last season.
Derek Distelrath, St. Clair: Also a senior, Distelrath is the fourth seed at No. 1 after also making the semifinals in 2020. He was the No. 1 singles runner-up in 2019.
Tanner Warners & Dream Kwon, Grand Rapids Christian: The Eagles have three doubles pairs made up of seniors, and Warners and Kwon are the top seed at No. 1. Warners was part of the No. 1 runner-up with a different partner in 2019.
LP Division 4 at University of Michigan & Ann Arbor Pioneer
Top-ranked: 1. Traverse City St. Francis, 2. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 3. Hudsonville Unity Christian.
These three have been the top three in the rankings all season, and in this order since the second poll was posted. University Liggett is the reigning team champion and has claimed three of the last five Division 4 titles with victories as well in 2016 and 2017. St. Francis is a frequent contender and seeking its first championship, having come in runner-up for the first time in 2018. Unity Christian was the team runner-up a year ago, also its highest Finals finish.
Traverse City St. Francis: A singles lineup full of underclassmen and a doubles lineup packed with seven seniors or juniors will attempt to take the Gladiators the final step for the first time. All eight flights are seeded and six are top seeds: Tristan Bonanni at No. 2 singles, Owen Jackson at No. 3 and Chris Bobrowski at No. 4; and Cody Richards and Ben Schmude at No. 1 doubles, Charlie King and Derek Berta at No. 3 and Tommy Puetz and Eli Schmude at No. 4. Richards was the No. 3 singles champion in 2019, and Schmude was part of the champion No. 1 doubles that fall with a different partner.
Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett: The Knights graduated a four-time No. 1 singles champion, but still have plenty of contenders among eight seeded flights. Sebastian Courtright at No. 2 singles and Gerry Sherer at No. 4 carry second seeds into the weekend; Sherer was the No. 4 runner-up in 2019.
Hudsonville Unity Christian: Five of the team’s six seeded flights are fourth-seeded or higher. Ben Timmermans at No. 4 singles leads the way with a second seed, and Ryan Broek is the fourth seed at No. 1 singles after entering as the fifth seed a year ago.
Andrew Solarewicz, Grand Rapids West Catholic: A senior and individual qualifier, Solarewicz is the top-flight favorite carrying the top seed after finishing runner-up at No. 1 a year ago.
Alberto Gonzalez-Perez, Grand Rapids South Christian: Gonzalez-Perez, a junior, is the top player for No. 7 South Christian and earned the fourth seed at No. 1 singles after claiming a Regional title without losing a set.
PHOTO Ann Arbor Greenhills’ Mert Oral steps into a backhand during last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 3 Team Final. Click for more from High School Sports Scene.