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.)

Always Contender, Allegan Now Champion

November 19, 2019

By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor

Allegan’s championship story began nearly a half-century ago.

A longtime coach retires after 45 years building one of the state’s strongest tennis programs, even receiving national recognition for his work spreading love for the game – but he never won a championship at the highest level. His program is taken over by a pair of former players, one the longtime girls coach whose son fills the No. 1 singles flight and is among a number of second-generation players on the team.

At the beginning of the season, they write three goals on the dry-erase board in their team room – to win league, Regional and MHSAA Finals championships. They’re finally able to check off every single one, returning home from the season’s final tournament to a police escort after achieving that previously unattainable ultimate goal for the first time.

The Allegan boys tennis team is still celebrating its Lower Peninsula Division 4 championship won Oct. 18-19, a crowning achievement following the 45-year coaching career of Gary Ellis which concluded after the 2018 season. Former players Jen Aldrich and Seth Arthur took over as co-coaches this fall and – with a lineup of players brought up through the community’s tennis program – added the highest prize to Ellis’ legacy while creating their own.

“We had three goals … so every time we (accomplished one), we would bring them in the check it off the board – ‘Ok, step one is done. Now to step two,’” Allegan co-coach Jen Aldrich said. “I think everyone bought into ‘team’ this year. In previous years, we had a lot of individual successes. This year was different; we were going to win as a team. Nobody talked about individual flight championships. That was a huge key – everybody knew they were important, and everybody knew they had to get points at states.”

The MHSAA/Applebee’s “Team of the Month” actually tied for the LPD4 championship with Kalamazoo Hackett, after defeating Hackett 6-2 in match play earlier this season and winning the Regional title ahead of the second-place Irish on Oct. 10. (And of course, this is not to take anything away from Hackett’s fine Finals performance. The Irish earned the shared title – their first Finals championship in the sport since 2005 – by tying Allegan with 21 points at the Finals.)

The Tigers’ quest reached back generations. As reported by the Allegan News when Ellis retired, he had led the program to 30 league and 12 Regional titles, 32 MHSAA Finals appearances and 23 top-10 finishes at the year-end event.

But taking those final championship steps last month at Hope College truly took a team effort.

Freshman Eli Festerling gave Allegan a boost at No. 4 singles with the program’s first Finals flight championship since 1990. Noah Festerling and Ben Groth also made the championship round, taking runner-up honors at No. 3 doubles.

The Tigers also got at least one win at six flights and made semifinals at five – although the team entered with only four flights seeded (among the top four) to advance to the second-to-last round. Total, Allegan flights finished 16-7 at the Finals.

One of those semifinalists was No. 1 doubles pair Jack Nahikian and Korbin Sisson – after Nahikian had played No. 4 singles the year before. Vance Muenzer was a Regional runner-up at No. 3 singles this fall after making the jump from playing No. 4 doubles in 2018.

Tyler Aldrich – Jen’s son – was a Regional champ at No. 1 and won two Finals matches while entering unseeded. No. 2 singles Tim Lyon also won a match at the Finals, while Owen Clearwater and Walker Michaels at No. 2 doubles and Chase Williams and David Roark at No. 4 also made semifinals. Aldrich, Eli Festerling, Clearwater/Michaels, Noah Festerling/Groth and Williams/Roark were Regional champs to pace that team title victory.

“I think our strength is our depth. We were strong all the way through,” Jen Aldrich said.

“It’s extra special too for such a small town,” she added, “because Gary and I, we run the summer tennis program so most of these kids we’ve had in the program since they were 3 and 4 years old.”  

Aldrich had played for Ellis’ girls program from 1988-91 before going on to play at Western Michigan University, and since coming home has led the girls tennis program for 16 years – her brother Tony Fales actually was Ellis’ assistant for the latter’s final 15 years. Arthur played for Ellis before graduating in 2010 and went on to play at St. Joseph’s College in Indiana.

Arthur kept players loose, especially during big events, providing a boost of fun when the team needed to keep things light. Aldrich was more the disciplinarian, stepping in to crack down when required. They were assisted by Jesse DeBoer, another former Allegan standout who graduated in 2012 and played at Spring Arbor.

“It’s awesome that we took over this year, but deep down we know this is because of Gary Ellis,” Aldrich said. “He built the program. He’s worked with these kids. He got them to this point. So we’ve been celebrating Gary this whole time, because we know it’s because of him and my brother … we just happened to be in the right place at the right time. This really truly was a championship because of Gary Ellis. … This is truly his program.”

And it’s a championship that brought pride to many who have played for Allegan over the years. Ellis’ teams had reached third place at the Finals multiple times, including in 2018.

If this year’s athletes didn’t understand what they accomplished in the moment, they have come to understand over the last month.

“I think probably their families as a whole (know) too,” Aldrich said. “Some of the parents of the players were in the program for Gary – they were players here once – and a lot of alumni (showed support) on our Facebook page and that sort of thing.

“If (our team) didn’t know, they know now.”

Past Teams of the Month, 2019-20

September: Ishpeming Westwood girls tennis - Report

PHOTOS: (Top) Tyler Aldrich returns a volley during a No. 1 singles match at the LP Division 4 Finals. (Middle) Allegan's championship-winning team. (Top photo by HighSchoolSportsScene.com; middle photo courtesy of the Allegan boys tennis program.)