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Preview: Power Programs Locked In
October 18, 2017
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
It’s rematch time for many of the powerhouse programs in Lower Peninsula boys tennis.
This weekend’s MHSAA Finals feature the same No. 1 and No. 2 ranked teams in both Divisions 3 and 4 as a year ago, a pair of rivals that tied for the 2015 title holding down the top spots in Division 1, and the two programs with the most championships in Division 2 history heading that field again.
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.
LP Division 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills, 2. Novi, 3. Birmingham Brother Rice.
Bloomfield Hills missed a second straight championship last season by two points, scoring 28 to finish behind Ann Arbor Huron – which is ranked No. 6 heading into this weekend. Novi, which shared the 2015 title with the Black Hawks, also won in 2014 and finished fourth a year ago. Brother Rice finished runner-up in 2011, 2012 and 2014 and is seeking its first MHSAA title since 2009.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks are seeded in seven flights with six flights seeded first or second, including all four in doubles. Andrew Zhang is the second seed at No. 1 singles after winning No. 2 last season, and Constantin Hemmrich is the top seed at No. 3 singles as he looks to win that flight for the third straight season. Cade and Sebastian Burman at No. 1 doubles and Kyle Peres and Alex Walkon at No. 4 also carry top seeds.
Novi: Six flights are seeded, led by No. 1 doubles pair Robert Chen and Aditya Chitta as the second at their flight. Alex Wen enters as the sixth seed at No. 1 singles for the second straight year although he made the semifinals last season and won No. 2 as a sophomore and No. 3 as a freshman. Sid Amarnath is the third seed at No. 2 singles and was the No. 3 singles runner-up in 2015.
Brother Rice: The Warriors are seeded at three singles flights and three doubles flights as they seek to improve on last season’s sixth-place finish. Niko Mamatas and Riley McNulty are the top seed at No. 2 doubles, the highest seed among the team’s six. McNulty was part of the No. 2 runner-up last fall with Jack Brockhaus, who this season is part of the third-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles. No. 2 singles fifth seed Josh Anschuetz was part of last season’s No. 1 doubles runner-up, and No. 1 singles third seed Jarreau Campbell was part of the No. 1 doubles champion in 2015.
Troy’s Steve Forman: Now a senior, Forman improved from the semifinals as a sophomore to win No. 1 singles last fall while losing only one set during Finals weekend.
Clarkston’s Luke Baylis: The Wolves’ sophomore No. 1 singles player looks like an inevitable champion and enters as the fourth seed after finishing No. 2 runner-up last fall.
Ann Arbor Huron’s Brendan Chen and Max Brodkey: Chen was part of last season’s No. 1 doubles champion and with Brodkey is seeded fifth this weekend.
LP Division 2 at Kalamazoo College
Top-ranked: 1. Okemos, 2. Birmingham Groves, 3. Birmingham Seaholm.
Midland Dow, ranked fourth heading into the weekend, is the reigning champion and has won six of the last eight titles in this division. Okemos is seeking its first since running off four straight championships from 2004-07 – when Groves finished runner-up three times, their last three placings among the top two at a Finals. Like Groves, Seaholm also is seeking its first Finals championship and was runner-up two years at the end of last decade.
Okemos: This lines up much like the dominant Chiefs teams of old, with seven flights seeded and all seeded first or second at those flights. Josh Portnoy (No. 2), Shrey Patel (No. 3) and Daniel Gorelik (No. 4) all have top seeds in singles, while Rohan Shah and Siddharth Nagisetty (No. 2) and Deniz Kalfa and Druv Talluri (No. 3) are top-seeded in doubles. Kalfa was the champion at No. 4 singles last season and Gorelik was runner-up at No. 3 as Okemos finished third as a team, up from eighth in both 2015 and 2014.
Midland Dow: Although ranked just fourth heading into the postseason, Dow looks to be in the best position to challenge Okemos with all eight flights seeded and six seeded to make the semifinals. Aditya Middha and Saketh Kamaraju are the top seed at No. 1 doubles after Middha was part of last year’s champion at the flight and Kamaraju was runner-up at No. 4 singles. Reigning No. 3 singles champ Tyler Conrad is seeded third at No. 2, and last season’s No. 2 runner-up Anish Middha is seeded fourth at No. 1. Daniel Zhang and Gopal Parthasarathy are the top seed at No. 2 doubles after winning No. 3 last year, and Noah Nichols – part of last year’s runner-up at No. 2 – is seeded third at No. 3 singles. Ryan Killmaster is part of the fifth-seeded No. 3 doubles pair after finishing as part of the No. 4 runner-up in 2016.
Groves: The Falcons tied for fifth last season and return half of an individual champion – Aerik Joe, who is playing No. 1 doubles after helping earn the No. 4 championship in 2016. Groves’ strength is at singles, however, with all four players coming in as third seeds or higher. Junior Gabe Liss is the top seed at No. 1 singles after making the quarterfinals last season as the fifth seed in that flight.
Seaholm: The Maples actually won their Regional ahead of Groves last week after tying with the Falcons at last year’s Final, and they enter with five seeded flights and strength especially in doubles. Alex Acho and Ben Adams are paired as the top seed at No. 4.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central’s Connor Genschaw: The second seed at No. 1 singles made the semifinals last season as the fourth seed and took the first set from eventual champion Varun Shanker.
Portage Central’s Lucas Guy: Entering as the third seed at No. 1 singles for the second straight season, Guy also made the semifinals last season at the top flight.
LP Division 3 at Holland
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Ada Forest Hills Eastern.
Cranbrook Kingswood has won the last two Division 3 titles ahead of runner-up Country Day, by eight points in 2015 but only one point a year ago. Together, they’ve won the last nine Division 3 championships and earned five runner-up finishes in that time as well. Cranbrook Kingswood beat Country Day by two points at their Regional last week.
Cranbrook Kingswood: The Cranes have three top seeds in singles and two in doubles, with championship experience all over the lineup. Benji Jacobson is top-seeded at No. 1 singles and looking to repeat as champion and claim his third Finals title after winning No. 2 singles in 2015. Lucas Bosch is top-seeded at No. 2 singles after making the semifinals at that flight in 2016, and Justin Luo is top-seeded at No. 3 coming off a runner-up finish there and after winning No. 4 in 2015. Sohum Archarya is the second seed at No. 4 after also earning a runner-up finish there a year ago. Andrew Du and Jacob Yellen are the top seed at No. 1 doubles after Du was part of last year’s champion and Yellen a runner-up at No. 2, and Joseph Croskey and Nikhil Deenadayalu are top-seeded at No. 2 after Croskey teamed with Yellen and Deenadayalu was part of last season’s runner-up at No. 3. Eshaan Kawlra and Jack Trees are the second seed at No. 3 doubles after winning No. 4 a year ago.
Country Day: The Yellowjackets will bank on six seeded flights to lead them back to the top this weekend. Among top seeds are Tom Nardicchio and Eric Liu at No. 3 doubles and Nick Sicilia and Justin Lee at No. 4; Nardicchio was part of last season’s champion at No. 3 and Sicilia was part of the runner-up at No. 4. Eric Wang earned the top seed at No. 4 singles after winning that flight last year, and Nik Gruskin is the fourth seed at No. 1 after finishing runner-up at No. 2 a year ago. Prathik Chukkapalli was Sicilia’s partner last season but is teaming up for the second-seeded No. 1 pair with Ryan Murakawa, who was part of the runner-up at that flight last year with Rick Warnicke – who is seeded second at No. 2 singles.
Ada Forest Hills Eastern: If either of the Oakland County powers above falters, Forest Hills Eastern could swoop in for its first top-two Finals finish. The Hawks are seeded in seven flights and expected to make the semifinals in six of them. No. 2 doubles pair Evan Schwalm and Karsyn Vanderweele are seeded second, the highest in the lineup.
Coopersville’s Jack Dausman: He’s the second seed at No. 1 singles after surprising by making the semifinals last year as the fifth seed, before falling to Jacobson.
Holland Christian’s Ryan Rhoades: Last season’s runner-up returns as the fifth seed at No. 1 singles, meaning a rematch with Jacobson would come in the semifinals instead of the championship match.
Williamston’s Oliver Weaver: The Hornets moved to Division 3 this fall, and Weaver will test his skills against a new field after winning No. 1 singles in Division 4 last year and finishing runner-up in that division in 2015.
LP Division 4 at Novi
Top-ranked: 1. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 2. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 3. Traverse City St. Francis.
University Liggett broke Greenhills’ eight-year hold on the Division 4 title by finishing two points ahead to win last season’s championship. The pair actually have shared the top for a while, with Greenhills of course finishing second last year and Liggett finishing runner-up in both 2015 and 2014. Traverse City St. Francis remains on the verge of its first top-two finish after tying for third place in 2016.
University Liggett: Only three flights are top-seeded, but all eight flights are seeded third or higher. Thomas Van Pelt and Spencer Warezak at No. 2 doubles and Matthew Lesha and Craig Buhler at No. 3 have two of those top seeds, and all four played in championship matches last year – Warezak and Buhler won No. 3 doubles, while Van Pelt was part of the No. 1 runner-up and Lesha part of the runner-up at No. 4. Andrew Staricco is the lone top seed in singles, at No. 4 after winning that flight last fall, but No. 2 singles third seed Christian Illitch was runner-up at his flight two years ago. Maddie Fozo and Alec Azar are the second seed at No. 1 after Fozo teamed with Van Pelt last year and Azar was part of the No. 2 doubles champion. Freshman William Cooksey will lead the next wave and he’s already started, pulling in the second seed at No. 1 singles for his first Finals.
Greenhills: Like Liggett, Greenhills has all eight flights seeded third or higher. Kaan Oral has the top seed at No. 2 singles after making the semifinals at that flight last season (as the second seed), and Jack Harris and Trey Feldeisen are the top seed at No. 1 doubles after Harris was part of last season’s champion at that flight and Feldeisen was part of the runner-up at No. 3. Drake Rosenberg was a champion at No. 4 doubles last year and is part of the second seed at No. 3, while Sushruta Shankar was part of the runner-up at No. 3 and is part of the third seed at No. 2. Henry Branch is seeded third at No. 3 singles after finishing runner-up last season at No. 4.
St. Francis: The Gladiators might have their best shot yet at moving up with all eight flights seeded fourth or better. St. Francis also has one top seed in singles – Nathan Sodini at No. 3 – and one top seed at doubles with Alex Thelen and Tyler Tafelsky at No. 4. Joe Primeau will look to take some of the Finals experience he earned last year as part of the No. 2 doubles runner-up to No. 4 singles, where he’s seeded fourth.
Grand Rapids Catholic Central’s Ian Worthington: Last season’s champion at No. 2 singles (as a third seed) has moved up to No. 1, where he enters the weekend seeded fifth.
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Ian Sood: After finishing runner-up to Worthington at No. 2 singles last season, and as a fifth seed, Sood is back as the second seed at the same flight.
Ann Arbor Gabriel Richard’s Evan Sood: Evan Sood is playing No. 1 singles for the third straight year and is the top seed after making the quarterfinals last season while unseeded.
PHOTO: Cranbrook Kingswood’s Benji Jacobson, left, and Holland Christian’s Ryan Rhoades meet at the net after Jacobson won last season’s No. 1 singles final in Lower Peninsula Division 3. Both return this weekend. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
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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.)