Preview: Title Streaks On The Line
October 16, 2014
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
Four of the most impressive winning streaks in any MHSAA sport are on the line at this weekend’s Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals.
Ann Arbor Greenhills is playing for its seventh straight championship in Division 4. Midland Dow has won five straight in Division 2. And Ann Arbor Huron and Detroit Country Day are just behind with a three-season title streaks in Divisions 1 and 4, respectively.
Read on for more on the top contenders in all four divisions, plus individuals who enter with high seeds – and expectations. Click for full draws for all four divisions.
LP DIVISION 1 at Midland Tennis Center
Top-ranked: 1. Novi, 2. Troy, 3. Birmingham Brother Rice.
These have ranked among the top three most of the season, with Novi holding the top spot in Division 1 since the first rankings were published Sept. 1. The Wildcats finished runner-up by a point last season to Huron, while Brother Rice was the runner-up to Huron in 2011 and 2012. Neither Novi nor Troy has won an MHSAA team title. Huron is ranked No. 4 but seeded at only one singles flight.
Novi: The Wildcats carry top seeds at five flights including three in singles, and last season’s No. 1 singles champion – Tim Wang – is seeded second at that flight as he plays for the repeat. Koushik Kondapi moved to No. 2 singles after winning the No. 3 title a year ago, and Maxx Anderson – last season’s champion at No. 4 singles – is teaming with Daniel Yu on the top-seeded No. 1 doubles team. All but No. 3 doubles is seeded – with freshman Alex Wen at No. 3 singles another with a top seed.
Troy: Last season’s fourth-place team is seeded at all but No. 1 singles, with second seeds at No. 2 singles with Steve Forman and No. 3 doubles with Adi Das and Anidow Saha. Six flights won Regional championships despite facing stiff competition from a field that included No. 8 Grosse Pointe South and No. 10 Troy Athens.
Brother Rice: The Warriors were third in 2013 but only two points off the lead. Three singles and all four doubles flights are seeded, including two second seeds including halves of championship pairs from a year ago – Brendan Dillon and Joe Paradiso won No. 3 doubles, and Dillon has moved up to No. 2 and Paradiso to No. 1. Returning No. 4 singles runner-up Jack Winkler is seeded second at No. 3.
Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Ian Yi: After winning No. 2 singles last season as a freshman, Yi enters as the third seed at No. 1.
Northville’s Connor Johnston: The No. 1 seed at No. 1 singles, Johnston fell to Wang in straight sets in last season’s championship match but defeated him in last week’s Regional.
Ann Arbor Huron’s Will Brenner and Orion Sang: Last season’s winners at No. 4 doubles are the top-seeded pair this time at No. 2 and one of only two top seeds for the reigning champion.
DIVISION 2 at Kalamazoo College
Top-ranked: 1. Midland Dow, 2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 3. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern.
Dow dominated the field a year ago finishing 13 points ahead of the rest. Forest Hills Central was runner-up twice during Dow's recent run, in 2012 and 2011, and was fourth a year ago as Forest Hills Northern finished third.
Dow: Every flight is seeded, with Nos. 2-4 singles and No. 4 doubles all favored. Varun Shanker, the third seed at No. 1, and Michael Szabo at No. 3 were champions at Nos. 3 and 4, respectively, in 2013. No. 2 singles Colin Angell was on the winning No. 2 doubles team, and No. 4 singles Aditya Middha is only a freshman. No. 1 doubles Daniel Magno was part of the champion at No. 3 in 2013.
Forest Hills Central: Six flights are seeded, but the strength is doubles with all four flights seeded including No. 3 top seeds Humzah Azeem and Ryan Conner – Azeem was part of the winning No. 4 doubles pair last fall. Cooper James, the fourth seed at No. 2 singles, made the semifinals at No. 4 in 2013.
Forest Hills Northern: The Huskies had four flight runners-up a year ago in addition to finishing second as a team. Will Christian was the lone runner-up in singles, at No. 3, and is the fifth seed at No. 2. Ryan Roach and Daiki Adachi were runners-up at No. 3 doubles and are top-seeded at No. 2 after playing the only three-set match of last season’s Division 2 championships. All eight flights are seeded at least fifth.
Portage Central’s Bill Duo: The standout freshman enters his first MHSAA Finals as the second seed at No. 1 singles.
Portage Central’s Ben Orwin: Last season’s No. 1 singles player won a match at the Finals and is the second seed at No. 2 this fall.
Portage Northern’s Steward Sell: After entering last season’s tournament as the fourth seed at No. 1, Sell returns as the top.
Grosse Pointe North’s Nick Cusmano and Mitchell Zacharias: Cusmano is a returning No. 1 doubles player while Zacharias played No. 2 in 2013; together they are the top seed at the top flight.
Portage Central’s Cameron Raedy and Sahil Tandon: The second seed at No. 1 doubles is made up of Raedy, last season’s third seed at No. 3 singles, and a returning No. 1 doubles player in Tandon.
DIVISION 3 at Holly and Fenton
Top-ranked: 1. Detroit Country Day, 2. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood, 3. East Grand Rapids.
Country Day’s championship in 2013 was one of the most dominating performances in MHSAA tennis history; the Yellowjackets won seven flights and had the runner-up in the eighth. Cranbrook-Kingswood finished fourth last season but is the last team to win the title before Country Day’s recent run. Combined, those two teams have the top two seeds at six flights.
Country Day: All eight flights are seeded first or second, including returning champions at No. 1 doubles Blake Burstein and Damian Runkle and No. 2 doubles Rishabh Nayak and Adam Junn. Noah Karoub is the top seed at No. 1 singles after winning No. 2 last season, and Davis Wong is the second seed at No. 2 after winning No. 4 in 2013. Jakob Gahn is the top seed at No. 3 after also winning that flight last season.
Cranbrook-Kingswood: All eight flights are seeded among the top three at their respective positions, with Colin Petzold and Brandon Kerr the top seed at No. 4 doubles and Marc Sable the top seed at No. 2 singles. Alex Hubers and Steven Meng are the second seed at No. 3 doubles after finishing runner-up at No. 4 last fall, while Nolan Trepeck is part of the second-seeded No. 2 doubles pair after contributing to a runner-up finish at that flight. Freshman Benji Jacobson is the second seed at No. 1 singles at his first MHSAA Finals.
East Grand Rapids: The Pioneers have one of the most accomplished programs in MHSAA history and could make an interesting run again with all eight flights seeded and some experienced players returning. Thomas Bailey and Will Rea finished runners-up at No. 3 doubles in 2013; Bailey is the sixth seed at No. 3 singles and Rea part of the fifth seed at No. 1 doubles. Grant Bailey is the third seed at No. 1 singles after falling to Karoub in the No. 2 championship match.
Grand Rapids Christian’s Max Hartman: The Eagles didn’t make the 2013 Finals, but Hartman also was their No. 1 singles player and won a match at the 2012 tournament.
Holland Christian’s Christian Rhoades: The third seed at No. 2 singles won a match at No. 1 in 2013.
DIVISION 4 at Holland
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett.
Greenhills is seeking its eighth championship in nine seasons and claimed last year’s title in large part by winning all four doubles. St. Francis finished sixth in 2013 but moved up to second in the coaches' second set of rankings this year and has remained in that spot. University Liggett could add a major highlight to its long history of success by breaking Greenhills’ streak, and finished third last season.
Greenhills: The Gryphons are seeded first at six flights and second at the seventh – and the lone player not seeded, No. 1 singles Zach Martell, made the quarterfinals at that flight last season while seeded fifth. Gage Feldeisen is the top seed at No. 3 singles after winning No. 4 in 2013, and six of eight doubles players were part of championship pairs: Sam Talsma and Brandon Johnson at No. 1 doubles (No. 1/No. 4 last year), Isak Akervall and Andy Xie at No. 2 (No. 2/No. 3 last year), Matt Chatas at No. 3 after winning No. 3 last year with Xie, and David Groden at No. 4 after winning that flight last year with Johnson. Nick Sandhu, a doubles champion in 2012 and 2011, is the top seed at No. 2 singles.
St. Francis: Seven seeded flights have the Gladiators looking like the team most likely to push Greenhills. Jack Krcmarik advanced the farthest last season, to the No. 3 singles semifinals, and is the third seed at that flight. Top singles players Gus Danz and Sam Holmes have switched flights after Danz played No. 2 and Holmes No. 1 a year ago.
University Liggett: The Knights also are seeded at seven flights with big points expected from doubles; Casey Scoggin and Thomas Van Pelt are the top seed at No. 3, and Alex Dow and Dave Sekhon are the second seed at No. 2. Dow and Sekhon were flight runners-up last season at No. 4 and No. 3, respectively, and the No. 1 doubles pair is made up of August Bonacci and Jackson Benning – returning runners-up at Nos. 2 and 4.
Grand Rapids West Catholic’s Nick Solarewicz: Last season’s runner-up at No. 1 singles is back as the third seed and only qualifier from his team.
Kalamazoo Hackett’s Teddy Oosterbaan: The No. 2 singles champion in 2013 will take a step up as the fourth seed at No. 1.
Kalamazoo Hackett’s Henry Hedeman: The reigning No. 3 singles champion enters as the second seed this time at No. 2.
Lansing Catholic’s Matt Heeder: The top-seeded player at No. 1 singles is the reigning champion and also will play for the third title for his family (brother Paul won No. 1 singles in 2010).
Otsego’s Luke Ford: The second seed at No. 1 singles won his first match in Division 3 last year before falling to that division’s eventual runner-up.
Kalamazoo Christian’s David Niewoonder and Dean VanElderen: After making the quarterfinals at No. 1 doubles last season despite entering unseeded, this pair comes in this weekend seeded second.
PHOTO: Novi is returning three singles champions from the 2013 LP Division 1 Final, and is favored to win the team title this weekend.
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.)