Preview: Winning Streaks on the Line
October 14, 2015
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
A pair of the state’s most impressive championship winning streaks came to an end during the 2014 MHSAA Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals. But two more streaks remain alive – and at least one is expected to continue.
Ann Arbor Greenhills is seeking its eighth straight Division 4 title, which would tie it for the third longest Finals winning streak in the sport’s history. And in Division 3, Detroit Country Day is playing for its fifth straight win. Greenhills is ranked No. 1 in in the latest statewide LPD4 coaches poll; Country Day is No. 2 in LPD3.
See below for a glance at the favorites at all four tournaments this weekend, plus individuals to watch as well. Click for qualifiers and Regional results from all four divisions and Finals results as they are reported, and check back after their completion for coverage of all four tournaments.
LP Division 1 at Greater Midland Tennis Center
Top ranked: 1. Novi, 2. Troy, 3. Bloomfield Hills.
Novi broke Ann Arbor Huron’s three-year winning streak a year ago with its first title, and now the Wildcats are expected to build a streak of their own. Troy also is seeking its first MHSAA boys tennis title, and Bloomfield Hills is seeking its first since the merger of the former Lahser and Andover high schools. The most recent title for either was Andover’s in LPD3 in 2005.
Novi – Six flights have top or second seeds, including all four doubles pairs. That doesn’t include Koushik Kondapi, last season’s champion at No 2 singles who is the sixth seed this time at No. 1. Alex Wen also moved up a flight after winning a title, from No. 3 last season to the second seed at No. 2. Maxx Anderson and Daniel Yu are the top seed again at No. 1 doubles after finishing runner-up last season, and Aditya Chitta and Robert Chen are second-seeded at No. 2 after making the semifinals at No. 4 in 2014. Sai Gotur and Abhishek Subash are the top seed at No. 3 after making the second round in that flight last season, and Aakash Ray and Nayan Makim are second at No. 4; Ray was part of a semifinalist at No. 2 last year.
Troy – The Colts are looking to improve on last season’s third-place finish with seven seeded flights, including three fourth seeds. Michael Faber is the fifth seed at No. 2 singles after making the quarterfinals at No. 1 in 2014, while Steve Forman is the fourth seed at No. 1 after making the No. 2 semifinals and Sandeep Raja moved up to No. 3 after making the No. 4 quarterfinals. Sai Kagithala was a quarterfinalist at No. 3 last season but moved to No. 1 doubles where he’s part of the fifth seed with Kevin Fietsam.
Bloomfield Hills – The Black Hawks will look to contend after finishing 10th a year ago on the strength of a singles lineup featuring two top seeds and all four flights seeded no lower than fourth. Constantine Hemmrich is the number one at No. 3 singles after playing No. 2 in 2014, and Brad Silverman comes in as top-seeded at No. 4 after making the semifinals last time. Josh Mukherjee is second-seeded at No. 1 after making the semifinals at that flight last season, and Andrew Zhang is fourth-seeded at No. 2.
Northville’s Connor Johnston – The top-seeded senior at No. 1 singles is looking to finish with another title to go with his championship at No. 2 as a freshman. He finished runner-up at No. 1 the last two seasons.
Ann Arbor Pioneer’s Ian Yi – He’s back as the third seed at No. 1 after making the semifinals last season and after winning No. 2 singles as a freshman in 2013.
Port Huron Northern’s Chris Adams – He’s the top seed at No. 2 singles after falling to Kondapi in three sets in the final last season.
Ann Arbor Huron’s Austin Choi and Robert Dong – Choi, a junior, won the No. 1 doubles title last season with Jason Chen and this time is top-seeded with Dong, a sophomore.
Other returning 2014 flight champions – Ann Arbor Huron’s Brenden Chen (No. 3 doubles last season, No. 1 doubles this season with Justin Park).
Division 2 at Holly
Top ranked: 1. Portage Central, 2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central, 3. Midland Dow.
Forest Hills Central ended Dow’s five-year run atop LPD2 a year ago, but Portage Central is favored to win its first title since sharing the championship in spring 2007 – with an interesting side note that Central co-coach Erik Anderson led East Lansing to back-to-back titles in fall 2007 and 2008. Dow and Portage Central tied for third last season, six points behind the champ.
Portage Central – The Mustangs have either the first or second seed at every flight and reigning runners-up at the top two singles spots in top-seeded No. 1 Bill Duo and second-seeded No. 2 Ben Orwin. Lucas Guy and Camilo Bautista round out the singles lineup with two more second seeds at Nos. 3 and 4, and the Nos. 2-4 doubles pairs are all second seeded as well. Kento Hirakawa and Cameron Raedy are the top seed at No. 1; Raedy was part of a semifinalist at No. 1 last season with Sahil Tandon (now No. 2 doubles), and Hirakawa made the semifinals at No. 3 singles.
Forest Hills Central – The Rangers are seeded to win two flights after winning four on the way to the team title in 2014. Jacob Wiltjer is the reigning champion at No. 4 singles and seeded first, while Peyton Herbert and Mike Battiste are top-seeded at No. 4 doubles. Humzah Azeem teams with Reed Aleck at No. 1 doubles, and although they are unseeded, Azeem was part of the champion at No. 3 doubles last season. Sophomore Connor Genschaw is the second seed at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals last season after entering unseeded.
Dow – The singles lineup includes two top seeds and a pair of former individual champions. Michael Szabo owns two titles at No. 4 singles and a third at No. 3, plus the MHSAA career wins and career 6-0, 6-0, wins records, and is the top seed at No. 2 this weekend. Varun Shanker won No. 3 singles in 2013 and is the fourth seed at No. 1, and Tyler Conrad is the top seed at No. 3 this time.
Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern’s Jacob Dennen – He was upset in the second round at No. 1 singles as the fifth seed last season, but is back as the third seed this time.
Detroit U-D Jesuit’s Louis Wyre and Joey Wilson – They are the second seed at No. 1 doubles after finishing runner-up at No. 2 in 2014 as a fourth seed.
LP Division 3 at Holland
Top ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 2. Detroit Country Day, 3. Holland Christian.
Country Day has won four straight LPD3 championships and beat runner-up Cranbrook Kingswood by seven points last season while scoring a near-perfect 39 – but Cranbrook Kingswood beat Country Day at last week’s MHSAA Regional. One of those two teams has won the last seven championships and they faced off in all eight flight finals in 2014. Holland Christian finished fourth last season and is seeking its first MHSAA title since 1965.
Cranbrook Kingswood – The Cranes are seeded first at seven flights and second at the eighth. Marc Sable was No. 2 runner-up last season and is the top seed at No. 1, switching spots with Benji Jacobson, the reigning No. 1 singles runner-up and this time the top seed at No. 2. Michael Bian is the top seed at No. 3 after finishing runner-up last season, and top-seeded No. 1 doubles pair Nolan Trepeck and Matthew Gerard were part of runners-up at Nos. 2 and 1, respectively. Brandon Kerr and Colin Petzold are top-seeded at No. 3 after finishing runner-up at No. 4.
Country Day – The Yellowjackets have the other top seed and seven second seeds, although three of those second seeds were flight champions last season and are seeded second after falling to Cranbrook Kingswood players at the Regional. Noah Karoub will be looking to repeat at No. 1, while Jakob Gahn moved from No. 2 after winning No. 3 and Michael Khaghany moved to No. 3 after winning No. 4. Damian Runkle and Adam Junn are teamed up as the second seed at No. 1 doubles after Runkle won with a different partner last year and Junn was part of the title-winning pair at No. 2. They, Karoub and Gahn are all seeking their third MHSAA flight championships. No. 4 singles Alex Mettler is the team’s lone top seed.
Holland Christian – The Maroons are seeded at every flight with third seeds at six flights. Ryan Rhoades made the semifinals at No. 3 last season and is second-seeded at No. 2, and Mark Glover and Johan Buurma were semifinalists at No. 3 doubles in 2014 and are part of seeded pairs at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.
LP Division 4 at Kalamazoo College
Top ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 3. Traverse City St. Francis.
Greenhills has won seven straight LPD4 titles and eight of the last nine, and cleared the field by 11 points a year ago. University Liggett was runner-up and St. Francis finished third at 22 and 21 points, respectively. Liggett last won a title in 2002, and St. Francis is seeking its first top-two finish.
Greenhills – The Gryphons' recent success has been based in doubles, with the team winning 11 of 12 flight championships over the last three seasons. Greenhills has a top seed and three second seeds at doubles this time, but also three top seeds in singles – No. 2 Sam Talsma, No. 3 Gage Feldeisen and No. 4 Andy Xie. Feldeisen was the champion at No. 3 in 2014, while Talsma was part of the champ at No. 1 doubles and Xie part of the No. 2 doubles winner. Brandon Johnson was Talsma’s partner and this season is part of the second-seeded No. 1 pair with Jack Harris.
University Liggett – The Knights are seeded at every flight, led by top seeds Casey Scoggin and Alec Azar at No. 3 doubles and Kester Stefani and Craig Buhler at No. 4. Alex Dow and Dave Sekhon were the runner-up last season at No. 2; Sekhon is teaming with Will Gersch to form the second-seeded pair at No. 2, and Dow and Thomas Van Pelt are third-seeded at No. 1. Second-seeded Christian Illitch at No. 2 has the team’s highest singles position.
St. Francis – Seven seeded flights will lead the Gladiators’ pursuit of its top finish ever, led by second seeds Tyler Spigarelli at No. 3 singles and Victor Casler at No. 4. Ryan Navin was part of the No. 4 doubles runner-up last season and teams with Joe Primeau as the third-seeded pair at No. 2.
Otsego’s Luke Ford – He’s the top seed at No. 1 singles after making the semifinals as the second seed last season.
Williamston’s Oliver Weaver – A quarterfinalist as an unseeded player last season, he was eliminated by Ford and enters as the second seed at No. 1.
Kalamazoo Hackett’s Henry Hedeman – Last season’s champion at No. 2 singles moves up a flight and enters as the third seed.
Whitehall’s Eric Butzer and Alec Milliron – The top-seeded pair at No. 1 doubles is made up of a No. 2 singles player from last season in Butzer and a No. 2 doubles player in Milliron.
PHOTO: Northville’s Connor Johnston returns a volley during last season’s No. 1 singles championship match in Lower Peninsula Division 1. (Click for more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)
Midland Dow Travels Little to Go Far
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
October 15, 2022
MIDLAND — Midland Dow's boys tennis team didn’t have to travel far to claim another MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 2 title Saturday at the Midland Tennis Center.
With top performers in every flight, the hometown Chargers were well-represented in their quest for the championship trophy, leading the likes of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, which made a late charge; Mattawan, Birmingham Seaholm and Birmingham Groves.
Dow finished with 32 points, followed by Northern with 27 and Seaholm at 22.
All seven Finals team titles have come under coach Terry Schwartzkopf, who was the face of frustration as things got close during the semifinals. The Chargers previously had won titles in 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016.
Dow lost semifinal matches at No. 1 singles and No. 1 doubles. But sophomore and top seed at No. 4 singles Nimai Patel clinched the championship for Dow with a 6-3, 3-6, 6-0 victory over Sebastian Madlangbayan of Forest Hills Northern.
“I started out pretty strong, I was up 4-0 and then he started playing really well,’’ said Patel. “I started feeling the pressure. I finished out the first set, but the second set I was up 3-2 and my foot started cramping. I started hitting out every single ball. I had to regroup. I put some cream on where I was cramping, and I started playing a lot better.''
Patel said he understood Schwartzkopf’s frustration.
“We’re a very talented team and we were capable of getting through every flight,’’ said Patel. “We finished third last year. So, to get through this year and win was great.’’
Grosse Poitne South senior Connor Stafford upset top seed Sammy Yin of Forest Hills Central 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to claim the No. 1 singles title.
“I felt like I made a lot of silly errors in the first set,’’ said Stafford. “I thought the match turned when I was up 4-1 in the second set. Mentally I was concentrating on hitting my shots. I didn’t want to lose my last high school match. It was great to get here and win.’’
Dow claimed No. 2 singles when top seed Aaron Li came back from losing the first set and prevailed, 1-6, 6-2, 6-1 over Karan Deol of Forest Hills Northern.
Li advanced to the final at No. 2 Singles when Chris Shang of Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central had to retire because of cramping.
“In the first set I didn’t have a good forehand,’’ said Li. “My coach talked to me after the first set, and I was able to find my forehand.
"We were hungry for the title this year. Coach will be happy for us.’’
Nolan Ackerman of Mattawan won No. 3 singles over Logan Yu of Dow, 6-3, 6-7 (8-6), 6-1.
Rivals Groves and Seaholm played for the fourth time this year in No. 1 doubles. Seaholm won all four with Alex Lewis and Zane Chutkow earning the title 6-3, 6-4.
“We just bring the fight every time we face them,’’ said Lewis. “We can say we’ve never lost to Groves.’’
Dow captured No. 2 doubles as top seed Roofy Elsaadany and Aiden Tanis won 6-1, 6-2, in their final.
“It was a long year,’’ said Elsaadany. “I was out three weeks. We worked hard to get to this point.’’
Added Tanis: “Everything we did was to get to this point. The hard work paid off.’’
At No. 3 double,s Dow’s top seed Vishagen Karthikeyan and Shubhan Nagarkar lost to Northern’s Kyle Cornell and Tanay Shenoy 2-6, 6-2, 7-5.
No. 4 doubles went to Seaholm’s Ricky Sparby and Nick Kelley with a 6-3, 6-1 victory.
PHOTOS (Top) Midland Dow celebrates its latest Division 2 championship. (Middle) Mattawan's Nolan Ackerman sends back a volley on the way to winning the No. 3 singles title. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)