Szabo, Kingsford: Kings of Court Again
May 28, 2015
By Keith Shelton
Special for Second Half
KINGSFORD — Kingsford's Adam Szabo considers himself a hockey player first and a tennis player second.
Yet, one look at the swing of the reigning Upper Peninsula Division 1 No. 1 singles champ reveals a talent above and beyond the rest of the field. A powerful "flick of the wrist" as he would call it, that most players would envy.
Szabo had it all working for him again Wednesday at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Tennis Finals at Kingsford High School, leading his team to its second U.P. championship in the last three years.
"Adam had it going the whole season. He never let up once," said Szabo's head coach Mark Shanks.
Szabo wrapped up a dominant season, capped by his 6-0, 6-0 victory over Josh Downs of Marquette in the No. 1 singles final. Not only did Szabo go undefeated this season, he didn't drop a set. Szabo has only one loss over the last three seasons; Downs has the distinction of putting the lone blemish on Szabo's outstanding career at Kingsford.
It's a loss the Kingsford senior wishes he had back.
"That was a pretty rough match on my part. An off day, you could say," Szabo said of his loss to Downs last season. "I wish I could have that match last year back, but this was a great end to the road. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
Szabo said he holds scholarship offers from several Division II and III colleges to continue his tennis career, but isn't sure that's where his heart is.
"There's some schools talking, but I don't know if I want to," Szabo said. "I don't put a lot of time into this. I might go to college, enlist in the National Guard. I could play; I'm just not sure I want to."
Shanks is certain Szabo was a key part to the Flivvers' resurgence in tennis.
"I've known Adam since he was a second-grader, hanging out at the courts all the time near my house," he said. "I can't take credit for everything he's got; God gave him a lot of gifts, but I was out there to throw him a lot of balls.
"He's one of my top players,” Shanks added. “His brother who is four years apart was also a U.P. champ all four years. They're both good hockey players. Their father (Tony Szabo) gave them good genetics. He played on Northern Michigan University's national championship team in 1991."
Kingsford won the title with 16 points, winning five of eight flights. They were followed by Negaunee at 12, Marquette 10, Menominee 10, Gladstone 1, and Escanaba 1.
Also winning titles for the Flivvers were Chris Roell at No. 3 singles, Alek Shanks at No. 4 singles, Dan Harrington and Joe Gregory at No. 1 doubles, and Noah Voss and Austin VanPembrook at No. 3 doubles.
Harrington and Gregory won the No. 1 doubles title for the second straight year, battling out a heavily contested match against Karl Bittner and Alex Roth of Negaunee 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
"We had our ups and downs today," said Harrington. "It was a little shakier than the last time we played them. They gave us a tough time."
Added Gregory, "We dropped the second set because we weren't playing aggressive enough. We picked it up at the end though."
Shanks was especially proud of his No. 3 doubles team that finished undefeated despite a switch of partners midway through the season. His son, Alek, won at No. 4 singles, defeating Negaunee's Ben Luke 7-6 (8), 6-2.
"That's the reason I'm still here, truthfully," Shanks said of the opportunity to coach his son. "I would have seen this group of kids through, but he'll keep me around a couple more years. It's always fun to see your own blood and kin out there playing. He lost three times to Luke this season. Last year, it was just the opposite. Alek beat Luke three times and then lost to him in the finals. They reversed roles this year."
The champions certainly earned it on this sporadic weather day. The start of the tournament was delayed three hours due to morning rain. There were further rain delays caused by brief downpours later on. Coaches squeegeed the courts in an effort to dry them faster, while players rested up. Most seemed to think the delays were a welcome reprieve.
"The rain delays actually helped," said Marquette's Noah Gannon, who won the No. 2 singles flight. "I was pretty tired after my semifinal match with Ryan Syrjala (a 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-1 victory). The rain delays gave me a break to re-focus myself and get the job done."
Gannon fought off Menominee's Nathan Nowack in the final 6-3, 7-5, overcoming Nowack's powerful serve.
"It got pretty intense toward the end," said Gannon. "His serve was really hard to return. Eventually, I just pulled it out. I really felt confident in this match. I could feel the momentum coming through after I beat Syrjala"
Negaunee captured the No. 2 doubles flight, and Menominee won the No. 4 doubles flight.
Gladstone and Escanaba each advanced one flight to the semifinals before bowing out. Gladstone head coach Dan Williams had to tip his hat to the champions from Kingsford, who eliminated the Braves' No. 1 doubles team of Tyler Wells and Jeremy Kadish.
"Kingsford is the No. 1 team, so if you're going to lose to any team, you want to go out playing the best," Williams said.
The U.P. title is the third in Kingsford boys tennis history. Prior to the 2013 title, the first came back in 1953. Shanks said the team has had fun trying to compare the 2013 and 2015 teams, but he leans toward the 2015 team.
"This team will go down as the best team record-wise in the history of Kingsford school," he said. "We were 14-0 in dual meets; eight of those were 8-0 shutouts. We were 5-0 in tournaments. This is the first Kingsford team to go undefeated and sweep all five tournaments."
PHOTOS: (Top) Kingsford's Adam Szabo returns a shot on the way to repeating as U.P. Division 1 champion at No. 1 singles. (Middle) Marquette's Noah Gannon earned the No. 2 singles flight championship. (Photos by Keith Shelton.)
Rising St Clair Nets 'Unattainable' Goal
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
September 25, 2019
For years, the St. Clair boys tennis team used the Macomb Area Conference Red schedule as preparation for the postseason and not much else.
As by far the smallest school in the MAC’s toughest division, the Saints regularly took their lumps against perennial Division 1 and 2 MHSAA Finals contenders Grosse Pointe South and Port Huron Northern – but always kept their focus on how it would make them stronger for the regional and state competitions.
“We put ourselves in that league to get better for the state finals,” said St. Clair coach Dave Clutts, who is in his 24th season leading the program. “The teams that are in the Red are the teams that are consistently going (to the Finals), and it was never a goal of ours to win it because it was not attainable.”
A year ago, the Saints finished second and made Clutts re-think his outlook. This year, the Saints took it a step further.
St. Clair tied Grosse Pointe South 4-4 in the league opener before defeating Grosse Pointe North (7-1), Utica Eisenhower (7-1) and Port Huron Northern (6-2) to grab a share of the title, their first in the division.
“It was very exciting, because even last year we really struggled against (Grosse Pointe) South, especially,” said St. Clair sophomore Derek Distelrath, who plays No. 1 singles. “We’ve been building our program now for a couple years, and we’ve gained a lot. When we were able to finally get a share of it this year, it was really exciting. When our coach told us he’d never had a boys team or a girls team win the MAC Red – and he’s had some really good girls teams, especially – it was really exciting.”
St. Clair’s conference title came after graduating eight starters off a team that finished a program-best eighth at the Division 3 Final a year ago. The success also came despite being at least 500 students smaller than any of its competitors.
By the latest MHSAA count, St. Clair has 780 students, well below division mates Port Huron Northern (1,284), Grosse Pointe North (1,295), Grosse Pointe South (1,510) and Utica Eisenhower (2,617). South is ranked No. 7 in Lower Peninsula Division 1 this week.
“It felt really good to be able to do it once and for all,” said St. Clair senior Eli Pinnoo, who plays No. 2 singles. “We’ve always worked hard all these years leading up to it.”
Pinnoo is one of two seniors on the team, joined by Ethan Urban who plays No. 2 doubles. They were around for the 2016 and 2017 seasons, which both ended with the Saints finishing 1-3 in the Red. In St. Clair’s time in the Red from 2005-09 (which included two seasons in 2007 because of the switch from spring to fall) and 2014-17, the Saints were 3-36-2 in divisional play.
“Because we have so many freshmen, they don’t really get it,” Clutts said. “The two seniors, it means a lot more because they’ve been getting their butts kicked and they know how hard it is.”
Amazingly, during that time, the Saints have steadily been a very strong program despite the conference losses. They’ve advanced to the MHSAA Finals 21 seasons in a row, and they won a MAC White title in 2013.
Clutts sees the program entering a new level, however.
“The big thing is the middle school program we started nine or 10 years ago,” Clutts said. “That’s where we’re getting those good kind of club players that were always at the top of our lineup, now they’re playing their role. Now we have kids who can play those top spots, and all those club players who can fill in behind them.”
Between the singles players – Distelrath, Pinnoo, No. 3 Michael Mascarin, and No. 4 Ian Pinnoo – there are only two losses, and both came in three sets. Clutts said he feels that foursome has the potential to all reach the final of their respective flights at the MHSAA championship tournament Oct. 18-19 at Kalamazoo College. Eli Pinnoo did it last year, finishing runner-up at No. 2 singles after dropping a three-setter in the final.
St. Clair’s doubles teams are inexperienced but solid, as Urban and Quinn Schwarz are the only returners from last year’s team. Schwarz plays with his sister Hadley at No. 1 doubles, while Urban plays with Joey Fajardo at No. 2. Eli Lohr and Patrick Mason are the No. 3 doubles team, and Will Wentrack and Jared Kramp are at No. 4.
The team is ranked No. 5 in LP Division 3, and has seen three of the top four teams – tying No. 4 East Grand Rapids 4-4 and losing to No. 3 Detroit Country Day and No. 2 Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood each by a score of 5-3. The Saints have a match with top-ranked Ann Arbor Greenhills coming up Oct. 2.
While scheduling tough is obviously nothing new for Clutts, what is new is the top teams seeking St. Clair out, which Clutts said is now happening as each of the top teams jockeys for seeding.
“That says a lot for sure,” Distelrath said. “With these top schools, they didn’t know who we were a couple years ago. Now they’re actively looking to play us, which is really cool because they can respect the strength of our team.”
A top-three finish at the MHSAA Finals is the goal for this year’s Saints team, and it’s something they believe is realistic. But even without that, this two-year run has already been one of, if not the most successful in the program’s history.
“It’s pretty amazing,” Eli Pinnoo said. “Just knowing that the time I’m there, that’s one of the best it’s been so far – that's just crazy.”
Paul Costanzo served as a sportswriter at The Port Huron Times Herald from 2006-15, including three years as lead sportswriter, and prior to that as sports editor at the Hillsdale Daily News from 2005-06. He can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Genesee, Lapeer, St. Clair, Sanilac, Huron, Tuscola, Saginaw, Bay, Arenac, Midland and Gladwin counties.
PHOTO: The St. Clair boys tennis team locked down its first Macomb Area Conference Red championship this month with a 3-0-1 record in league play. (Photo courtesy of the St. Clair athletic department.)