Troy, Northville's Kumar Lead Charge of 1st-Time Champions
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 16, 2021
KALAMAZOO — The rain poured outside, but the thunderous roars were bouncing off the walls inside the Markin Racquet Center at Kalamazoo College, boosting Troy’s boys tennis team to its first MHSAA Finals championship
The senior-laden Colts amassed 30 points at the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 1 championship tournament that lasted until well into Friday evening.
Bloomfield Hills finished second with 26 points, followed by Northville with 23, Novi with 21, and Ann Arbor Pioneer at 17.
An ecstatic Colts coach Brian Miska praised his entire team for its play. Troy won two flights but picked up necessary points by advancing deep into other brackets.
“This (championship) is the first one in the history of the Troy High boys program,” he said. “It’s a very special day for the city.”
Miska said the title is especially significant because “we don’t have any super star USTA players, nationally-ranked kids. We just have a bunch of guys who work their (butts) off. That means a lot to us.”
Always tough Okemos, which won the Division 1 title last year, moved to Division 2 this year.
“We played them this year, beat them twice this year,” Miska said “But they’re still a strong team.
“We always want the competition. This group doesn’t fear anyone.”
Miska, Troy’s head coach since 2012, has a strong connection with his team.
“We have seven seniors in the lineup, nine seniors overall,” he said.
“It’s been really special for me because I’ve known a lot of these kids since they were in middle school and 10th graders, when they were new varsity players. Seeing their progression over the years has been really fun for me.”
Two of those players are the No. 1 doubles team, seniors Andrew Wang and Nikhil Tatineni, who entered as the top seeds.
Their semifinal win clinched the team title.
However, they ran into a tough Northville team in the final, losing to second seeds Quinn Cassar and Adi Pundhir, both seniors, 1-6, 7-5, 7-6(3).
That finale was the top seeds’ second consecutive three-setter.
“I was tired, but in all honesty, the nerves and all the energy here was so much, I wasn’t worried about the energy,” Tatineni said.
“I went in with the same mentality. I think in the (semifinal) match, I was more focused, more zoned in. I just blocked out everything else and focused on my match.”
Wang said the short break between matches was a factor.
“For me, it was definitely nerves,” he said. “We came from a three-set match against Huron and 30 or 45 minutes later we had to play Northville.
“We were trying to quickly drink water, do everything, but it’s all right. We got a (team) state championship.”
This was the first season the Northville duo was paired, but that was definitely not a problem.
“We’ve known each other since middle school, so the chemistry’s there,” Pundhir said.
“Throughout the season, we’ve been practicing hard, slowly getting better throughout the season. I think this was our big moment to win.”
Cassar said the crowd was a motivating factor.
“It’s the best crowd we’ve had my four years,” he said. “It was so loud. We had other teams cheering for us, too, which was awesome also.
“We got loud, we started talking to each other, slowing it down. We started thinking through it more and things started going our way.”
One of the premier matches of the tournament was a battle between a pair of sophomore seed-breakers, who are friends off the court but faced each other for the first time in high school competition.
Northville’s Sachiv Kumar, the fifth seed, defeated unseeded Clay Anderson, from Rochester, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(5) for the No. 1 singles title.
The three-hour match was the second in a row for Kumar, who upset top seed Noah Roslin, a Bloomfield Hills senior, 6-7(6), 6-0, 7-5, in the semifinals.
Following finals match, Kumar was sprawled in his courtside chair, catching his breath.
“I didn’t think I had enough energy left from the last match,” he said. “I guess I did. I just went for it.
“I actually practiced with him last week.”
Anderson, who upset the second and sixth seeds to advance, knew what to expect from his friend.
“I know his game, but I feel like it’s tough for me to go against him,” he said. “He’s got good ground strokes on the baseline and controls the point pretty fast.
“I knew his game so I knew I had to be ready for what he had.”
Bloomfield Hills had the top seeds at all four singles flights, and won the other three.
At No. 2, junior Daniel Stojanov defeated third seed Derek Blackwell, from Troy, 6-0, 6-0.
“I think it was the confidence factor, playing him for the third time,” Stojanov said. “I was confident in my forehand today, which helped a lot.”
The Black Hawks had a young team with Roslin the only senior.
A key for next season is “I think our young team improving in the offseason, getting better every day and keep being excited about tennis,” said Stojanov, who also won a Finals title at No. 2 doubles as a freshman.
At No. 3 singles, Pierce Shaya defeated second seed Noah Vogel, of Ann Arbor Pioneer, 6-1, 6-0.
A freshman playing in his first Finals, Shaya said: “It’s really fun. Four amazing matches. It started off pretty rough (Thursday) with the rain, but everybody was patient and it was run really well.”
Shaya lost just seven games the entire tournament.
“I’ve trained my whole life for this, and it’s been an amazing adventure.,” he said “A lot of wins and a lot of losses, and I’ve learned a lot from them.”
In a No. 4 singles showdown of sophomores, Aaron Rose defeated Troy’s Haresh Anand, the second seed, 6-2, 6-2.
Rose lost just six games the entire tournament, and drew confidence from having won his two earlier meetings with Anand this season.
“I expect to see him a lot more,” Rose said. “It was a fun match.”
Troy had the top seeds in all four doubles flights, winning two with senior Aryan Gupta and junior Srihari Ananthalwan at No. 2 and seniors Pranav Bellad and Zach Saad at No. 3.
Bloomfield Hills’ fourth seeds, freshman Dominic Pascarela and sophomore Ethan Endelman won the No. 4 doubles title.
PHOTOS (Top) Troy celebrates its first MHSAA Finals championship in boys tennis Friday evening. (Middle) Bloomfield Hills’ Pierce Shaya returns a volley during Thursday’s opening rounds on the way to eventually winning No. 3 singles and helping the Black Hawks finish second as a team. (Top photo by Pam Shebest; middle photo by High School Sports Scene.)
Finals Preview: Old Favorites, New Possibilities Highlight Title Pursuits
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
October 13, 2022
The favorites are often familiar at the Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals. But last season showed us there’s plenty of room for new achievements – and with more possibilities this weekend.
Troy in Division 1 and Traverse City St. Francis in Division 4 were first-time champions last fall, and Northville and Big Rapids are among candidates hoping to make similar history as play begins Thursday in Division 4 and Friday in the other three brackets. All championship matches will be played Saturday.
See below for a look at several contenders, and check out the MHSAA Website for brackets and more (Final rounds will be played at sites listed first below):
Lower Peninsula Division 1 at Hope College & Holland Christian
Top-ranked: 1. Bloomfield Hills, 2. Troy, 3. Northville
Troy was first with 30 points, Bloomfield Hills second with 26 and Northville third with 23 last season, and they figure to dominate the top of the standings again in some order. Bloomfield Hills is seeking its first championship since winning back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, while Northville is playing for its first top-two finish.
Bloomfield Hills: The Black Hawks enter this weekend with four top-seeded flights, three second-seeded flights and a fourth seed. Senior Daniel Stojanov is seeded first at No. 2 singles and the reigning champion at that flight, while junior Aaron Rose is the second seed at No. 3 singles after winning No. 4 last year. Freshman Connor Shaya is the top seed at No. 4 singles, with seniors Drew Davis and Toni Vasile top-seeded at No. 3 doubles and junior Kierth Lingam and sophomore Dominic Pascarella top-seeded at No. 4. Pascarella won the No. 4 flight last season with a different partner.
Troy: The Colts’ repeat pursuit will be keyed by seven seeded flights, including the favorites at No. 1 and No. 2 doubles – seniors Srihari Ananthalwan and Rushil Kagithala, and freshman Derrick Kim and junior Nish Palepu, respectively. Ananthalwan was part of the No. 2 champion last season, and two singles players are returning Finals runners-up – junior Derek Blackwell, who played No. 2 in 2021 and is seeded eighth at No. 1; and Haresh Anand, who played No. 4 last season and moved to No. 2 this fall.
Northville: Sachiv Kumar was a headliner last season jumping from the fifth seed to the No. 1 singles championship, and he’s seeded second at that flight this time. All eight Mustangs flights are seeded, including two more in the second slots – sophomore Josh Kim at No. 4 singles, and senior Varun Varre and sophomore Brian Zhang at No. 4 doubles.
Clayton Anderson, Rochester junior: Another incredible story from last season, the reigning No. 1 singles runner-up made his run to the championship match while unseeded. This fall he is 22-0, with an early-season win over Kumar.
Dimitri Moriarty, Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice senior: Last season’s second seed is the third seed this time and enters 20-3, with those defeats to Kumar, Anderson and LPD3 No. 1 singles top seed Owen DeMuth of Cranbrook Kingswood.
Lower Peninsula Division 2 at Midland Tennis Center & Midland High
Top-ranked: 1. Midland Dow, 2. Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern, 3 Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central
Birmingham Groves last fall ended Forest Hills Northern’s two-year reign atop this division, edging the Huskies by a point 27-26 while Dow tied for third with 20. Groves is ranked No. 6 heading into this weekend, while Dow is seeking its first championship since 2016. Dow and Forest Hills Northern both are undefeated, but tied in an Aug. 27 match. FHN’s other tie came against No. 4 Mattawan. Forest Hills Central is seeking its first championship since winning back-to-back in 2014 and 2015, and its losses are once to FHN, twice to Dow and once to No. 5 Birmingham Seaholm.
Midland Dow: All eight Chargers flights are seeded third or higher, with five top seeds. Senior Thomas Ladwein is seeded first at No. 1 doubles with junior Boaz Qui after winning the flight last year with now-junior Aaron Li – the top seed at No. 2 singles. Junior Roofy Elsaadany and senior Aiden Tanis are the top seed at No. 2, with junior Vishagen Karthikeyan and senior Shubhan Nagarkar the top seeds at No. 3 doubles. Sophomore Nimai Patel is the top seed at No. 4 singles. Sophomore Austin King is the third seed at No. 1 after reaching the quarterfinals last season.
Forest Hills Northern: Seven flights are seeded, and all seven are seeded fourth or higher with two singles and three doubles pairs on the second seed lines. Senior Anderson Halland was part of the No. 2 doubles champion last season and is teaming up with junior Aidan Beyer for the fourth seed at No. 1. Senior Kyle Wang is back after finishing runner-up last year at No. 3 doubles, and he’s seeded second at No. 2 this weekend with junior Sam Deroos.
Forest Hills Central: No. 1 singles senior Sammy Yin is the top seed at the top flight, with six more flights seeded between third and fifth in their respective brackets. Yin made the semifinals last season, also as the top seed, and enters the weekend 32-3 with two wins over King this fall.
Connor Stafford, Grosse Pointe South senior: He’s seeded second at No. 1 singles after also reaching the semifinals last season. He’s 14-3 and defeated Yin on Sept. 10 in their lone match this fall.
Nolen Kovan, Birmingham Groves senior: The reigning No. 1 singles runner-up upset Yin last year to reach the championship match and is back as the fourth seed. He’s 17-7 but with five losses to LPD1 contenders and the two LPD2 defeats to Yin and King, those two both coming Aug. 27. He defeated Stafford last week in their lone meeting of the season.
Lower Peninsula Division 3 at Mason, East Lansing & Haslett
Top-ranked: 1. Ann Arbor Greenhills, 2. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, 3. Detroit Country Day
No team other than the three mentioned above has finished among the top two in this division since 2013, and no one else has won the Division 3 title outside of those three since the first fall LP boys tennis season in 2007. Cranbrook has won the last two team championships and six of the last seven, with Greenhills claiming the 2019 title. The Cranes won last season with 32 points, five more than Country Day and seven more than the third-place Gryphons. Greenhills defeated Country Day by six points to win last week’s Regional.
Ann Arbor Greenhills: For the first time since 2018, three-time No. 1 singles champion Mert Oral isn’t topping the lineup. But senior Chakor Rajendra has taken over and earned the top seed coming off the No. 3 singles title last season and having won the No. 4 championship when he was a freshman. Total, the Gryphons are seeded first at seven flights. Senior Rishi Verma is the reigning champion at No. 2 singles and the top seed at that flight as he seeks his third title after also winning No. 3 in 2019, while sophomore Kabir Rajendra is the top seed at No. 3 singles after finishing runner-up at No. 4 last fall. Greenhills didn’t make a doubles final in 2021, but is seeded to sweep with senior Mustafa Zirapury and junior Alex Ye at No. 1, senior Ismael Metwally and junior Lucas Nor at No. 2, seniors Arjun Prabhakar and Dylan Carvette at No. 3 and junior Charles Branch and freshman Ajay Purohit at No. 4.
Cranbrook Kingswood: All eight flights are seeded second, third or fourth, with five second seeds and some experienced contenders leading the way. Senior Owen DeMuth is seeded second at No. 1 singles after finishing runner-up the last two seasons at that flight. Junior Caden Che is the third seed at No. 3 coming off last season’s championship at No. 4 singles. Junior Andrew Fink is seeded second at No. 1 doubles with freshman Jace Bernard after winning No. 2 last season with sophomore Ryan Michaels, who is seeded fourth at No. 2 singles. Sophomore Aryan Tiwari was part of the No. 4 doubles runner-up last year and this weekend is seeded second at No. 2 with senior Evan Foltyn.
Detroit Country Day: All eight flights are seeded, with freshman Luke Zhang leading the way as the top seed at No. 4 singles and senior Clay Hartje the second seed at No. 3. Hartje was part of the No. 3 doubles champion in 2019 and the No. 2 doubles runner-up last fall.
Michael Mascarin, St. Clair senior: The No. 3 singles runner-up as a freshman, Mascarin played No. 1 doubles last season (reaching the semifinals) and is the third seed at No. 1 singles this weekend. He’s 24-5 with two losses to DeMuth and a third to Chakor Rajendra.
Landon Coates, Stevensville Lakeshore senior: The fourth seed at No. 1 singles is 20-1, his only loss coming in August. He also was in the No. 1 bracket last season, but unseeded.
Lower Peninsula Division 4 at Kalamazoo College & Western Michigan University
Top-ranked: 1. Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett, 2. Traverse City St. Francis, 3. Big Rapids
Traverse City St. Francis emerged from years of contention to win its first championship last fall, and should be in the mix for a repeat although 2021 runner-up University Liggett is the favorite to add to its most recent title won in 2020. St. Francis scored 34 points last season to win by seven. Big Rapids is seeking its first top-two Finals finish and should make a nice jump from last year’s tie for seventh.
University Liggett: The Knights will attempt to reclaim the championship on the strength of seeds at every flight, with two top seeds and four second seeds. Junior Sebastian Courtright was last season’s runner-up at No. 1 singles, with senior George Anusbigian runner-up at No. 2 and senior Gerry Sherer runner-up at No. 3; they are the second seeds this weekend at Nos. 1, 3 and 2, respectively. Senior Steve Wheatley and freshman Griffin Marchal are the top seed at No. 1 doubles, and senior Ryan King and freshman Niko Cooksey are top-seeded at No. 2.
Traverse City St. Francis: Four top seeds and plenty of championship experience should have the Gladiators contending deep into Saturday. Junior Tristan Bonanni is the reigning No. 2 singles champion and seeded third at No. 1, while sophomore Owen Jackson is seeded first at No. 2 singles after winning No. 3 last year and junior Chris Bobrowski is top-seeded at No. 3 coming off a runner-up finish at No. 4. Seniors Charlie King and Derek Berta are the top seeds at No. 1 doubles after winning the No. 3 title last fall, and sophomores Eli Schmude and Max King are the top seeds at No. 2.
Big Rapids: The Cardinals are seeded at six flights and also seeking their first Finals flight championship. That may come in doubles, where junior Dylan Walsh and sophomore Mason Sleeper are the second seed at No. 3 and senior Elijah Haynes and sophomore Ari Ziska are the second seed at No. 4.
Simon Caldwell, Grand Rapids West Catholic freshman: West Catholic graduated last season’s No. 1 singles champion and could have the next, as Caldwell enters his first Finals as the top seed at that flight. He’s 26-0 with half those wins by 6-0, 6-0 scores.
Daniel Pero, Brooklyn Columbia Central junior: The fourth seed at No. 1 singles made the semifinals at that flight last season as the fifth seed. He’s 13-0 and has lost five points total and none since mid-August.
PHOTO Traverse City St. Francis’ Tristan Bonanni returns a volley during a No. 2 singles match at the 2021 Lower Peninsula Division 4 Finals. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)