West Iron Erases Memory of Near-Miss
May 30, 2013
By Steve Brownlee
Special to Second Half
ISHPEMING — Something had been gnawing at the West Iron County High School boys tennis team for a full year.
Like an itch that’s hard to reach or a pebble stuck in your shoe while running a race, the Wykons could do little about it.
Until the end of the spring season, that is. That’s when WIC nearly doubled up the rest of the field to easily win the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 2 boys tennis championship Thursday at Westwood High School in Ishpeming.
The Iron County school lost last year’s D2 title by a single point to Westwood when its top-seeded No. 1 doubles team was upset in its first match. As the only tandem in that flight to receive a first-round bye, the Wykons lost two points with that loss, turning what would’ve been a one-point win in the meet into a loss of the same margin.
This year, however, WIC scored 21 points, nearly twice runner-up Iron Mountain’s 11. Munising, the only Class D school in the U.P. to field a team, was third with nine, followed by Ishpeming with seven, host Westwood four, Gwinn two and Norway one.
The Wykons not only won five of the meet’s eight flights, but had a representative in every championship match.
That gave the Wykons their sixth U.P. title in the past nine years. And they’ve finished worse than second only once during that stretch.
“The guys were determined that they were going to put last year behind them,” said Wykons coach Joe Serbentas, who has guided them to all six of those titles. “Everybody suffered this year (in the offseason).
“But we have a veteran team with a lot of juniors, and for plenty of them this is their third year playing varsity.”
Fully half of their players on Thursday also played for the Wykons during their 2011 championship run, a one-point victory over Iron Mountain.
In a spring that started like winter and stayed that way for far too long, in an odd way it made sense the final tennis match of the season would be played on a sweltering day.
With temperatures heading well past 80 degrees and closer to 90, the Wykons wrapped up their title not long before a typical summer afternoon thunderstorm hit the Ishpeming area.
The meet ended when WIC’s No. 1 doubles tandem of junior Andrew Peterson and senior Sean Gustafson completed a 6-0, 5-7, 7-5 victory over Iron Mountain’s Gerry Pirkola and Max Frorenza.
They were playing at the No. 1 flight, the same one that proved pivotal in the Wykons losing the title a year earlier.
“I think they had to wait awhile before they played us,” Peterson said about his opponents’ slow start. “Then in the second set, I think we started worrying about what we were doing instead of just playing.
“But we both played well in the third (set).”
The tournament wasn’t really the blowout that the final score would indicate, since Iron Mountain made five championship matches.
The problem? The Mountaineers not only lost all five, but lost each to WIC.
“I definitely thought we had a shot (at winning the title),” Iron Mountain coach Greg Stegall said. “We just came up short here and there, and West Iron didn’t.”
The Wykons also collected titles at Nos. 2 and 3 doubles, along with Nos. 3 and 4 singles, again each over a Mountaineers’ opponent in the title match.
The other three flights were claimed by the northern tier of schools at these finals, two by Munising, which has never played a home match due to a lack of playable courts anywhere in Alger County.
That was actually a factor that may have helped Munising, according to Ian McInnis, who joined fellow freshman Trevor Witty in winning the No. 4 doubles title.
“It was just like any other match, since we never play at our own place,” McInnis said about traveling to Westwood.
The biggest upset of the day may have been pulled off by Mustangs sophomore Noah Ackerman, who defeated WIC senior Austin Waara at No. 1 singles, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
Though Ackerman was the top seed, Waara was gunning for his fourth straight U.P. singles title, including his third in a row at No. 1. He won a U.P. title at No. 3 as a freshman.
Ackerman, though, is a rising star in U.P. tennis and didn’t lose a match all spring. Thursday marked the first time the pair had ever squared off in high school. They came close at last year’s U.P. Finals, when as a freshman, Ackerman was knocked out one match short of facing Waara for the No. 1 singles championship.
“He was coming up to the net a whole lot today,” Ackerman said about Waara.
His coach echoed that. “You could see that Waara had a game plan, but Noah was able to figure it out,” Munising coach Rod Gendron said. “Noah was down 2-1 in the third set and then he won the last five games. That was when he really put the pedal to the metal.”
The other champion was Ishpeming sophomore Guillermo Ansede, an exchange student, who won the No. 2 singles title with a 6-1, 7-6 (7-2) victory over WIC’s Ryan Rogers in the final.
PHOTOS: (Top) West Iron County's Andrew Peterson returns a shot during a No. 1 doubles match; he and Sean Gustafson won the flight. (Middle) Iron Mountain's Danny Willman reaches for a shot during a No. 2 doubles match. (Photos by Steve Brownlee.)
Westwood Reaches Every Flight Final in Retaking UPD2 Championship
By
Travis Nelson
Special for Second Half
June 2, 2022
ISHPEMING – On its home courts, the host Westwood boys tennis team claimed the Upper Peninsula Division 2 title by winning four flights and making the finals in all eight Thursday afternoon.
Westwood won the tournament going away with 20 points, while second place Munising’s 12 and third place Iron Mountain’s 10 provided the most turbulence. The Mustangs and Mountaineers both had two winners and four finalists. West Iron County came in fourth with six points, Ishpeming had three and Gwinn rounded out the six teams with one point.
Westwood had last won the Finals title in 2019 and finished runner-up to West Iron last season.
“We were lucky that we had everybody in the finals, which is half of the battle at UPs – getting there,” Westwood coach Sarah Massie said. “We’re happy to see everybody be able to make it there even though we weren’t necessarily favored once we were in the finals in all of the spots. Everybody played hard today, and there were some close matches that we had to get through.”
The Patriots scored victories in No. 3 and No. 4 singles, along with No. 3 and No. 4 doubles. In one of the knockout, drag-out matches that Massie referenced, Patrick Klumpp had to survive his semifinal before advancing and winning the No. 3 singles flight. Klumpp defeated Ethan Isaacson of West Iron County with the help of a tiebreaker in the second set before cruising for the title in a 6-0, 6-1 win over Munising’s Cole Whitehead.
“It’s been a rough season here and there, but today I felt great,” Klumpp said. “I love this sport, it’s fun, there’s always good competition, and it’s fun to be a part of a team.”
Westwood’s other singles winner Mason Hietikko had a bit of a different path on the way to his No. 4 singles victory. After starting the season at doubles and struggling, he made the move to singles and didn’t look back. In the final, Hietikko scooted past Iron Mountain’s Reece Kangas for the 6-1, 6-2 win.
“I think it’s amazing,” Hietikko said. “Coming out here and winning my flight is an amazing feeling. Being consistent, and not making stupid mistakes and getting in my head, was a perfect way to win.”
John Thomsen and Nick Salzwedel pulled out the No. 3 doubles win for Westwood after knocking off Munising’s Danny Goss and Aidan Gumz in the only three-set finals match 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. Rounding out the Patriots’ four victories, Jayce Patron and Mitchell Ford defeated Iron Mountain’s Dylan Kingren and Carter Kassin in No. 4 doubles 6-4, 7-5.
Westwood won both girls and boys tennis titles this school year, dating back to the girls’ Division 1 victory in September. The success of the program as of late hasn’t gone unnoticed, and it’s furthermore setting things up for the Patriots in the future.
“It’s fun to see, and it’s good for our community, and just tennis as a whole for the girls and boys to see success,” Massie said. “We just started a middle school program, so for those kids to see the high schoolers and the kids that they look up to, is just good for our tennis program and for the game of tennis.”
Munising galloped to win the other two doubles flights on the way to their second-place finish. The No. 1 doubles team for the Mustangs of Alex Vandzandt and Lucas Westcomb defeated Westwood’s Ryan LaFountain and Chase Prophet 6-2, 6-3. The pair are good friends and graduating together this year, and also won a U.P. Finals championship after not having a team for the past two seasons.
“It feels great honestly just coming out here after two years of not playing. Becoming U.P. champions is a great feeling,” Vandzandt said. “We had to search and search for a coach. Abbie Hayes came out. She’s only 20 years old, she’s still going to college, she worked hard to get to all of our practices. I’m glad we could be here, and I’m glad that a couple of our teammates could be U.P. champions.”
Munising’s No. 2 doubles team of Jesse Duran and Carson Kienitz also prevailed with a tight 6-4, 7-5 win over Westwood’s Gabe Tossava and Zak Senske. With a new core of players on the team, especially for those seniors who haven’t played in two years, the Mustangs did more than show up at U.P. Finals.
“It was very nerve-racking, but we tried to keep our cool, and keep the ball in,” Westcomb said. “We just had to get back in our groove and get back those skills from our freshman year, and get the hang of everything.”
Iron Mountain also produced a pair of winners atop of the singles flights. David Juul ended his strong season with a 6-0, 6-3 victory over Westwood’s Andrew Niemi in the No. 1 singles finale. The senior’s search for that elusive U.P. championship came to a close after falling short in his previous tries.
“I thought my backhand was on; I had a lot of kill shots with my backhand,” Juul said. “My first serve was going in a lot, so I was very happy. It feels good to get the win. Andrew (Niemi) played really well, and it was a fun match to play in.”
Brenden LaPoint was victorious at No. 2 singles for the Mountaineers with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Westwood’s Bryce Markham. LaPoint had been out most of the season with a foot injury, and he doubted that he would be able to play at all this season. With the injury still nagging him in recent weeks before getting fully healed a week ago, LaPoint’s win wasn’t as ordinary as others.
“I really wasn’t sure if I was going to make it to UPs this season with my foot injury,” LaPoint said. “It was good to be able to get back for UPs and take home the championship.”
PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming Westwood's Bryce Markham returns a volley during a No. 2 singles match Thursday. (Middle) Iron Mountain's David Juul sends a shot at No. 1 singles on the way to winning his flight. (Photos by Travis Nelson.)