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.)
Greenhills Near-Perfect in New Division
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 19, 2019
KALAMAZOO — Saturday was a perfect day for tennis and almost perfect for Ann Arbor Greenhills.
The Gryphons grabbed 39 of 40 points to win the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Boys Tennis Finals at Kalamazoo College’s Stowe Stadium.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood and Detroit Country Day tied for second with 24 points each, while East Grand Rapids and St. Clair tied for fourth with 22.
This is the first year in Division 3 for Greenhills, the D-4 reigning champ who had won that division nine of the last 11 years.
“We were looking forward to coming in to see what it’s like (in D-3),” Greenhills coach Eric Gajar said.
“It lived up to expectations. There are a lot of very good teams here on the second day of the tournament. We did well (Friday), but the kids felt it was a step up.”
Greenhills, which clinched the team title in the semifinal round, had the top seed in every flight except No. 4 singles.
That was a motivator for Gryphons freshman Chakor Rajendra, the second seed at that flight.
“He had a little chip on his shoulder because he had such a good year and was undefeated,” Gajar said.
“But then in three doubles, we were the one seed and lost to some guys seeded lower. That’s why you go out and play. Anything can happen.”
Rajendra defeated the top seed, St. Clair freshman Ian Pinnoo, 6-3, 6-3, and lost just two games heading into the final.
“I never knew that high school tennis could be this fun,” he said. “I’m part of a great team with so many amazing people.
“I learned a lot from this experience. I play USTA tournaments, and this is going to definitely transfer some of these things I’ve learned and help me become a better player and a better person overall.”
As for being seeded second, “I wanted to prove that I had what it took to be a state champion,” he said.
“I just wanted to do the best I could. Seeding is great, but in the end it doesn’t matter.”
Playing on adjacent courts, a pair of brothers, Kaan and Mert Oral, also took home championship medals.
At No. 1 singles, Mert, a sophomore, defeated St. Clair’s third seed, Derek Distelrath, 6-4, 6-2.
At No. 2, Kaan, a senior, beat St. Clair’s second seed, Eli Pinnoo, in a 6-2, 7-6(11) barn-burner.
Playing behind his younger brother is not a problem for the senior.
“Last year he played No. 3 singles, and I played No. 2,” Kaan Oral said. “He grew a lot and got a lot better. I’m happy for him.”
The No. 1 singles match finished first and “I didn’t want him to one-up me,” the senior said.
“There were intervals in my match when I was somewhat distracted with his match a little bit because I wanted him to win so badly, especially since he was down in his first set and had to claw back.”
Oral was up 2-0 in the second set, but then the momentum changed.
“(Pinnoo) hit some good shots, attacked more and was more aggressive,” he said. “I had like 10 set points.”
Pinnoo said the cheers from teammates helped motivate him.
“I kept fighting, keeping him in the point, making him move, tiring him out,” Pinnoo said.
“I just don’t give up and keep fighting for every point. I was trying to win for the team.”
Mert Oral admitted that being a top seed leads to a bit of extra pressure.
“I just tried not to focus on the seed (Friday) and play my way into the tournament and get a feel for everything.
“(Saturday), I was really able to find my A game.”
In the semifinal, “The guy (No. 4 seed Ben Collins of East Grand Rapids) brought the best out of me, and in the finals that was a great match. I was able to just get by.
“I mean, I had to come back in the first. It was just trusting my game.”
Distelrath upset No. 2 seed Nikolas Gruskin of Detroit Country Day, 6-3, 6-4, in the semifinal.
“It felt good because I lost to him in a full third during the regular season, and I was glad I got to play him again and get a chance to get some revenge,” he said.
Facing Oral, “He’s very good,” Distelrath said. “I went in with the mentality that I’ll give my best and work my hardest until I’m out of gas.”
At No. 3 singles, another freshman, Rishi Verma, defeated St. Clair’s Michael Mascarin, the second seed, 6-3, 6-2.
Verma was broken twice to start the match down 0-3, but “it feels nice to bring it back and then bring it home.
“I generally don’t like to be the top seed, actually, because of the pressure. But I guess it worked out this time.”
Verma said he was inspired by his teammates.
“I looked at my teammates, and they were all fighting, too,” he said. “I was like, we came all this way.
“You’ve just gotta push, gotta put in that effort and find that extra gear, and I did.”
Detroit Country Day’s second seeds at No. 3 doubles, Clay Hartje and Aidan Khaghany, spoiled Greenhills’ team sweep attempt with a 6-4, 6-3 win over top seeds Nathan Rosenberg and Finn Feldeisen.
Both teams advanced to the finals with three-set wins in their semifinals.
At No. 1 doubles, Henry Branch and Sahil Deenadayalu defeated Grant Moorhead and Tanner Warners, the second seeds from Grand Rapids Christian, 6-1, 6-1.
At No. 2, Joey Formicola and Daniel Stojanov beat Cranbrook’s second seeds, Hayes Bradley and David Hermelin, 6-3, 6-2.
At No. 4, Alex Schwendeman and Thomas Zeng defeated Cranbrook’s second seeds, Calvi Teste and Ben Conti, 6-2, 6-3.
PHOTOS: (Top) Greenhills’ Kaan Oran reacts after winning a 13-11 second-set tie-break at No. 2 singles. (Middle) Greenhills’ Chakor Rajendra. (Below) St. Clair's Michael Mascarin serves at No. 3 singles. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)