Westwood Back on Top of UP D2 Tennis
May 28, 2014
By Craig Remsburg
Special to Second Half
ISHPEMING — They’re b-a-a-a-a-c-k.
After a year’s absence, the Ishpeming Westwood boys tennis Patriots can again call themselves MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 2 champions.
Winning all three flights they placed in championship matches, the Patriots came away with 13 points to beat runner-up and defending champion Iron River West Iron County by two on Wednesday.
Gwinn and Munising tied for third with 10 points, followed by Iron Mountain (8), Ishpeming (2) and Norway (0) in action held at Westwood High School.
“We definitely thought it was possible for us to win,” Patriots coach Chris Jackson said, “but it didn’t play out as we thought. We thought we’d need more points to win.
“We had some help. It was more than a two-horse race, and there were four teams with at least 10 points each.”
Jackson said consistency and a non-champion, Westwood No. 1 singles player Quinn LeRoy, were keys to Wednesday’s title win — the Patriots’ second in three years.
“Everyone held their serve — their flight,” he said. “All three of our No. 1 seeds won. The fact we could hold our flights was big.
“LeRoy was a No. 2 seed and faced a good player in West Iron County’s Ryan Rogers. Quinn was able to go out there and get that point.”
Westwood got wins from Brett Fredrickson at No. 4 singles, Mitch Messing and Tristan Vitale at No. 3 doubles and Brandon Benda and Hunter Roose at No. 4 doubles.
Fredrickson said he was shaky in his first set of a 6-3, 6-0 win over West Iron’s Erick Upperstrom.
“But Coach (Jackson) told me there were some things I needed to focus on, like hitting off my front foot and not my back, and not getting my hips into the shot,” Fredrickson said. “I also let the other guy make some mistakes.”
Benda and Roose knocked off West Iron’s Ryan Peterson and Tristan Nelson, 6-2, 6-0.
“We were nervous at the start, but as time went on, we got better,” Roose said. “Our ball placement was really good.”
Added Benda: “After the fourth game (of the first set), we played with more confidence. We also tried to keep the ball in play.”
Munising’s Noah Ackerman capped an undefeated season with a win at No. 1 singles over Gwinn’s Inigo Cepeda, 6-3, 6-0.
“I was shaky at the start and started slow,” Ackerman said. “(Cepeda) started approaching the net, and I knew I couldn’t outhit him because he’s a great player and hits good strokes.
“So I tipped (the ball) up and when he approached the net, I started to pass him down the line.”
It worked as Ackerman overcame a 2-2 start to win going away for his second straight Upper Peninsula Division 2 individual title.
A senior, Ackerman said Cepeda — an exchange student from Madrid, Spain — started losing confidence midway through the first set, enabling the Mustangs netter to “focus on what I was doing.”
Cepeda might have been unsettled on the court. He broke the strings on his racket in the first set and had to use that of No. 2 singles teammate Micah Heat the rest of the match.
“Inigo is more of a clay player, too,” Gwinn coach Dan Turecky said. “He plays a European style with more power. But (Ackerman’s) control won today.”
West Iron got wins from Andrew Peterson at No. 2 singles and Adam Newby at No. 3.
“We both rallied well in the first set,” Peterson said of his 7-5, 6-3 win over Micah Heath of Gwinn. “We both had good ground strokes.
“In the second set, he was up 2-1. Then I just tried to hit the ball as hard as I could.”
West Iron coach Joe Serbentas, whose Wykons have won a U.P. title six times in the last 10 years, said he and his netters were “disappointed” in their runner-up finish.
“A couple of our flights in doubles didn’t perform as well as we wanted,” he said. “My No. 1 and No. 2 were top seeds, but didn’t get any points. We struggled there.”
Gwinn placed four flights in the finals, but managed to win just one — a 6-2, 6-4 triumph at No. 2 doubles by Mason Bruce and Erik Asplund over Munising’s Joel Werner and Nick Cerone.
“Our serving was good today. We had a lot of aces,” said Bruce, who left the courts immediately afterward to play baseball Wednesday evening for the Channing American Legion baseball team. “Our net play was good, too.”
Turecky said he was “very pleased” with having four Gwinn flights in the finals.
“But we only won one. We didn’t pull through those points, ” he lamented. “We went up against some good players. ”
Iron Mountain picked up a win at No. 1 doubles as Sawyer Kujala and Danny Willman outlasted Gwinn’s Jesse Mottes and Nick Bjork, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-2.
Click for championship match results.
PHOTOS: (Top) Munising's Noah Ackerman returns the ball to his Gwinn No. 1 singles opponent during the Division 2 U.P. Finals on Wednesday at Westwood High School. (Middle) Iron Mountain's Sawyer Kujala hits the ball back to his Gwinn No. 1 doubles opponents on the way to winning the flight. (Photos by Adelle Whitefoot).
Bay City John Glenn focused on Fun with Goals Accomplished, Legacy Secure
By
Paul Costanzo
Special for MHSAA.com
October 16, 2024
JT Breen and his Bay City John Glenn tennis teammates already have achieved all the goals they set for themselves this season.
The Bobcats won the Tri-Valley Conference title. They won the Bay County title. They even accomplished the goal that seemed most far-fetched at the time: Becoming the first John Glenn boys tennis team to qualify for the MHSAA Finals – they made the Lower Peninsula Division 3 field that will play Friday and Saturday at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
So now what?
“The goal for me (this weekend) is to play as many games as I can and have fun playing those games,” said Breen, a senior who plays No. 2 singles for John Glenn. “The legacy I want to leave is helping everyone know that the gift of playing tennis is a gift in and of itself. Having fun is the most important part of the game, and I think that’s something I’ve tried to cement into the younger players.”
John Glenn has had plenty of fun in what coach Kevin Miller called a “season dreams are made of,” and no matter the results at Cranbrook, that’s going to continue.
Not because the Bobcats don’t care about winning. But because having fun with one another on and off the court is just what they do.
“We just want to go out there and end our senior year for tennis on a good note,” said senior Nick Naylor, who plays No. 3 doubles with senior Will Gallagher. “We want to have fun with it, and not worry much about what happens. Honestly, I want to win, but it’s just amazing that we got here.”
Led by six seniors, John Glenn placed third at their Regional, also held at Cranbrook, to qualify for the Finals. Miller admitted he wasn’t sure if that would be enough to get his team to championship weekend, and the Bobcats left the tennis courts that day unsure. They had finished with 13 points, behind champion Cranbrook and Goodrich, and two points ahead of Auburn Hills Avondale, St. Clair and Clio.
It wasn’t until Lee Thompson of MLive contacted Miller for an interview later that night that he became aware. And for some Bobcats, it wasn’t until that story published that they knew.
“Our captain (Breen) said something about it in the middle of the season, and we kind of looked at him like, ‘Yeah right, keep dreaming,’” senior No. 4 singles player Lance Neigh said. “In the middle of the season, I didn’t think we were going to get there. Even now, it’s kind of surreal.”
Neigh joined the program as a sophomore, while four of his classmates – Breen, Owen LaCourt (No. 3 singles), Collin Meyer (No. 2 doubles) and Will Gallagher (No. 3 doubles) – are in their fourth year.
Senior number six, Nick Naylor, is in his first season and playing No. 3 doubles along with Gallagher. A three-year varsity baseball player, Naylor said he hadn’t picked up a racket in nearly five years before Gallagher convinced him to play. He’s taken to the game quickly, though, and he and Gallagher advanced to the Regional Final. While Miller and Breen marveled at Naylor’s ability to translate his baseball experience and athleticism to tennis, Naylor added that the chemistry he and Gallagher have from years of friendship also played a big role.
“We’re not afraid to call each other out or bring each other up,” he said. “We’re not afraid to talk to each other. We can have a good conversation when we’re down and get back up and forget about it.”
Sophomore Thomas Dwan is at No. 1 singles for the Bobcats, while junior David Ferrio and freshman Jack Pfifer are at No. 1 doubles. Sophomore Patrick Dwan plays No. 2 doubles with Meyer, and the No. 4 doubles team is made up of junior Dylan Werner and sophomore Corbin Sanborn.
So, while half the team will move on after this season, the well is far from dry for the Bobcats. Add in a group of 45 middle school players who have been practicing under the direction of Miller and several of his boys and girls varsity players, and the future is actually pretty bright.
“Honestly, I think it’s pretty inspiring,” Meyer said. “When I came in freshman year, we barely had enough for a varsity team. There’s so many people interested in playing tennis right now, I think it’s amazing. I’m happy to be able to help out and give them what I know.”
Their goals are accomplished, and they’re helping build the future of the program. You can see why this weekend, the Bobcats aren’t focused on results, but on enjoying every point they get to play.
“There’s not many more accolades these guys can do,” Miller said. “We’re going to go to states and do the best we can. But they’ve already left their legacy.”
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.
PHOTOS (Top) The Bay City John Glenn boys tennis team shows off its newly-won Bay County championship trophy this season. (Middle) Seniors Nick Naylor and Will Gallagher have teamed up to form a Regional runner-up pair at No. 3 doubles. (Photos courtesy of the Bay City John Glenn boys tennis program.)