Westwood Outduels West Iron to 4-Peat
June 1, 2017
By Adam Niemi
Special for Second Half
KINGSFORD — Ishpeming Westwood coach Chris Jackson knew his team had to keep it simple to win the Upper Peninsula Division 2 title Wednesday.
The Patriots came out and did exactly that, winning six of eight flights for their fourth straight U.P. title.
“It feels awesome. Coming in, we knew it was going to be a real tight battle between us and West Iron,” Jackson said. “At the end, it turned into a virtual dual meet. We both had seven or eight finals. The difference was we won six of them.
“We were trying to find four wins in the finals,” Jackson added. “We had two that we felt pretty good about, and then there were a whole bunch of close ones. I think that’s exactly how it played out.”
Westwood’s 21 points was enough to clear Iron River West Iron County (16), which also put six flights in the finals. Iron Mountain placed third with seven points.
Jacob Kerkela’s win in No. 2 singles sealed the team win for the Patriots.
Iron Mountain’s Tysen Wadge beat West Iron’s Neil Tomasoski in No. 1 singles (6-1, 6-2) for his third U.P. individual title.
West Iron County’s lone finals win came at No. 1 doubles when Brandon Henschel and Kevin Ballinger beat Westwood’s Austin Pierpont and Dylan Willey, 6-2, 2-6, 6-2. The Patriots swept the rest of the finals.
Jackson said there was no secret weapon in terms of performance. The players just had to stay in the moment.
“It’s hard in these situations. Everybody thinks you have to play your best tennis, you have to do all this, but the question is how do you get there? We keep things simple; there’s not a lot of pressure on these kids,” Jackson said. “Everybody wants to do well on a day like this. I think it’s doing the simple things, taking care of things that you have control over.
“A day like this can really get away from you when you start worrying about things that are going on on a different court, or a different site than just focusing on what you need to do.”
Iron Mountain coach Sharon Ducat said she expected West Iron County and Westwood to square off for the U.P. title. Her team, meanwhile, was steady but not as solid.
“We did OK. We are kind of a middle-of-the-pack team,” Ducat said. “We had a win at No. 1 singles, which was great. I’m really happy for Tysen for that.”
PHOTOS: (Top) Ishpeming Westwood poses with its trophy after winning its fourth straight MHSAA Finals title. (Middle) Iron Mountain’s Tysen Wadge returns a volley during his championship match at No. 1 singles. (Photos by Adam Niemi.)
Performance of the Week: Northville's Sachiv Kumar
October 21, 2021
Sachiv Kumar ♦ Northville
Sophomore ♦ Tennis
The Lower Peninsula Division 1 No. 1 singles bracket always is considered a showcase of premier players in Michigan, with seven of the last 10 Mr. Tennis Award winners emerging from that flight. Top seeds tend to dominate – over the last decade, LPD1 No. 1 singles has been won by the top seed six times and the second seed the other four seasons. Similarly, at the four 2021 LP Boys Tennis Finals last weekend, 11 flights were won by top seeds and four were won by second seeds. And all of that made what Kumar accomplished Friday at Kalamazoo College even more phenomenal.
Just a sophomore, Kumar entered the LPD1 No. 1 singles bracket as the fifth seed and defeated the fourth and top seeds before downing unseeded Clayton Anderson of Rochester in the championship match 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 (5). The 6-7 (6), 6-0, 7-5, semifinal win over top seed Noah Roslin of Bloomfield Hills avenged a loss from earlier this fall, and Kumar wrapped up his season with a 24-7 record.
His Finals success wasn’t entirely a first for his family, however. Older sister Shanoli Kumar won No. 2 singles in LPD1 as a freshman in 2015, was runner-up at the same flight in 2016 and runner-up at No. 1 in 2018 on her way to winning that year’s Miss Tennis Award. Oldest sister Reeshma Kumar was part of the No. 2 doubles runner-up in LPD1 in 2016 and part of the No. 1 doubles runner-up in 2015.
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2021-22 Honorees
Oct. 14: Kate Brody, Grand Blanc golf - Report
Oct. 7: Lilly Nelson, Negaunee tennis - Report
Sept. 30: Stella Chapman, Ann Arbor Pioneer swimming - Report
Sept. 23: Riley Hough, Hartland cross country - Report
Sept. 16: Josie Bloom, Pontiac Notre Dame Prep volleyball - Report
PHOTOS courtesy of the Northville tennis program.