Ishpeming Repeats by Repeat 1-Point Advantage Over West Iron County

By Jason Juno
Special for MHSAA.com

October 2, 2024

KINGSFORD — Ishpeming’s doubles dominance continued at Wednesday’s Upper Peninsula Division 2 Girls Tennis Finals.

That was the driving force last year behind the Hematites’ first U.P. Finals title, and this year, with an entirely new group of doubles players, they did it again. Ishpeming edged West Iron County 13-12 for the Division 2 championship after outpacing the Wykons by the thinnest of margins last year as well.

“It’s really exciting,” Ishpeming’s Janelle Seelen said after winning the No. 3 doubles title match with her twin sister Lydia. “And especially since last year’s seniors, it feels special because they won last year and we could follow that tradition.”

Even their coach, Josh Kitto, is new. He said it was special to win a U.P. title in his first year with the team.

“We’ve got hard workers; they’re coachable,” he said. “They work hard. That’s a big thing is their work ethic is great.”

Ishpeming won Nos. 1, 2 and 3 doubles. Neither the 1 or 2 doubles teams lost a set all day Wednesday. The No. 3 doubles team was the only one seeded No. 1.

The team of Brynn Way-Lanala and Ava LaPin, seeded third, defeated West Iron County’s top-seeded Destiny Lemery and Olivia LaMay 6-3, 6-4 in the final. 

LaPin said they never got down on themselves or each other.

“It’s crazy. I didn’t think we’d be here honestly,” Way-Lanala added. “It was a rough start to the season.”

Lilly Ryan and Stella Nerlfi defeated Munising’s Tessa Salo and Tamryn Nolan 6-3, 7-5 in the No. 2 final.

West Iron County’s Kaitlyn Smith returns a volley during a No. 1 singles match.“Me and Stella from the start always worked well together, and I think today we really pulled that through,” Ryan said. “We pulled through our best games today, and I think that meant a lot.”

Janelle and Lydia Seelen downed Norway’s Emily Carlson and Myah Gilroy 6-4, 6-3 in the No. 3 doubles final. They got there by getting past Munising’s Kinley Hall and Keira Albright 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in the semifinal. 

“With the wind, it was really hard on the one side. We had to adjust and hit harder on the one side and hit shorter on the other side,” Lydia Seelen said.

Munising took home the No. 4 doubles title with Lauren Nelson and Maddy Knuttila defeating West Iron County’s Vivian Holm and Jenna Sunn 7-6 (6-4), 6-1.

Nelson said she and Knuttila talked to each other and cheered each other on while working through their little mistakes.

“I think she had some very good crushes, and I think I had some good shots towards the back that would get behind them to their feet,” she said.

West Iron County won two of the four singles titles.

The Wykons’ Kaitlyn Smith prevailed 6-2, 6-0 over Gwinn’s Miaha Schiefel. Smith had won the No. 3 title last year and Schiefel was runner-up in No. 1 singles last year as well.

“In the beginning, I was a little bit slower, but then I took it to her,” Smith said. “I was good on my forehands, backhands. I came up to the net when I needed to.”

Teammate Kaycee Ingram defeated Ishpeming’s Sophia Nerlfi 7-6 (8-6), 6-2 to take the No. 3 singles crown.

Gwinn’s Brook Chaput took No. 2 singles 6-3, 6-1 over Iron Mountain’s Alysia Wood. Chaput bowed out in the semifinals last year.

“I just felt like I had to do it since I was a senior, and I’m just so happy it finally happened,” Chaput said. “I hit a lot of lobs good today. My serves were actually better than usual. And I just didn’t stay in my head the whole time, which I usually do, and that helped me get through.”

Norway’s Jessa Rossler won the final title of the day, at No. 4 singles. She defeated Munising’s Jolie Ake 7-6 (8-6), 6-3.

“It’s pretty crazy. It’s hard to believe because this is my first year playing tennis, so I’m pretty excited,” Rossler said. “My uncle actually joined when he was in high school, and he won a U.P. championship too. It’s just kind of something that I always wanted to try, but I’m really glad I did.”

PHOTOS (Top) Ishpeming celebrates its repeat Division 2 championship Wednesday at Kingsford. (Middle) West Iron County’s Kaitlyn Smith returns a volley during a No. 1 singles match. (Photos by Jason Juno.)

Escanaba, Negaunee 'As Even As It Gets' Again in Sharing UPD1 Title

By Mitch Vosburg
Special for MHSAA.com

October 5, 2023

MARQUETTE — On Sept. 13, Escanaba and Negaunee collided in a dual meet in Escanaba. The Eskymos and Miners tied 4-4.

Flash forward 21 days and both squads once again found themselves neck and neck on the court. With a Finals title on the line, the Eskymos and Miners, similar to their first meeting, finished tied for the Upper Peninsula Division 1 championship Wednesday at Marquette High School.

The squads were crowned co-champions after each accumulating 16 points.

Ishpeming Westwood finished in third place with 14 points, Marquette finished fourth with four points, Gladstone and Kingsford tied for fifth with two apiece and Menominee finished seventh with one point.

For Escanaba, Wednesday was its first share of a team Finals championship since 2011.

“It’s a great ending,” Escanaba coach Chris Ogren said. “We had two really good teams this year. When we played head-to-head we were as even as it gets. On the last day of the year with everybody here, we were as even as it gets. It’s perfectly fitting. It feels great.”

For the Miners, it was their sixth claim of a Finals title since 2015.

“This is probably one of our most rewarding titles that we've had in any particular year,” Miners coach Kyle Saari said. “These girls battled through an awful lot of adversity this season. Some had injuries, and just a variety of different things kind of popped up. Coming into today we knew we needed a lot of things to go right to have a chance. Every single thing we needed … they answered the bell and it happened.”

In No. 1 singles action, the Eskymos claimed three critical points behind the efforts of Sophie Derkos. The senior knocked off the reigning No. 2 singles champion, Gladstone’s Tia Schone, 6-0, 6-1 in semifinal action. In the final, Derkos collided with Negaunee’s Aubrey Johnson, who was runner-up to Schone in No. 2 singles action in 2022. The Esky senior earned a decisive 6-1, 6-0 win to finish undefeated at 18-0 and claim her second-straight individual Finals title in the process.

Negaunee junior Aubrey Johnson tracks a shot during her semifinal against Westwood’s Lexi Olson.The Miners earned two individual titles Wednesday. Rheana Nelson claimed hers at No. 3 singles, besting Gladstone’s Alexis Burch in quarterfinal action 6-0, 6-0, Westwood’s Emersyn Nelson 6-1, 6-3, in the semi and earning a 6-2, 7-5 win over Escanaba’s Sam Korpi to clinch. Nelson finished the season with a record of 18-1.

Madalynn Peters, the top-seeded competitor at No. 4 singles, toppled Westwood’s Morgan Schnieder 6-1, 6-3, in semifinal action and earned a 6-3, 6-2 victory over Escanaba’s Maggie Martin in the final.

Escanaba made up ground on Negaunee with a pair of championship victories in doubles play.

In No. 1 doubles action, the tandem of Natalie Williams and Sam Manninen first defeated Kingsford’s Audrey Veale and Libby Vross 6-2, 6-4. In the final, Williams and Manninen vanquished Westwood’s Isabelle Marta and Alyssa Couveau 6-4, 6-3 to finish their senior seasons with a perfect record of 15-0.

Williams and Manninen weren’t the only Eskymos pairing to find success Wednesday and in 2023. Escanaba’s No. 4 doubles pairing of juniors Danni Hughes and Carly Bowden bested Marquette’s Eva Sjoholm and Mylee Muscoe 6-0, 6-2, before toppling Westwood’s Taylor Jackovich and Kaya Etelmaki 6-4, 6-1 in the championship match to finish their season at 19-0.

Negaunee claimed the No. 3 doubles title. The tandem of Autumn Ring and Alyssa Borlace – the latter subbing in at the last minute Wednesday – ran the table by defeating Kingsford’s Addisyn Kreigl and Eden Janousek 6-1, 6-1, in quarterfinal action, top-seeded Laura Barsch and Aubree Blackburn (Marquette) 7-5, 6-0, and Escanaba’s Sophie Wagner and Val Royer 2-6, 6-0, 6-1, in the final.

Westwood’s Samantha Ruby earned the crown in No. 2 singles by defeating Kingsford’s Allette Shanks 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinal, knocking off Gladstone’s Addie Thombley 7-6, 6-3, in their semifinal and besting top-seeded Lilliana Saunders from Negaunee 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, to clinch.

The Patriots also claimed a title in No. 2 doubles action. The pairing of Nolia Dawson and Kaylin Doney knocked off Menominee’s Isabelle Bentley and Isabelle Busher 6-3, 6-0 in a quarterfinal, defeated Escanaba’s Sonya Maki and Molly Smale 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the semifinals and vanquished Negaunee’s Olivia Lunseth and Sage Juntti in a thrilling 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (5) championship match.

Click for full results.

PHOTOS (Top) Escanaba senior Sophie Derkos returns a volley during her semifinal match with Gladstone’s Tia Schone on Wednesday. (Middle) Negaunee junior Aubrey Johnson tracks a shot during her semifinal against Westwood’s Lexi Olson. (Photos by Mitch Vosburg.)