Freshmen help deliver Cedar Rapids Washington, Iowa City West to boys’ tennis final 4

CEDAR RAPIDS – Duals between second and third-ranked boys' tennis teams are usually reserved for the state semifinals.

This season's district assignments produced a state-championship caliber match much earlier, yet Cedar Rapids Washington Coach Rusty Graff directed his third-ranked Warriors to embrace the opportunity.to face No. 2 Pleasant Valley for a berth in the boys' tennis team state semifinals.

'We can't make excuses or cry about it,' Graff said. 'Either we're good enough to beat them or we weren't, and fortunately today we were just good enough to squeak it out.'

Washington was plenty good enough as freshmen Rami Scheetz and Ty Sherman were double-winners in the Warriors' 5-3 victory over Pleasant Valley in a Class 2A substate final Saturday at Veterans Memorial Tennis Center.

'In singles, we were just playing our game,' Scheetz said. 'In doubles, we were just in a zone.'

Scheetz and Sherman gave the Warriors (13-1) a huge boost in their doubles match, which started with the dual deadlocked at 3-3 after singles. After a 6-2 opening set, the freshmen doubles tandem steamrolled the Spartans' team of Charlie Humes and Dan Bastola in the second set, 6-0.

'You have to keep on top of it, stay aggressive and not give up anything,' Sherman said.

Juniors Will Rizer – also a double-winner – and Ethan Wickham clinched Washington's first trip to the boys' team state semifinals since a runner-up finish in 2007 with a 6-4, 6-3 doubles victory over Vincent Gnad and Cameron Trantz.

WEST BOYS MAKE IT SIX IN A ROW

Before the season, Iowa City West boys' tennis coach Mitch Gross talked about the difficulty of freshmen breaking into his lineup.

At Cedar Rapids Jefferson, a pair of freshmen made Gross' preseason decisions look awfully simple.

'It takes a lot of work, and these guys have put a lot into it this year,' Gross said after the top-ranked Trojans advanced to a team state semifinal for the sixth year in a row with a 5-1 victory over No. 7 Bettendorf Saturday in a Class 2A substate final. 'You never know, when you get three new guys in the lineup what you're going to get. Our new guys have really stepped up and played really strong. I'm really, really proud of the meet they played today.'

Freshman Jack Wenzel helped West (16-0) win four out of the first five singles matches with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Michael Pyevich. At No. 5 singles, fellow freshman Sam Shin was extended in a first-set tiebreaker and dropped the second set, but bounced back with an impressive 7-6, 4-6, 6-2 three-set victory over Bettendorf senior Fritzy Swearingen.

'I was actually really tired,' Shin said. 'I just told myself I had to push through because if I won, then we were going to state and I knew that.'

The Class 2A team state semifinals and finals are May 31 in Ankeny.

DECORAH GIRLS ARE BACK

It had been quite long enough for venerable Decorah girls' tennis coach Larry Berland.

Decorah advanced to the Class 1A team state tournament for the first time in over a decade with a 5-1 victory over Waverly-Shell Rock in a team regional final Saturday at Waverly.

'That was kind of our goal all the way from last year,' said Berland, who is in his 40th season as the Decorah girls' coach. 'We said we've got to break through it and we did.'

Junior Anna Spencer collected the first singles win for the Vikings, then seniors Kelsey Kruse, Katelyn Yee and Annika Krieg sent the regional to doubles, leading 4-2.

Yee and Kruse clinched the state berth with a quick 6-2, 6-0 doubles victory over Krissy Weir and Katie Wichman of Waverly-Shell Rock.

In Class 2A, Cedar Rapids Prairie, Iowa City High and Linn-Mar all advanced to the girls' team state tournament with a pair of Saturday dual victories.

BOYS' TENNIS SUBSTATE

CLASS 2A

At Cedar Rapids

(Veterans Tennis Center)

Semifinals

C.R. Washington 5, Dubuque Senior 2

Pleasant Valley 5, Linn-Mar 1

Finals

C.R. Washington 5, Pleasant Valley 3

At Cedar Rapids Jefferson

Semifinals

Iowa City West 5, Ames 0

Finals

Iowa City West 5, Bettendorf 1

AT VETERANS MEMORIAL TENNIS CENTER

C.R. Washington 5, Dubuque Senior 2

Singles —

Gus Zuccaro (DS) def. Jackson Hoyt, 7-5, 6-4; Jacob Mozena (DS) def. Parker Muller, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4; Rami Scheetz (CRW) def. Ryan Fair, 6-2, 6-1; Ty Sherman (CRW) def. Drake Oswald, 6-0, 6-0; Will Rizer (CRW) def. Joe Gourley, 6-1, 6-1; Ethan Wickham (CRW) def. Grant Kincaid, 6-1, 6-2

Doubles —

Scheetz/Sherman (CRW) def. Fair/Oswald, 6-0, 6-0

Pleasant Valley 5, Linn-Mar 1

Singles —

Charlie Humes (PV) def. Ben Hediger, 6-0, 6-3; Sriram Sugumaran (PV) def. Lucas Huffman, 6-7 (7-3), 7-5, 6-3; Justin Sehlin (PV) def. Shane Skvor, 6-0, 6-2; Vincent Gnad (PV) def. Kathir Pandian, 6-4, 6-3; Zach Glanz (LM) def. Dan Bastola, 6-3, 6-2; Aditya Subramaniam (PV) def. Jack Albert, 7-5, 6-1

C.R. Washington 5, Pleasant Valley 3

Singles —

Charlie Humes (PV) def. Jackson Hoyt, 6-1, 6-3; Sriram Sugumaran (PV) def. Parker Muller, 6-4, Rami Scheetz (CRW) def. Justin Sehlin, 6-4, 6-3; Ty Sherman (CRW) def. Vincent Gnad, 6-0, 6-1; Will Rizer (CRW) def. Dan Bastola, 6-2, 6-3; Aditya Subramaniam (PV) def. Ethan Wickham, 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles —

Scheetz/Sherman (CRW) def. Humes/Bastola, 6-2, 6-0; Rizer/Wickham (CRW) def. Gnad/Cameron Trantz, 6-4, 6-3

AT CEDAR RAPIDS JEFFERSON

Iowa City West 5, Ames 0

Singles —

Cole Schneider (ICW) def. Ben Knudson, 6-1, 6-0; Ryan Smith (ICW) def. Joshua Zhao, 6-4, 6-3; Jack Wenzel (ICW) def. Andy Kim, 6-1, 6-4; Sam Shin (ICW) def. Ryan Jeong, 6-2, 6-1; Yuxuan Zheng (ICW) def. Tyler Wierson, 6-4, 6-3.

Iowa City West 5, Bettendorf 1

Singles —

Jiung Jung (ICW) def. Isaac Luebke, 6-2, 6-0; Cole Schneider (ICW) def. Yash Singh, 6-4, 7-5; Jacob Panjawani (Bettendorf) def. Ryan Smith, 6-4, 6-4; Jack Wenzel (ICW) def. Michael Pyevich, 6-0, 6-4; Sam Shin (ICW) def. Fritzy Swearingen, 7-6, 4-6, 6-1; Yuxuan Zheng (ICW) def. Sam Hall, 6-3, 6-1.

GIRLS' TENNIS REGIONALS

CLASS 2A

At Eldridge

Semifinals

Clinton 5, North Scott 0

Iowa City High 5, Dubuque Senior 0

Regional final

Iowa City High 5, Clinton 0

At Waterloo

Semifinals

Iowa City West 5, Cedar Falls 1

Linn-Mar 5, C.R. Jefferson 0

Regional final

Linn-Mar 5, Iowa City West 3

At Cedar Rapids

Semifinals

C.R. Prairie 6, C.R. Kennedy 0

Dubuque Hempstead 5, C.R. Washington 4

Regional final

C.R. Prairie 5, Dubuque Hempstead 0

CLASS 1A

At Iowa City

Regional final

Pella Christian 5, C.R. Xavier 4

AT ELDRIDGE

Iowa City High 5, Dubuque Senior 0

Singles —

Innes Hicsasmaz def. Samantha Brisch, 4-6, 6-0, 1-0 (10-3); Susanna Gianola def. Justine Lange 6-2, 7-5 (7-4); Bihosta Jones def. Riley Hubbart, 6-1, 6-2; Lucy Wagner def. Kiersten Housenga, 6-1, 6-2; Amelia Prybil def. Elley Housenga, 6-0, 6-1.

Iowa City High 5, Clinton 0

Singles —

Innes Hicsasmaz def. Lauren Pinchuk, 6-3, 6-1; Susanna Gianola def. Naomi Brehm, 6-3, 6-1; Bihosta James def. Mary Hartel, 6-0, 6-0; Lucy Wagner def. 6-2, 6-1; Amelia Prybil def. Claire Coleman, 6-1, 6-2.

AT CEDAR RAPIDS

C.R. Prairie 6, C.R. Kennedy 0

Singles —

Valei Caro def. Shelby Cook, 6-1, 6-0; Magui Caro def. Veena Venkatesh, 6-1, 6-2; Karleigh Schilling def. Gabby Oleinczax, 7-5, 5-1; Anna Postnikov def. Lauren Gifford, 6-4, 6-3; Lauren O'Brian def. Lily Gust, 6-2, 6-2; Maddie Renner def. Reya Sands, 6-4, 6-1

Dubuque Hempstead 5, C.R. Washington 4

Singles —

Hannah Sherman (CRW) def. Joyce Sun, 6-3, 6-2; Kelly King (CRW) def. Kasey Davis, 6-1, 6-3; Eliza Sunderman (CRW) def. Sydney Connelly (DH), 6-1, 6-3; Lauren (DH) Tressel def. Abby Van Metre, 6-3, 6-2; Taylor Edminster (DH) def. Kayti Schuler (DH), 6-4, 6-3; Lauren Ludescher (DH) def. Stephanie Kapler, 6-1, 6-1.

Doubles —

Sherman/King (CRW) def. Edminster/Davis, 6-1, 6-1; Sun/Connelly (DH) def. Sunderman/Van Metre, 4-6, 6-3, 10-5; Tressel/Ludescher (DH) def. Kapler/Schuler, 6-1, 6-0.

C.R. Prairie 5, Dubuque Hempstead 0

Singles —

Vale Caro def. Joyce Sun, 6-1, 6-0; Magui Caro def. Kasey Davis, 6-3, 6-1; Karleigh Schilling def. Sydney Connelly, 6-2, 6-1; Anna Postnikov def. Lauren Tressel, 6-1, 6-4; Lauren O'Brian def. Taylor Edminster, 6-1, 5-7, 10-6; Maddie Renner def. Lauren Ludescher, 3-6, 6-4, 10-6.

AT IOWA CITY

Pella Christian 5, C.R. Xavier 4

Singles —

Brooke Jorgensen (PC) def. Katie Neumeyer, 6-0, 6-3; Rachel Tvedt (PC) def. Nina Marquardt, 6-4, 6-1; Andrea Carbello (PC) def. Megan D'mello, 6-3, 2-6, 10-8; Emily Jasper (CRX) def. Abbie Vander Molen, 7-5, 7-5; Ellie Detweiler (CRX) def. Holly Milny, 6-7 (6-8), 6-1, 10-5; Maddie Abu-Nameh (CRX) def. Bethany Van Kooten, 6-1, 6-3.

Doubles —

Jorgensen/Tvedt (PC) def. Neumeyer/D'mello, 6-1, 6-3; Carbello/Vander Molen (PC) def. Marquardt/Jasper, 6-4, 6-4; Detweiler/Abu-Nameh (CRX) def. Milby/Van Kooten, 6-1, 6-1.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com