Iowa City West boys’ tennis sweeps 2A state singles and doubles, eyes ‘triple crown’

CEDAR RAPIDS — Earlier this season, a reporter asked Iowa City West boys' tennis coach Mitch Gross about the 'triple crown' of prep tennis.

At the time, Gross dismissed the thought of winning a state championship in singles, doubles and team tennis in the same year as nowhere near the top of the Trojans' priority list.

It just might have been bumped up a peg.

West senior Jiung Jung won his third-consecutive state title in singles, while the duo of Cole Schneider and Jack Wenzel earned the state doubles crown in a dominant performance at the Class 2A boys' tennis state championships Saturday at Veterans Memorial Tennis Center.

'Never once have I said, 'Let's win a triple crown' or have that be a goal,' Gross said. 'To be honest, this morning it wasn't even in the plans. But now, we're two-thirds of the way there so it's definitely going to be one of our motivating factors come Tuesday.'

Tuesday brings the Class 2A boys' team tennis state championships in Ankeny, where West (17-0) is the top seed and prohibitive favorite to win its fifth state title in six years against a field that includes Linn-Mar, Pleasant Valley and West Des Moines Valley.

The Trojans could join Des Moines Roosevelt (2009) as the only 2A schools in 15 years to win all three state titles in the same season.

That Roosevelt team also possessed the last three-time singles state champion in Class 2A (Charlie Caris), and Jung became the fourth to accomplish the feat across both boys' classes in state history.

After a 6-0, 6-3 victory over fourth-seeded Tim Ellis of Ames, Jung defeated friend and crosstown rival Joe Hoff of Iowa City High in the final for the second year in a row, 6-0, 7-6.

'It's pretty special,' Jung said of his third title. 'I tried not to think about it too much when I was preparing for the tournament, just because it was a little overwhelming to think about. Now that I've got it, it's pretty cool.'

Schneider and Wenzel — the defending doubles state runners-up — were unseeded for this year's tournament because of a loss to Cedar Rapids Washington's Rami Scheetz and Ty Sherman in the district final May 11. On Saturday, the Trojan tandem completely smothered the Warrior sophomores in the state final, 6-2, 6-2.

'A good start really helped us,' Schneider said. '(We) just really dictated from the beginning and just fed off each other and had good energy today. … Last year really motivated us a lot to play well today.'

Once Jung closed the state meet with his title, West had its first singles and doubles state champion in the same season. For a sophomore like Wenzel, sending his senior doubles partner out on top was paramount.

'I just wanted to play for him,' Wenzel said. 'It's his last chance, so I wanted to play as best as I could, just so we had the chance that we could win it all.'

In the consolation bracket, Linn-Mar's Ben Hediger and Lucas Huffman placed fifth in doubles, while freshman Luke VanDonslear capped an impressive state-tournament debut with a sixth-place finish in singles.

At Waterloo, the Cedar Rapids Xavier doubles team of Jon Lansing and Charlie Esker won the 1A doubles state championship, 6-4, 6-2 over Waverly-Shell Rock. Marion senior Nate Meister finished third in the singles bracket after a 6-2, 6-2 triumph over Jack Thomas of Davenport Assumption.

BOYS' TENNIS STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

CLASS 2A

At Cedar Rapids

(Veterans Memorial Tennis Center)

SINGLES

Fifth place —

Sriram Sugumaran (Pleasant Valley) def. Luke VanDonslear (Linn-Mar), 6-4, 6-1

Semifinals —

Jiung Jung (Iowa City West) def. Timothy Ellis (Ames), 6-0, 6-3; Joe Hoff (Iowa City High) def. Jonny Bowser (Fort Dodge), 4-6, 6-2, 6-3

Final —

Jung (ICW) def. Hoff (ICH), 6-0, 7-6 (4)

DOUBLES

Fifth place —

Ben Hediger/Lucas Huffman (Linn-Mar) def. Brook Norwood/Roy Jensen (West Des Moines Valley), 6-3, 6-4

Semifinals —

Rami Scheetz/Ty Sherman (Cedar Rapids Washington) def. Isaac Luebke/Yash Singh (Bettendorf), 6-3, 6-2; Cole Schneider/Jack Wenzel (Iowa City West) def. Josh VandenBerg/Nathan Matthews (Mason City), 6-2, 6-0

Final —

Schneider/Wenzel (ICW) def. Scheetz/Sherman (CRW), 6-2, 6-2

CLASS 1A

At Waterloo

(Byrnes Park Tennis Center)

SINGLES

Semifinals —

Kai Vessey (Fairfield Maharishi) def. Nate Meister (Marion), 6-1, 4-6, 6-2; Jake Malik (LeMars) def. Jack Thomas (Davenport Assumption), 6-1, 6-2

Third place —

Meister (Marion) def. Thomas (DA), 6-2, 6-2

Final —

Jake Malik (LeMars) def. Vessey (FM), 6-2, 7-5

DOUBLES

Seventh place —

Alex Hinrichs/Ryan Jasper (Cedar Rapids Xavier) def. Grant Podhajsky/Cooper McDermott (Atlantic), 6-0, 6-1

Semifinals —

Jon Lansing/Charlie Esker (Cedar Rapids Xavier) def. Sam Lauritsen/Adam Konfrst (Glenwood), 6-2, 6-0; Luke Willis/Ryan Willis (Waverly-Shell Rock) def. Kyle Marek/Jake Thompson (LeMars), 7-5, 6-7 (4), 6-2

Final —

Lansing/Esker (CRX) def. L. Willis/R. Willis (WSR), 6-4, 6-2

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com