Linn-Mar ‘peaking at the right time’ going into inaugural boys’ tennis team substate tournament

CEDAR RAPIDS — Some old habits are hard to shake.

For Monday’s Class 2A boys’ district tennis meet at Cedar Rapids Prairie, the singles and doubles draw was on the front side of a white board placed on an easel.

On the back, there were a series of slashes in groups of five, a tribute to the past.

Those slashes stood for team points. In past years, the top three teams under that format advanced to the substate team tournament.

Under the old format, Linn-Mar would have come away as the district team champion. Now the Lions, and all other teams in the state, have been placed in substates with the eight winners in each class advancing to an expanded two-day state tournament May 30-June 1.

Coach Chris Wundram's team is one of five Gazette-area schools to have earned No. 1 seeds. The inaugural team substate begins Friday. All No. 1 seeds in Class 2A received first-round byes. No. 2 Iowa City West and No. 7 Cedar Rapids Washington also are hosting on Friday, as is Cedar Rapids Jefferson.

In 1A, No. 2 Cedar Rapids Xavier and No. 3 Decorah will host.

Linn-Mar, which will play the winner of a Friday opening-round match between Cedar Rapids Kennedy and Cedar Rapids Prairie, is ranked fifth and appears to be peaking at the right time after battling injury issues through much of the regular season.

“I think we have a very dangerous group when it comes to the team competition,” Wundram said. “We're peaking at the right time and we've got some guys who have just continued to get stronger and stronger as the season has gone along.”

Senior Zach Mersch has anchored the Lion lineup at No. 1 singles with freshman Garrett Bauermeister at No. 2.

“We're excited to be hosting,” said junior Malcolm Rice, who has battled a shoulder issue, but looked strong in district play on Monday. “We get to play in a familiar setting and we have a chance to make the state tournament. You can't ask for anything more than that.”

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For Washington Coach Tom Neff, the new format has been embraced by his players. The Warriors draw the Iowa City Liberty-Muscatine winner in the second round.

“Our team has worked very hard in the offseason, improving their games, and it has paid off,” Neff said. “We look forward to competing to advance to state, but we know we have several tough teams in our substate and we will need to be at the top of our game.”

Iowa City West begins defense of its state title, meeting the winner between Western Dubuque and Iowa City High.

Xavier was one of the few 1A teams to receive a bye. The Saints begin defense of their state title, meeting the survivor between Marion and Mount Pleasant. Decorah plays Hampton-Dumont-CAL in the quarterfinals and would meet the winner of Osage and Iowa Falls-Alden in the semifinals.

All substate finals matches are set for Wednesday, May 17.

Here are the statewide substate brackets in Class 2A and Class 1A.