It took a 'total team effort' in a sport that's not always thought of as in that regard, but Petoskey boys tennis is heading back to the finals.
ADA — Tennis isn’t always the sport you think of when it comes to team sports.
But, during their Forest Hills Eastern hosted Division 3 regional late last week, it was all about the team in helping get Petoskey back to the state championships.
Needing to finish within the top two to make the state finals as a team for a 17th straight season, the Northmen did just that, in one of the most competitive brackets PHS head coach Denny Green has seen.
“This was one of the most evenly matched regional tournaments I’ve been a part of,” Green said.
The results show that, too.
Ludington earned the regional title behind 21 points, then Petoskey, Big Rapids and Forest Hills Eastern earned a tie to make the finals.
It took a team.
“It was a total team effort to qualify again with 18 points and a three-way tie for second,” Green added. “Our singles and doubles each got nine points and everyone won a match that was worth two points each.”
The runner-up finish continued a streak that dates back all the way to 2009, with Division 3 finals made all the way through the years.
The Northmen earned a pair of runner-up finishes on the day, big points to get them their final 18.
“The icing was Brian Tang at No. 2 singles and Zealan (Abbitt) and Danny (Murphy) at No. 3 doubles securing our final two points,” Green said. “Those three boys played great and deserved the runner up medal.”
All other Petoskey flights advanced to the semifinal round of their respective bracket.
Tang’s journey to No. 2 singles runner-up came with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Coopersville, then a 6-0, 6-1 win over Cadillac. He fell in the finals to Ludington’s Oliver Kolb, 6-0, 6-0.
For the No. 3 doubles duo of Murphy and Abbitt, a 6-1, 6-2 win over Sparta opened their day, then a 6-4, 6-2 win over Big Rapids.
They fell only in a marathon tiebreaker match to FHE’s Ben Lee and Brenden Kozal in a 7-5, 6-7(4), 7-5 match.
Liam Washington of No. 1 singles earned a 6-1, 6-3 win over Spring Lake, Clark Tarachas of No. 3 singles topped Sparta in a 6-2, 6-2 match, then Jackson Wong at No. 4 singles opened with a 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 win over FHE.
In doubles, the No. 1 team of Cole Willison and Finn Clarke topped Cedar Springs in a 6-0, 6-0 match, the No. 2 team of Martin Howard and Jack Dumas earned a 6-0, 6-2 win over Springs Lake and the No. 4 duo of Ethan Shelton and Conner Bingaman topped Sparta, 7-6(8), 6-3.
The MHSAA state championships in 2025 will all take place at the Midland Tennis Center between Oct. 15-25, with the Division 3 tournament taking place Friday and Saturday, Oct. 24-25.
Finals brackets will be posted on the MHSAA site Tuesday, Oct. 14, with the Northmen getting a view at how they can potentially pull some upsets and earn some points.
They’re coming off a season in which they earned their best finish in decades, earning a fourth place finish as the top placing public school with 16 points.
Seven members from that 2024 lineup will head back to the finals next week.
DIVISION 4
Harbor Springs at TCSF Regional
TRAVERSE CITY — The Harbor Springs boys tennis team finished with 10 points during a Division 4 regional tournament hosted by Traverse City St. Francis last week.
The Rams won’t be heading to states, though the 10-point total earned them a sixth place finish out of the 12 teams.
Several Harbor athletes made their way into the semifinal round with one or two wins, while another earned a runner-up finish.
Harbor’s Noah Marquardt of No. 4 singles earned the lone runner-up finish, opening with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Hemlock, then a 6-3, 6-3 win over Saginaw Nouvel. Marquardt then fell to Glen Lake’s Porter Martin in the finals, 6-1, 6-1.
Semifinals included Tyler Eshelbrenner of No. 1 singles, who defeated Cheasanning 6-0, 6-0, then Clio, 6-2, 6-4, while Camden Whitefield of No. 3 singles topped Clio, 6-4, 6-2, then Saginaw Nouvel, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4.
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey boys tennis gets big regional points late, earns states trip
Category: General Sports
