State berths up for grab at district tennis tournaments

Port Clinton High School will be the site of the Division I and Division II district tennis tournaments this week. Play begins Wednesday with Division I and continues Thursday with Division II. All semifinals and finals, used for state seeding, will be Saturday. Two wins on the opening day of the tournament guarantees a state berth. In Division II, Clyde senior Aric Kauble (27-2) was sectional champion last week. He opens against Elida senior Brody Altenbach. If he wins, he will face either Ottawa Hills freshman Henrique Marson or Clear Fork junior Kade Beachy. "I need to keep my approach shot down and not be bringing it up," Kauble said. "I need to have good volleys and put them away. I feel like recently I've just been hitting volleys back and not placing them. Being able to clean that up could be a big help with my game." Edison junior Adin Colbert (13-8) was runner-up at the sectionals and he will open against Elida senior Leyton Staley. The winner will take on Ottawa Hills junior Chris Thompson, a district champion who received a bye in the first round. Thompson was defeated in the second round of the district last year in a marathon match against Perkins' Chase Young. St. Mary Central Catholic junior Pravir Gorty begins his pursuit of a state berth against Lima Central Catholic sophomore Evan Brinkman. If victorious, he will battle either Lexington junior Phillip Etzel, a district champion, or Maumee Valley Country Day senior Sammy Williams. The toughest path to state will be for SMCC senior Eian Etchill. He begins play against Van Wert junior Zach Stoller, a district champion. If Etchill can pull off the upset, he'd face either Clear Fork junior Cooper Brokaw or Central Catholic junior Sebastian MacDonald. "I am proud of where Eian is at and what he's accomplished," SMCC coach Daniel Miller said. "He is involved in a ton of different things and I think his appearance at districts is a great representation of his grit and determination." Clyde seniors Chase Castle and Oscar Webb (27-2) were also sectional champions last week. They open play against Bryan senior Austin DeWitt and junior Jaydan Deel. If they win there, they'd face either St. Marys Memorial senior Jake Ackroyd and junior Noah White or Willard seniors Levi Schag and Mason Dawson. "We need to improve our first serve percentage and work on better placement of their second serves," said Clyde coach Jeff MacFarland of Castle and Webb. "We also need to play within ourselves and not try to rush and do more than we are comfortable doing." Vermilion junior Timothy Anders and sophomore Sean Rini (6-5) went from unseeded to runner-up in the sectional round. They hope to keep it rolling against Bryan seniors Nolan Franzdorf and Kai Dauber. If they are successful, they would take on either sectional champions Lexington senior Cooper Remy and junior Tony Palmer or Ottawa-Glandorf senior Sam Warnecke and junior Noah Compton. "Both players were already thinking ahead on what to work on this week as soon as they were done with the (sectional) final," Sailors coach Terry Anders said. "Serves and returns will be the main focus. We need to be consistent with those first two shots." Port Clinton senior Kai Weit and sophomore Evan Lovitt (6-2) open against Maumee sophomores Joey Suelzer and Colton Robinson. With a win, they'd battle sectional champions Bluffton seniors Grady Coonfare and Isaiah Kohli or Ontario junior Justin Switag and sophomore Henry Yugovich. "We're fortunate that Kai has been here before," Redskins coach Joe Miller said. "His experience is important as we prepare this week and at districts Thursday... We'll get to work and do everything we can to give these guys a shot to make the state tournament." SMCC seniors Luke Spicer and Pavan Gorty will have a challenge when they face sectional champions Ottawa Hills seniors Ian Marzano and Sahil Parikh. If they pull the upset, they would face either Lexington senior Ben Wiltanger and sophomore Jack Campbell or St. Marys Memorial senior Ollie Chisholm or junior Korey Klosterman. "As a group, the focus turns to controlling what we can control," Daniel Miller said. "We can control how we respond to adversity as well our preparation leading up to Thursday. We are crossing our fingers with everything else and going to leave everything out on the court come Thursday morning." Tough draw in Div. I Some of the best players in the state will be at Port Clinton when the Division I district kicks off Wednesday. Norwalk sophomore Jeremiah McCreary (17-9) opens against Wapakoneta senior Brayden Hooker in the singles draw. If McCreary wins, he would face either sectional champion St. Francis senior Jack Kayse or Northview junior Hunter Moriarty. Sandusky senior Blake Ott (9-8) faces Bowling Green freshman Isaac Naus in his first match. If he wins, he would battle either sectional championship Southview junior Landon Vens or St. Francis freshman Charlie O'Connell. The only area doubles team to advance was Norwalk senior Edward Ramos and junior Roman Snyder. The two are 3-1 this year, all in last week's sectional, after going 6-12 together last year. Ramos and Snyder open against St. John senior Nyle Ahman and sophomore Wasay Syed. If they win, they'd face either sectional champion Perrysburg seniors Finn Wilhelms and Anditya Ambulkar or St. Francis senior Cole Johnson and freshman Will Schlageter.