Area players shut out at district tournament

PORT CLINTON — Clyde senior Aric Kauble found himself in the ultimate challenge. Kauble was facing Ottawa Hills freshman Henrique Marson, but found things unsmooth. Kauble didn't quite get things going, falling 6-1, 6-1 in the second round of the Division II district tournament at Port Clinton on Thursday. After doubles teams from Huron and Port Clinton, as well as Chase Young from Perkins, advanced to last year's state tournament, the area was shut out in both singles and doubles. "He's a solid player," said Fliers coach Jeff MacFarland of Marson. "Going into the tournament when we saw the draw, we looked him up and his (Universal Tennis Ranking) is 8.0. We know that's college-level ability right there. He has a lot more history of playing tennis. Even though he's a freshman, I'm sure he's been playing more years than Aric." Despite being overwhelmed by Marson, Kauble opened things well. He was the last of the singles and doubles matches to go on court, but he didn't let it affect him. Kauble (28-3) topped Elida's Brody Altenbach in the opener, 6-2, 6-2. "He did a nice job in his first-round match," MacFarland said. "He shook off a little bit of rust. He came out and did the things he needed to do and got adjusted to playing outdoors again. The wind was a factor today. It definitely pushed balls after not seeing them for a few days." Clyde's duo of Chase Castle and Oscar Webb also finished one match short of state. In the second round, Willard's Mason Dawson and Levi Schag took down the pair 6-4, 6-0. "Doubles is so much momentum," MacFarland said. "Willard got the momentum. They got the positive feelings going forward and they were flowing to the net to put overheads away. We were on our heels a little bit. By the time we were down 0-3, it was tough to start to come back. Willard is a strong team." Castle and Webb (30-3) opened the day with a tough 6-2, 6-4 victory over Bryan's Austin DeWitt and Jaydan Deel. While the season ends in a frustrating pair of losses, the Fliers had a great season. Clyde finished 18-3 and went undefeated en route to winning the Sandusky Bay Conference Lake Division title. "Going into today, I was hopeful we'd get to the positions where we'd be in contention to go to Cincinnati," MacFarland said. "To me, it's a good day to be in that position. I'm proud of the kids and I'm happy for them today. Their season and careers have been outstanding. Our year has been incredible. "It would have been nice to finish the season in Cincinnati, but unless you're the state champion, everybody ends on a loss." In other doubles action, Port Clinton's Kai Weit and Evan Lovitt had a good chance as any to get to state. But, the Bluffton team of Grady Koonfare and Isaiah Kohli grinded out a 5-7, 6-1, 6-3 win in the second round to eliminate Weit and Lovitt. "We knew Bluffton was going to be really good," Redskins coach Joe Miller said. "They're a No. 1 seed for a reason. In the first set, we played really well and established how we wanted to play. We needed it to be more of a baseline game and they wanted to turn it into a net game. We had to be pretty precise with where we were hitting the ball. "They got some confidence at the beginning of the second set after we made some mistakes." Koonfare and Kohli got going, but Weit and Lovitt put up a fight in the third set. Weit was a state qualifier in doubles last year with Blake Denno. "They hit some shots and won some good points," Miller said. "We lost our confidence going down 0-3 in the second set. We didn't put any pressure on them at all... Our goal was to make the third set tight and we did. It was 3-2 and 4-3 at one point. We were right there with them. Give them credit." Weit and Lovitt opened with a dominating 6-2, 6-2 win over Maumee's Joey Suelzer and Colton Robinson. "That's the No. 2 seed out of Toledo," Miller said. "We made a really good team look pretty bad. We were really excited with how we played." Port Clinton went 20-1 this season, setting a school record with its final record. The Redskins won the SBC Bay Division championship. "It was a historic season for Port Clinton tennis," Miller said. "I think it was expected on the girls side, but maybe not on the boys side because of our youth. We were very young." St. Mary Central Catholic's Pravir Gorty came up one match short of qualifying for state in singles action. He ran into Lexington's Phillip Etzel, who topped Gorty 6-0, 6-1. "It was a tough draw," Panthers coach Daniel Miller said. "Like I was talking last week, you have to cross your fingers. He was one of the best singles players in the singles draw here. I saw some good things out of Pravir and some promise for next year. "Making it to being one of the last 32 in the state is nothing to hang your head about." Gorty opened the day with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Lima Central Catholic's Evan Brinkman. "I think mentally Pravir came ready to play today," Daniel Miller said. "He dropped the first two games, but stayed level-headed. He was hitting the ball really well. I think that's a look into his future and what he might be able to accomplish next year." Ottawa Hills' Ian Marzano and Sahil Parikh defeated SMCC's Pavan Gorty and Luke Spicer 6-0, 6-1. Gorty and Spicer played better late in the second set, but the hole was too deep. "Another tough draw, but they showed some fight," Daniel Miller said. "They played that Ottawa Hills team better than when we had them back at our courts in mid-April. We saw some improvement. Their career as a doubles team is nothing to hang your head about." Van Wert's Zach Stoller topped SMCC's Eian Etchill 7-5, 6-2. The day capped the season for the Panthers in which they went 14-5 overall and tied for second in the Bay Division. "Anytime you can send four to districts, it's definitely positive, especially for a school our size," Daniel Miller said. "It shows how hard these guys have worked the past four years to get this program to where it's at today. "I talked to Luke and Eian about it. They've been four-year members of the program. A reason we've had success these past four years is their leadership." In other area results, Elida's Leyton Staley took down Edison's Adin Colbert 7-5, 6-3 and Bryan's Nolan Franzdorf and Kai Dauber defeated Vermilion's Timothy Anders and Sean Rini 6-3, 6-1.