PHS Tennis Continues to Challenge Top Teams

Portland High School hosted the Portland Classic on Saturday.

Coach Joel Cross said, “We once again asked three of the top teams in the state to join us. DeWitt is a top contender in D3, Whitehall is a D4 rival, and Traverse City Central usually does very well in D2. This year's competition was very close. DeWitt was missing 3 of their top players and probably would have stood out from the crowd with them in the line-up. Traverse City Central is so strong that they send their B varsity team to compete. They're facing the problem that most boy's teams are facing and had a hard time filling their line-up. This led to a sub par performance from them. In the end, Portland, Whitehall, and DeWitt tied. Each team won 16 matches. The tiebreaker in this situation is fewest sets lost. Whitehall lost 17 sets and ended up as tournament champion. DeWitt and Portland were still tied with 19 sets lost and tied for 2nd overall. There were some bright spots for Portland in this tournament. We once again showed that we can play with the top teams in the state. This is really encouraging as we move into the 2nd phase of our season. We've finished most of our tournaments and now have dual matches. Typically these are a little easier. Portland made one big change. Jorgen Sonday was moved to 4 singles and Cadin Cross moved to 3 doubles. This switch was great for the team. Jorgen won his flight and Cadin was runner up with his partner Joe Lorenz. Both played to their strengths. Jorgen is tenacious and won't give up through anything. He played 2 tiebreakers in his first match and ended up winning it. This gave him the confidence to roll through his next two. Cadin is constantly looking for reasons to play the net and doubles helped him do this. He clicked with his partner a little better and they won a couple of good matches. Portland plays again in their first dual match on Tuesday against Chesaning.”

Tournament Final Standings:

WHITEHALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL 16(17 sets lost)

PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL 16(19 sets lost)

DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL 16(19 sets lost)

TRAVERSE CITY CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL 0

Singles

No. 1 - Jackson Vanbergen, WHITEHALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL def. Aryan Virk, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, 6-3, 6-0, -;

No. 1 - Aryan Virk, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Ammon Howse, CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, 6-0, 6-0, -;

No. 1 - Aryan Virk, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Brody Sigmon, DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL, 6-1, 6-4, -;

No. 2 - Cooper Sackett, DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL def. Jack Roe, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, 6-1, 6-0, -;

No. 2 - Ashton Trnka, WHITEHALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL def. Jack Roe, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, 6-1, 6-3, -;

No. 2 - Jack Roe, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Cam Peters, CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, 6-3, 6-1, -;

No. 3 - Ryan Leonard, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Elliot Vander Roest, CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, 6-2, 6-0, -;

No. 3 - Ryan Leonard, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Sam Guillaume, DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL, 6-2, 6-4, -;

No. 3 - River Morrison, WHITEHALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL def. Ryan Leonard, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, 6-1, 6-0, -;

No. 4 - Jorgen Sonday, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Rob Hentschel, WHITEHALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (4), -;

No. 4 - Jorgen Sonday, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Default Default, CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, 2-0, 2-0, - Default;

No. 4 - Jorgen Sonday, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Brock Schaberg, DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL, 6-3, 6-2, -;

Doubles

No. 1 - Gabe Hankey - Marty Thelen, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Kevin Ruby - Connor Stine, DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL, 3-6, 7-6 (3), 10-4;

No. 1 - Austin Groeneveld - Ryan Findorff, WHITEHALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL def. Gabe Hankey - Marty Thelen, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, 6-2, 6-2, -;

No. 1 - Gabe Hankey - Marty Thelen, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Mitchell Stern - Niklas Fagerman, CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, 6-2, 6-2, -;

No. 2 - Kurt Kraczon - Alex Russman, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Cameron Lane - Gabriel Seaver, CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, 6-0, 6-1, -;

No. 2 - Josh Crook - Braden Stirrett, DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL def. Kurt Kraczon - Alex Russman, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, 5-7, 6-4, 10-7;

No. 2 - Kurt Kraczon - Alex Russman, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Evan Luce - Christian Smolen, WHITEHALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, 1-6, 6-1, 10-6;

No. 3 - Brian Koski - Mitchell Kahl, DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL def. Cadin Cross - Joe Lorenz, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, 6-4, 6-0, -;

No. 3 - Cadin Cross - Joe Lorenz, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Derek Swanson - Parker Peterson, CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL, 6-0, 6-2, -;

No. 3 - Cadin Cross - Joe Lorenz, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Christopher Mark - Luke Derose, WHITEHALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, 6-4, 4-6, 10-7;

No. 4 - Will Crist - Ethan Fogel, DEWITT HIGH SCHOOL def. Kai Kipp - Casey Smith, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL, 6-0, 6-1, -;

No. 4 - Kai Kipp - Casey Smith, PORTLAND HIGH SCHOOL def. Aiden Raymond - Steven Cullen, WHITEHALL SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, 6-1, 6-0, -;