SHS tennis wins conference title
The Sturgis tennis team was victorious at the Wolverine Conference Championships on Saturday.
The Trojans piled up 18 team points at the event. Vicksburg actually finished with the same amount of points at the tournament, but Sturgis posted a team record of 7-0 in dual matchups during the season.
“It was a challenging day in many ways,” Sturgis coach George Earl said. “Coaches Earl and Taylor are very proud of the boys. It was a strong effort under different circumstances.”
Sturgis was dealing with heavy hearts following the passing of longtime legend Budd Munson. Munson was a staple for SHS tennis, dating all the way back to his coaching tenure for the Trojans where he piled up more than 300 career victories in leading the SHS ladies. Munson was often found around Augspurger Courts while the Trojans were playing.
On Saturday, the team went out and played their best in Munson’s honor and brought home a conference title.The Trojans won three singles flights.
Walter Ebert at first singles, George Ebert at second singles and Grady Miller at fourth singles all claimed championships.
At first singles, Walter Ebert beat Elias Babler of Niles and Brady Minnard of Three Rivers by scores of 6-0, 6-0. He also won over Jackson Bowles of Vicksburg 6-0, 6-4.
George Ebert won all three of his matches by scores of 6-0, 6-1. He defeated Anthony Kolhoff of Plainwell, Tyler DeHaan of Otsego and Jake Emenarker of Edwardsburg.
In fourth singles play, Miller won over Kevin Vicenzi of Plainwell and Prestyn Miner of Paw Paw by scores of 6-0, 6-0. Miller also beat Logan Schwenk of Vicksburg 6-4, 6-0.
Aidan Whitehead at third singles finished fourth. He won his match over Austin Susang of Plainwell by a score of 6-0, 6-1 but fell to Jack Miller of Three Rivers. Miller led 5-4 in the match before Whitehead was injured, ending his day.
Doubles action was not as great for Sturgis, but still productive.
The second doubles team of Preston Gump and Drake Harker, plus the fourth doubles team of Ian Earl and Ian Golden each finished second overall.
Gump and Harker won over Kayden Stratton and Justin McDonald of Three Rivers 6-3, 6-1 and beat Bradley Jeffries and Andrew Hampton of Plainwell 6-2, 6-3. The duo did drop a 7-6 (5), 0-6, 6-4 match to Caden Town and Gabriel Ryder of Vicksburg.
Earl and Golden won two matches as well. The duo beat Logan Paluzzi and Braden Farmer of Edwardsburg 6-0, 6-0 and Braeden Long and Mason Sikora of Paw Paw 6-3, 6-2. The SHS duo fell to Sawyer Kite and Connor Rugg of Vicksburg by scores of 7-5, 6-2.
Both the Sturgis first and third doubles teams finished third.
The No. 1 team of Christian Perry and Luke Frost won two matches. They defeated Wyatt Mitchell and Aiden Krueger of Niles 6-3, 6-0 and the Edwardsburg team of Caleb Layman and Owen Eberlein by scores of 6-4 and 6-3. The SHS duo fell to Otsego’s Dylan Chandler and Sam Bronkema 6-3, 6-3.
In third doubles play, the Sturgis team of George Bucklin and Adam Baker went 2-1. They did pick up a victory over Hunter Suddon and David Ehlert of Niles 6-4, 6-4 and the Paw Paw team of Colin Smallcombe and Ian MacDonald 4-6, 6-4 and 6-1. The SHS duo dropped a 6-2, 6-1 match to Maddox Rosalin and Colin Schramer of Vicksburg.
Otsego racked up 14 points on Saturday, Finishing with 13 points was Paw Paw, Three Rivers totaled 12. Niles had eight, both Edwardsburg and Plainwell had six points.
Sturgis will play at the Regional 18 tournament on Thursday. Vicksburg is the host school and Edwardsburg, Niles, Otsego, Plainwell, St. Joseph, Stevensville Lakeshore and Vicksburg will all be competing.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: SHS tennis wins conference title
