Sturgis tennis finishes 15th at D3 state finals
KALAMAZOO — Weather played a big impact on the MHSAA Division 3 state tennis finals this past weekend. Despite the stoppages in play, the finals were able to be completed as scheduled. Sturgis finished 15th overall with five points at the finals.
Sturgis was given no favors in the seedings meetings and had several tough matchups in the finals.
"The boys played well and fought hard against some very tough opponents early on in the tournament," Sturgis coach George Earl said.
Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood brought home first place at the Division 3 finals with 37 points. Detroit Country Day finished second with 28 while East Grand Rapids came in third with 20 points. Holland Christian came in fourth at 17, St. Joseph was fifth with 15 points.
In second doubles action, the Sturgis team of George Bucklin and Carter Oswald earned two points for the Trojans. They had a bye in the opening round and then beat Lucas Inosencio and Dylan Rogers of Parma Western in three sets at 6-2, 2-6 and 6-4. That match earned a two-point distinction because both teams had a bye in the opening round. In Sturgis' next round, they fell to eventual state champions Cole Kirschenbaum and Kenneth Hu of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
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Second singles saw Grady Miller each the second round. He picked up a three-set win over Kaleb Casler of Dewitt with scores of 6-1 and 6-2. Miller's run ended in a loss to top-seeded Dan Marin of Detroit Country Day 6-1, 6-1 in the next round. Marin lost in the finals to Caden Che of Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
Preston Gump won his first match at fourth singles. He beat Andrew Wessendorf of Stevensville Lakeshore in three sets at 6-3, 2-6 and 6-1. Gump then advanced to play Kevin Ye, the third seed in the draw from Detroit Country Day, and dropped a 6-1, 6-1 match. Ye reached the semifinals.
In first singles action, George Ebert played fourth-seeded Alvaro Blazquez Navas of Big Rapids. Blazquez Navas won in three sets at 6-1, 6-7 (4) and 6-0. Blazquez Navas reached the semifinals.
Christian Perry had a bye in the opening round. He played sixth-seeded Mikey Beusse of East Grand Rapids in the next round and fell 6-4, 6-1. Beusse reached the finals, but fell to Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood.
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First doubles play saw Sturgis' team of Luke Frost and Drake Harker win their opening match. They beat Pranav Gunna and CJ Dunn of Auburn Hills Avondale 6-3, 6-1. In their next match, the Sturgis duo fell to fourth-seeded Carter Barnes and Charlie Seufert of East Grand Rapids 6-0, 6-0.
In the third doubles flight, Sturgis' team of Ian Golden and Wyatt Miller had a bye in the opening round. They then fell to fifth-seeded Zak Sing and Logan Fansler of Chelsea in the next round 6-1, 6-4.
Fourth doubles play saw Brody Currier and Tristan Clark fall in their opening match to Brayden Olds and Brayden Pischel of Big Rapids 6-2, 6-4.
Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as twitter, @BwatsonSJ.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Sturgis tennis finishes 15th at D3 state finals
