Sturgis tennis prepared for state finals in Kalamazoo

STURGIS — The Sturgis tennis program is no stranger to the MHSAA state finals.

In fact, the Trojans have qualified for the finals in each of the past six seasons, this year marks the seventh in a row for Sturgis.

Sure, the Trojans are happy to have made the state finals once again. But they have no plans to just show up and go through the motions.

"We are looking forward to it, from a results standpoint we want to do better than last year, but our draws are a little tough," Sturgis coach George Earl said. "This team has played well for a lot of the season. We have been able to finish well and yeah, we didn't win regionals, but we did play good tennis there."

Sturgis finished second at the Vicksburg regional behind St. Joseph. The Trojans earned more than the 10 points needed to qualify for the finals, doing so early on in the day. Now their focus is on having a solid showing in Kalamazoo. Earlier this year, the Trojans wrapped up the Wolverine Conference championship, one of their biggest goals. The second was also realized when they qualified for the state finals.

Now, one of their goals is to compete at the finals and possibly earn another Top 10 showing.

Sturgis finished seventh last year and ninth in 2021.

"Our guys are excited, what's really cool about this team is we've done this a number of years in a row but we also have some new guys on the team that have not been to the state tournament," Earl said. "We finished the regular season playing well and we've made other teams work. We're planning on finishing with each other, it's a good group."

Unfortunately for the Trojans, none of the eight flights at the finals are seeded this year. The Trojans still plan to show up and compete.

In No. 1 singles, George Ebert will take on Andrew Owings of East Grand Rapids. Ebert has compiled a record of 17-9 on the season while Owings comes in at 20-9. The winner of that match will play fourth-seeded Alvaro Blazquez Navas of Big Rapids.

Grady Miller at No. 2 singles will be taking on Kaleb Casler of DeWitt. Miller's record for the year is 20-7 while Casler sits at 14-20. The winner will take on top-seeded Dan Marin of Detroit County Day in the second round.

Christian Perry will play sixth-seeded Mikey Beusse of East Grand Rapids in the second round. Both players received a bye in the opening round. Perry is 19-9 for the season while Beusse is 17-11.

In No. 4 singles action, Preston Gump of Sturgis will take on Andrew Wessendorf of Stevensville-Lakeshore. Gump's record is 15-11 on the year while Wessendorf comes in at 11-8. The winner of that matchup will play third-seeded Kevin Ye of Detroit Country Day in the second round.

Sturgis' No. 1 doubles team of Luke Frost and Drake Harker will match up against Pranav Gunna and CJ Dunn of Auburn Hills Avondale in the first round. The Trojan duo was 15-8 this year while Avondale's twosome finished 19-2. The winner of that match will take on fourth-seeded Carter Barnes and Charlie Seufert of East Grand Rapids.

George Bucklin and Carter Oswald will play Lucas Inosencio and Dylan Rogers of Parma Western in the second round. Each team received a bye in the opening round. The Trojan duo went 17-10 this year while the Parma team was 13-12.

Ian Golden and Wyatt Miller were 12-13 this year. At No. 3 doubles, they will take on fifth-seeded Zak Sing and Logan Fansler of Chelsea in the second round. That duo was 23-11.

Brody Currier and Tristan Clark will play Brayden Olds and Brayden Pischel of Big Rapids in the opening round. Currier and Clark were 10-13 this year, Olds and Pischel played to a record of 26-4. The winner of that match will take on Emmit Mast and Bennett Heymoss, the fourth seed from Forest Hills Eastern, in the second round.

Sturgis, having been a veteran school at the state finals, will not have wide eyes when the finals start.

"We've been through this before, we've played tough competition and we've been in the mix," Earl said. "This will help us be less intimidated. We won't roll over."

Another positive for Sturgis is the Division 3 finals are being held in Kalamazoo. The No. 1 through No. 3 singles flights will play at Stowe Stadium on Kalamazoo College's campus while the No. 4 singles and all doubles are being held at Western Michigan University. It's a short drive for the Trojans and there are some positives there.

Earl said the lack of travel will allow the Trojans to practice at home, so they won't have to battle for court time on Thursday. Additionally, the support from the administration and school district, in addition to parents, has been very positive once again.

"It's the whole ball of wax," he said. "It's extremely satisfying and it's been great with this group of guys and the support has been great all year."

Sturgis will have light practices on Wednesday and Thursday.

"We're certainly ready," Earl said. "There's not much more we can do to prepare."

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 prepared for state finals in Kalamazoo