DCDS Claims D3 in Record-Tying Fashion

October 20, 2012

By Alan Babbitt
Special to Second Half

GRAND RAPIDS - Max Fliegner served up a memorable first experience with high school tennis.

One of the nation's top young players helped Detroit Country Day repeat as MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 champion on Saturday, winning his No. 1 singles flight to lead a Yellow Jackets domination of the two-day tournament.

Country Day matched Ann Arbor Pioneer's Michigan High School Athletic Association all-division record (set in 2002) with 39 points. The Yellow Jackets won seven of eight flights and finished eight points ahead of runner-up St. Joseph.

"I've never experienced that before. It's great being on a team," said Fliegner, who was homeschooled before enrolling at Country Day this fall. "I played a ton of USTA tournaments. Nothing I've ever done feels (this) good mainly because of the team atmosphere. Everyone's watching.

"To come through like that, we did great. We've got a ton of good players on one team."

Fliegner, a junior, wrapped up his first high school season by winning his title match 7-5, 6-4 over sixth-seeded Jan Krakora of Plainwell. He entered this fall ranked No. 19 in the United States Tennis Association Under-16 rankings.

Krakora, the lowest seed in the tournament to reach a title match, is an exchange student from the Czech Republic. He enjoyed his first experience with American tennis.

"It is really nice," Krakora said. "I didn't how big the state tournament is. It's really, really good guys. I'm happy I'm runner-up. I think I really played well in the finals. This is a really good experienced for me."

St. Joseph finished team runner-up for the second consecutive season. Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook-Kingswood took third with 25 points. East Grand Rapids (18) and Grand Rapids Christian (16) rounded out the top five.

St. Joseph's Kenny Garstecki spoiled Country Day's bid for a perfect tournament by rallying in the No. 4 singles final for a 1-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over top-seeded Max Shanbron.

"It means a lot to us," Garstecki said of finishing second. "We would like to win, but at least they didn't sweep."

The third-seeded Garstecki avenged a 6-3, 6-4 loss to Shanbron earlier this season. Garstecki also won a three-setter during the semifinals.

"It feels good, a huge sense of accomplishment," Garstecki said. "I played him in my third match. I thought I could turn that match around, and that's why I did. I improved my ability to push him back, to keep him from being aggressive."

The Yellow Jackets held their top seed in every other flight.

Country Day coach Josh Molino was pleased with how his team handled the tournament moving indoors to Riverview Athletic Center and a 1 p.m. start on Saturday. It moved from Holland Christian High School because of wet playing conditions.

"It's late in the season now. Weather is a big factor," Molino said. "When we got here today, the guys were sitting around a little bit, but with any sport, you've got to be ready to roll with the punches. We understand we're here for one reason - to play tennis - whether it's inside, outside or underground

"We feel if we work hard enough, we can match up pretty well with anybody."

At No. 2 singles, Country Day's seeded Sven Kranz won his flight with a 6-1, 6-3 decision over St. Joseph's Thomas Bellio in the championship match. Kranz, the 2011 state runner-up at No. 1 singles, completed an undefeated season.

At No. 3 singles, Country Day's Rishi Patel repeated as champ in the flight by defeating Cranbrook-Kingswood's Will Dube 6-1, 6-0 in the final.

In doubles play, Country Day won every final in two sets. At No. 1, Alex Gruskin and Patrick Adams recorded a 6-2, 7-6 (5) finals win over St. Joseph's Mike Kincaid and Matt VanWinkle. Gruskin and Adams each won doubles titles last season in different flights.

Country Day's No. 2 doubles team of Max Lee and Lorenz Ghan topped St. Joseph's Ryan Teich and Jared Kuntz 6-3, 6-2 in the championship match. At No. 3, Country Day's Blake Burnstein and Rishabh Nayak defeated St. Joseph's Sam Singler and Ed Nieh 6-3, 6-1. Burnstein won a doubles title with a different partner in 2011.

The No. 4 flight saw Country Day's Matt Stebbins and D.J. Bailey beat St. Joseph's Eric Miller and Nick Stants 6-2, 6-3 for the championship.

Molino said Saturday provided a great cap to his team's awesome season. Country Day went undefeated during the regular season and claimed a Regional title. The YellowJackets also earned their third team MHSAA Finals  championship in four years.

"Our goal at the beginning of the year was to get better each match. We had a lot of guys come through," Molino said. "I was really proud of Max. It was a tough loss - a lot of pressure on him - but he had a great season. The only thing I ask for is to fight for every point, and he did.

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PHOTOS: (Top) Detroit Country Day's Lorenz Ghan returns a shot Saturday during a No. 2 doubles match. (Middle) The Yellow Jackets pose with their team championship trophy. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)

Cranbrook Kingswood Wins 6 Flights to Regain LPD3 Championship Reign

By Scott Hassinger
Special for MHSAA.com

October 22, 2023

KALAMAZOO – By winning six of the eight flights, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood can once again call itself the Michigan Lower Peninsula Division 3 boys tennis champion.

One year after relinquishing its title to Ann Arbor Greenhills, Cranbrook totaled 37 points to finish first Saturday in completing the two-day tournament at Kalamazoo College.

Detroit Country Day took the runner-up honor with 28 followed by East Grand Rapids (20), Holland Christian (17) and St. Joseph (15) to round out the top five.

The top-ranked Cranes earned titles at Nos. 2, 3 and 4 singles and won three of the four doubles flights to clinch their second team championship in three seasons.

"Last year's Finals came down to the wire, and Greenhills ended up getting us by a point. That was an absolute gut-wrencher,” said Cranbrook head coach Steve Herdoiza. “All the flights we lost last year were ones we came back and won this time. I'm really proud of our boys. All of them found a way to play their best tennis on the last day of the season when it mattered the most."

After Friday's matches were suspended around midnight, play resumed at 8:30 a.m. Saturday with No. 3 and No. 4 singles at the Portage YMCA and a few doubles matches at Stowe Stadium on the K-College campus.

Rain, however, chased all those flights playing outdoors back inside shortly after to the Markin Racquet Center for the remainder of the day.

Play in all four singles flights picked up again Saturday in the quarterfinal round.  

Top-seeded Saahitth Reddy, Detroit Country Day's junior and No. 1 singles player, outlasted Cranbrook junior Ryan Michaels 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 in the finals.

Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett tennisThe match fell just a few minutes short of taking three hours to complete.

Reddy also defeated Michaels in straight sets in a regular-season dual between the two schools this fall.

Cranbrook won that match with Country Day 5-3.

There were moments in Saturday's match when it looked like Michaels would best Reddy this time around.

"Saahitth is a such a great player. You do what you can to win, and sometimes it just doesn't work out for you," Michaels said.

Michaels held a 4-1 lead at one point during the second set.

"I should've won that set comfortably. We were holding serve and then I broke to love. A real turning point for him in the third was when he broke me and then he had serve after going up 4-3," Michaels added.

Reddy said it was the emotional support of his teammates during the match that carried him through.

"I just didn't want to give up. When my teammates started cheering me on, I kind've got emotional and that usually helps me. My forehand and down-the-line shots are my biggest weapons. (Michaels) was playing really well in that third set, so I just had to stick it out," Reddy said.

Herdoiza commended Michaels for his effort.

"The heart and tenacity that he showed is Ryan in a nutshell. You are never going to find an ounce of effort missing from that young man's game. It's all just will power and desire," Herdoiza said.

Cranbrook senior Caden Che defeated top-seeded Dan Marin from Country Day 6-4, 6-4, at No. 2.

Top-seeded Jace Bernard from Cranbrook lived up to his pre-tournament seed with a 6-3, 6-4, win over East Grand Rapids' Mikey Beusse in the No. 3 finale. 

No. 1 seeded junior Amaan Khan from Cranbrook downed St. Joseph freshman Eeshaan Ale 6-2, 6-1 in the final at No. 4 singles.

Herdoiza also praised Khan's performance.

"I haven't seen Amaan's stats or anything yet, but he might've had one of the more dominant seasons. He wasn't just winning matches, but in some of those he was giving up only 10 points or less. That's real dominance," Herdoiza said.

Devin Kozal and Jace Konwinski from Ada Forest Hills Eastern defeated Country Day's No. 1 doubles unit of Achyut Reddy and Charlie Khaghany 6-3, 6-3.

"Country Day had good ground strokes and are kind've shifty, but Devin and I stuck together and got it done," Konwinski said.

Kozal and Konwinksi, who are cousins and live next door to one another, controlled the net throughout the match.

"We do drills in practice where our No. 1 and No. 2 singles players hit with us, and that really helps us prepare for matches like these," Kozal said.

Cranbrook sophomores Cole Kirschenbaum and Kenneth Hu pulled off a 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 finals win over East Grand Rapids' No. 2 tandem of Charlie Lentz and Luke Lentz. The Cranes' No. 3 doubles unit of freshman Ryan VanDyke and senior Ben Stevenson were champions at No. 3 doubles. Stevenson and VanDyke were victorious over Country Day's Thomas Bresson and John McKany 6-1, 6-3.

"In the first set we played very smart by getting to short balls, the net and by finishing off points," Stevenson said.

VanDyke felt it was him and Stevenson's aggression from the onset of the match that was the difference.

"I thought we attacked early and asserted our dominance at the net," VanDyke said.

Cranbrook seniors Ketan Swami and Kevin Guo defeated Joe Mulder and Tommy Rosmarin from East Grand Rapids 6-2, 6-2 at No. 4 doubles.

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