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.
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.)
- Field Hockey
- Boys Soccer
- Girls Swim & Dive
- Boys Tennis
- Girls Tennis
- Girls Volleyball
- Girls Cross Country
- Boys Cross Country
- Football
- Girls Golf
- MHSAA News
Field Hockey Debut, Tennis Finals Change Among Most Notable as Fall Practices Set to Begin
By
Geoff Kimmerly
MHSAA.com senior editor
August 8, 2025
The addition of girls field hockey as a sponsored postseason championship sport and a revised schedule for Lower Peninsula Boys Tennis Finals are the most significant changes to fall sports as practices are set to begin Monday, Aug. 11, for an anticipated 100,000 high school athletes at Michigan High School Athletic Association member schools.
The fall season includes the most played sports for both boys and girls; 36,210 football players and 19,679 girls volleyball players competed during the Fall 2024 season. Teams in those sports will be joined by competitors in girls and boys cross country, field hockey, Lower Peninsula girls golf, boys soccer, Lower Peninsula girls swimming & diving, Upper Peninsula girls tennis and Lower Peninsula boys tennis in beginning practice next week. Competition begins Aug. 15 for cross country, field hockey, golf, soccer and tennis, Aug. 20 for swimming & diving and volleyball, and Aug. 28 for varsity football.
Field hockey is one of two sports set to make its debut with MHSAA sponsorship during the 2025-26 school year; boys volleyball will play its first season with MHSAA sponsorship in the spring.
There are 37 varsity teams expected to play during the inaugural field hockey season. There will be one playoff division, with the first MHSAA Regionals in this sport beginning Oct. 8 and the first championship awarded Oct. 25.
To conclude their season, Lower Peninsula boys tennis teams will begin a pilot program showcasing Finals for all four divisions at the same location – Midland Tennis Center – over a two-week period. Division 4 will begin play with its two-day event Oct. 15-16, followed by Division 1 on Oct. 17-18, Division 2 on Oct. 22-23 and Division 3 played Oct. 24-25.
Also in Lower Peninsula boys tennis, and girls in the spring, a Finals qualification change will allow for teams that finish third at their Regionals to advance to the season-ending tournament as well, but only in postseason divisions where there are six Regionals – which will be all four boys divisions this fall.
The 11-Player Football Finals at Ford Field will be played this fall over a three-day period, with Division 8, 4, 6 and 2 games on Friday, Nov. 28, and Division 7, 3, 5 and 1 games played Sunday, Nov. 30, to accommodate Michigan State’s game against Maryland on Nov. 29 at Ford Field.
Two more changes affecting football playoffs will be noticeable this fall. For the first time, 8-Player Semifinals will be played at neutral sites; previously the team with the highest playoff-point average continued to host during that round. Also, teams that forfeit games will no longer receive playoff-point average strength-of-schedule bonus points from those opponents to which they forfeited.
A pair of changes in boys soccer this fall will address sportsmanship. The first allows game officials to take action against a team’s head coach in addition to any cautions or ejections issues to players and personnel in that team’s bench area – making the head coach more accountable for behavior on the sideline. The second change allows for only the team captain to speak with an official during the breaks between periods (halftime and during overtime), unless another coach, player, etc., is summoned by the official – with the penalty a yellow card to the offending individual.
A few more game-action rules changes will be quickly noticeable to participants and spectators.
- In volleyball, multiple contacts by one player attempting to play the ball will now be allowed on second contact if the next contact is by a teammate on the same side of the net.
- In swimming & diving, backstroke ledges will be permitted in pools that maintain a 6-foot water depth. If used in competition, identical ledges must be provided by the host team for all lanes, although individual swimmers are not required to use them.
- Also in swimming & diving – during relay exchanges – second, third and fourth swimmers must have one foot stationary at the front edge of the deck. The remainder of their bodies may be in motion prior to the finish of the incoming swimmer.
- In football, when a forward fumble goes out of bounds, the ball will now be spotted where the fumble occurred instead of where the ball crossed the sideline.
The 2025 Fall campaign culminates with postseason tournaments beginning with the Upper Peninsula Girls Tennis Finals during the week of Sept. 29 and wrapping up with the 11-Player Football Finals on Nov. 28 and 30. Here is a complete list of fall tournament dates:
Cross Country
U.P. Finals – Oct. 18
L.P. Regionals – Oct. 24 or 25
L.P. Finals – Nov. 1
Field Hockey
Regionals – Oct. 8-21
Semifinals – Oct. 22 or 23
Final – Oct. 25
11-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 26
District Semifinals – Oct. 31 or Nov. 1
District Finals – Nov. 7 or 8
Regional Finals – Nov. 14 or 15
Semifinals – Nov. 22
Finals – Nov. 28 and 30
8-Player Football
Selection Sunday – Oct. 26
Regional Semifinals – Oct. 31 or Nov. 1
Regional Finals – Nov. 7 or 8
Semifinals – Nov. 15
Finals – Nov. 22
L.P. Girls Golf
Regionals – Oct. 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, or 11
Finals – Oct. 17-18
Boys Soccer
Districts – Oct. 8-18
Regionals – Oct. 21-25
Semifinals – Oct. 29
Finals – Nov. 1
L.P. Girls Swimming & Diving
Diving Regionals – Nov. 13
Swimming/Diving Finals – Nov. 21-22
Tennis
U.P. Girls Finals – Oct. 1, 2, 3, or 4
L.P. Boys Regionals – Oct. 8, 9, 10, or 11
L.P. Boys Finals – Oct. 15-16 (Division 4), Oct. 17-18 (Division 1), Oct 22-23 (Division 2), and Oct. 24-25 (Division 3)
Girls Volleyball
Districts – Nov. 3-8
Regionals – Nov. 11 & 13
Quarterfinals – Nov. 18
Semifinals – Nov. 20-21
Finals – Nov. 22
The MHSAA is a private, not-for-profit corporation of voluntary membership by more than 1,500 public and private senior high schools and junior high/middle schools which exists to develop common rules for athletic eligibility and competition. No government funds or tax dollars support the MHSAA, which was the first such association nationally to not accept membership dues or tournament entry fees from schools. Member schools which enforce these rules are permitted to participate in MHSAA tournaments, which attract more than 1.4 million spectators each year.