Final Match Decides UP D2 Champions
May 28, 2015
By Craig Remsburg
Special for Second Half
NEGAUNEE — It came down to the last match of the day.
Iron Mountain needed a win at No. 1 doubles to forge a tie with Westwood for the Upper Peninsula Division 2 boys tennis title.
Coach Greg Stegall’s Mountaineers got what they wanted.
Iron Mountain’s Danny Willman and Jordan Wadge outlasted Munising’s Joel Werner and Nick Cercone in a grueling match, 4-6, 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, to compile 13 team points for a share of the division crown with defending champion Westwood.
“I’m really happy,” Stegall said. “We didn’t come in here as the favorite to win, but everything went well for us and other teams had some upsets.
“My No. 1 doubles had to win that match, my No. 4 doubles (Mark Koeschner and Jake LeFebre) winning was the biggest surprise and my No. 3 singles (Tyson Wadge) winning was huge for him. He had lost to his opponent (Brett Fredrickson of Westwood) twice this season and wasn’t looking forward to meeting him.”
The Mountaineers’ Willman said he and Wadge were “very consistent” in their match, save for the first set.
“(Munising) was returning everything and we knew we had to work harder,” Willman said.
Added Wadge: “Coach (Stegall) told us to take it slower, keep the ball in play and let them make mistakes.”
Like Iron Mountain, Westwood placed four flights in the finals. The Patriots won two of them.
“I’m really proud of the guys,” said Westwood coach Chris Jackson. “I didn’t know how things would pan out going in, but overall, the team did well.
“This was the most balanced division since I’ve been here (six years). Every flight had a definite favorite with no trend(s).
“Depth led us,” he added. “There was only one flight where we took a zero.”
Westwood has now won three of the last four division titles, two outright.
Jake Kerkela of Westwood captured the No. 4 singles crown, 6-1, 6-1, over Munising’s Jared Immel. It was the sophomore Kerkela’s first title in this, his first season, on the varsity.
“My serve was good today,” he said. “I tried to keep the ball alive and not get too crazy.”
Brandon Benda and Hunter Roose — who won last year’s No. 4 doubles championship — gave the Patriots their other triumph, at No. 3 doubles over West Iron County’s Kevin Ballinger and Tyler McCarthy, 6-3, 6-0.
“(West Iron) played the alleys well,” Roose said, “so we adjusted by moving toward the alleys more.”
Added Benda: “We took control in the second set. We placed our shots well, got to the net and spiked the ball.”
Claiming the No. 1 singles championship was Micah Heath of Gwinn. He beat Munising’s Joel Schramm, 6-3, 6-3; Schramm was trying to become the Mustangs’ third straight winner in the flight. Noah Ackerman had won two straight.
“From Day 1 (this season), my goal was to win the U.P.’s” Heath said Thursday. “I’ve been trying since my freshman year and now, I’ve reached my goal. This is icing on the cake.”
Heath said his strategy was to “be consistent and keep my head in the zone.”
“I get frustrated when things don’t go my way,” he said.
That wasn’t the case Thursday, as Heath overcame an early bout of nerves to largely control his match.
“I was a little nervous early, but then I hit a couple of points and some confidence set in,” he said.
“At the beginning of the second set, I won two straight games to go up 2-1, and the momentum started going my way.”
Gwinn coach Dan Turecky said Heath’s “control of the play” was the difference in the match.
“Micah was mentally tough and confident,” the coach said. “That was the difference in the match. I’m so proud of him.”
Said Munising coach Rod Gendron: “Micah’s the best player in the U.P. He played great today.”
Munising’s lone win came at No. 2 doubles, where Mikey Graves and Ian McInnis knocked off Jake Kierzek and Nathen Nelson of Westwood, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
“We were down many times, but we stayed together,” Graves said. “We started playing with each other and not as individuals.
Added McInnis: “We weren’t really focused in the first set, but the last two sets, we were ready."
Munising placed four flights in the finals, but won just the one.
“I’m extremely happy with four flights in the finals,” Gendron commented. “My guys left it all on the court.”
Ishpeming picked up a win at No. 2 singles, where Cody Johnson beat Iron Mountain’s Luke Truscott, 6-2, 6-1.
“I was really nervous coming in,” Johnson said. “I started off slow, but took control the beginning of the second set. My serve has always been good.
“It’s crazy. (Winning a U.P. individual title) is not done very often at Ishpeming. It has been an exciting year.”
Said Ishpeming coach Erl Langness: “Cody has been consistent all year. Whether he wins or loses, he puts forth the same effort.”
Johnson has the distinction of participating in MHSAA Finals play in football, wrestling and tennis this school year.
"I couldn’t ask for anything more,” he said.
PHOTOS: (Top) Iron Mountain's Tyson Wadge returns the ball to Westwood's Brett Fredrickson during the championship match at No. 3 singles at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 2 Final held at Negaunee High School on Thursday. Wadge prevailed, 6-0, 6-0. (Middle) Gwinn's Micah Heath earned the No. 1 singles flight championship at the U.P. Division 2 Final. (Photos by Elizabeth Bailey.)
Built Right, No Rebuild Needed: Cornelius Taking Gull Lake Back to Tennis Finals
By
Pam Shebest
Special for MHSAA.com
October 21, 2025
RICHLAND – Once the boys season ends later this week, Roger Cornelius will begin preparing for his 50th year as varsity girls tennis coach at Gull Lake High School.
That tenure may have been cut short at 22 years, if not for the Gull Lake tennis community.
In January 1998, Cornelius’ 16-year-old daughter, Lindsay, died as a result of a winter car crash.
He had recently ended the fall season with the girls team and “I didn’t know if I could (coach) the boys that spring,” he said, still emotional when talking about the tragedy.
One of his former students, Jason Ryan, now a vascular surgeon at Beacon Kalamazoo Hospital, contacted Cornelius.
“He and one or two other guys talked with me and, if not for them, I would have quit tennis,” Cornelius said. “I decided to continue with tennis, and I’m glad I did. I found out that God was going to carry me through the toughest time of my life. The tennis community was really big for me back then. Richland, especially, came beside me and lifted me up.”
Although tennis is his sport of choice, Cornelius played football at Western Michigan University and was first hired at Gull Lake in 1975 to help with the football program. He jumped at the chance to coach the tennis team that spring and has coached either the boys or girls, and sometimes both, every year since.
He has been named Regional Coach of the Year several times and was enshrined in the Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association (MHSTeCA) Hall of Fame in 2018.
Cornelius will lead the boys (12-2-1) to the MHSAA Lower Peninsula Division 3 Finals this Friday and Saturday at Midland Tennis Center. The Blue Devils finished 10th the last two years, earning eight points both times.
In a rebuilding year after losing all four singles and two doubles players to graduation, Cornelius was surprised and thrilled that this year’s team earned 20 points at its Regional, finishing second to St. Joseph and qualifying for the Finals.
At the beginning of the season, senior Peyton Orley said he wasn’t sure how good the team would be.
“Last year at the beginning of the season, we could tell we had a really good team,” Orley said. "This year, we lost a lot of our seniors and it didn’t look promising for states.
“Everyone on the team was mission-motivated to get to the state tournament.”
Orley pairs with senior Sullivan Abegg at No 1 singles and the pair did their part, winning their Regional flight. For Abegg, it was a three-peat after taking the title at No. 3 doubles two years ago and No. 2 doubles last year.
The Blue Devils are led at No. 1 singles by freshman Kade DeMaagd, whose father also played for Cornelius.
“Kade’s got the best strokes on the team,” the coach said.
Lucas Nichols, at No. 4 doubles, is the other freshman in the lineup. The other three seniors are Max Uppal (No 3 singles) and Dylan Piwko and Evan McCann, both doubles players. Three juniors, who all play doubles, are Jaden Jones, Jackson McDermott and McGuire Abegg. Two sophomores round out the singles flights: Jake Worgess at No. 2 and Jacob Nichols at No. 4.
Comparing old & new
Cornelius said there isn’t much difference between the tennis players today compared to those 50 years ago.
“I think what’s changed the most is today’s athletes have so many different options, so many different interest areas,” he said. “A lot of the kids have early college classes, some of them have to come to practice from off site and so many things are happening, whether it’s the Model United Nations or tutoring someone at the high school or DECA. I think that’s the biggest difference.”
While the boys are competing in Division 3, the girls are in Division 2, a more difficult road to the Finals, Cornelius said.
“It does make it pretty tough for the girls to make it out of Division 2 with the Mattawans, Portage Central, St. Joe, Battle Creek Lakeview,” he said.
Orley’s sister, Ava, a junior who plays at No. 1 doubles, said the girls team has already bonded.
“We build our team off loving each other,” she said. “It’s not everyone out for themselves, it’s all of us (working together). We focus on being a good role model.
"We’ve had coaches tell us how we played with class and how it’s an honor to play us because we learned from (Cornelius) that you always want to be a good sport.”
Competitive, compassionate
Cornelius, who taught French at the high school for 32 years, currently tutors French-speaking African and Haitian families for the district.
“I tutor the kids and work with the families,” he said. “It’s vastly different than what I did in the classroom. The greatest thing that’s ever happened to me in my nearly 50 years working with Gull Lake schools was working with a little African boy who was blind.”
Cornelius and some friends pooled money to take the boy to a specialist in Grand Rapids. The specialist asked Cornelius to translate for the mother that he thought he could help the young boy regain some sight.
“The two surgeries were successful,” said Cornelius, choking up a bit with emotion. "He has to wear glasses, but he can see. It’s the high watermark of my life.”
That compassion is visible on the tennis courts, said retired Allegan coach Gary Ellis, now a volunteer assistant tennis coach at the school.
“I’ve known Roger since 1977,” Ellis said. “We started competing against each other when he started coaching the boys.”
He said that although Cornelius wants to win and likes to compete, “at the same time, he’s got a good perspective on the whole thing and the value of high school sports, and tennis in particular. He’s very positive, both with his team and with the opponents.”
Cornelius was so supportive of opponents that one year Ellis’ girls team invited the Gull Lake coach to their awards banquet at the end of the season.
“He had a conflict and couldn’t attend, but he sent a really nice letter to the girls,” Ellis said.
Cornelius makes it a point to talk with opponents, both coaches and players.
“I love to get to talk to the kids that I would never get to talk with,” he said. “My favorite is Battle Creek Central because they have struggles that most of us at Gull Lake don’t know about.
“For them to commit their spring or their fall to tennis, that’s a major decision. I want to make darn sure that after the match, I get to meet every one of them, talk with them, talk with their coach.”
Cornelius doesn’t expect this to be his last season.
“I will step down when the good Lord says, ‘I think it’s time,’” he said. “And I don’t think it’s time quite yet.
“I wouldn’t mind if they put on my gravestone ‘Loved God, Loved People.’”
Pam Shebest served as a sportswriter at the Kalamazoo Gazette from 1985-2009 after 11 years part-time with the Gazette while teaching French and English at White Pigeon High School. She can be reached at [email protected] with story ideas for Calhoun, Kalamazoo and Van Buren counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Richland Gull Lake tennis coach Roger Cornelius hits with his players during practice this season. (Middle) Clockwise from top left: Cornelius, assistant Gary Ellis, junior Ava Orley and senior Peyton Orley. (Below) Cornelius talks things over with his team. (Photos by Pam Shebest.)