Seaholm Caps Tennis Finals with D2 Repeat, Crosby Concludes Perfect Run at No. 1
By
Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com
October 24, 2026
MIDLAND – By the time the sun dented the dense fog at the Midland Tennis Center on Saturday, Birmingham Seaholm had accumulated enough points to repeat as MHSAA Lower Division 2 tennis champion.
Seaholm finished the two-day tournament with 35, followed by Midland Dow with 25 and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern at 24.
The Maples were in a three-way battle for the top spot heading into the flight semifinals, leading with 24 points, followed by Forest Hills Northern with 21 and Dow with 20.
And all three teams were familiar with hoisting the trophy. FHN has won three of the last seven Division 2 team titles, its most recent in 2024, and Dow’s championship in 2023 was the most recent of its eight total since 2009.
“We try to prepare ourselves for anything that we’ll face here,’’ said Seaholm’s Carter Griffith, the team’s No. 1 singles player. “When everyone is gunning for us, we rise to that occasion. We focus on ourselves and not the outside noise.”
Said senior Kalil Wahab, who paired with freshman Hunter Helfman at No. 1 doubles: “Every team we went out and played, especially in the regular season, really went after us. You could tell their level rose when they were playing us. No matter what team we played, rather they were in our division or not.’’
Wahab and Helfman clinched their flight title with a 7-6 (7-1), 6-4 victory over Byron Center’s Brayden and Brody Slot. Seaholm’s victory lap started at No. 4 doubles with Deven Badhwar and Ryan McArdle defeating Byron Center’s Colten King and Jonah Wiechertjes, 6-0, 6-3.
“The start of the season was tough for us to get the spot,’’ said Badhwar. “We’ve been playing together since we were 8. I’m glad we could do it as seniors. We got what we wanted.’’
Said McArdle: “There’s no one else I’d rather win with. We had chemistry from the start.’’
Seaholm’s No. 2 doubles pair of Arhen Gupta and Kyle Car defeated Dow’s top-seeded Ethan Clark and Jashwanth Thamminana 4-6, 6-2, 7-5 to claim that flight. The Maples also captured No. 4 singles with freshman Luke Janz downing Jayden Qi of Forest Hills Northern, 6-4, 7-5. Carter Griffith’s brother, Charlie Griffith, captured No. 3 singles with a 6-2, 5-7, 6-2 victory over Dow’s Raymond Chai.
Dow claimed the No. 3 doubles title, with Vettel Xu and Zander Salisbury besting Davis Gryzenia and Weston Jerabek of Grosse Pointe South, 7-5, 6-2.
South Lyon East senior Mason Crosby clinched No. 1 singles against Carter Griffith with a 6-1, 6-2 victory. He had finished No. 1 singles runner-up last fall, and his four victories this weekend advanced his record to 30-0 to finish the season.
“I thought I had control of the match; it got a little tight at the end,’’ said Crosby. “I was doing whatever it took. If I had to come to the net, I would. If I had to sit back and grind it, I did that.’’
Forest Hills Northern freshman Andrew Yang won No. 2 singles, 6-2, 6-2 over top-seeded Chase Martin of Dow.
PHOTOS (Top) Birmingham Seaholm’s Kalil Wahab and Hunter Helfman celebrate their championship at No. 1 doubles Saturday at Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) South Lyon East’s Mason Crosby moves into position during his No. 1 singles championship match. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)
Cranbrook 4-Peats with Near Perfection
October 20, 2018
By Keith Dunlap
Special for Second Half
NOVI/WEST BLOOMFIELD – Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood boys tennis coach Steve Herdoiza said his team had conquered challenges all season. But Saturday’s MHSAA Finals was a different one.
The main opponent was time, as weather forced the event to be played much longer than anticipated.
Teams waited out a delay in the morning so the outdoor courts at Novi High School could dry, and by the time the semifinals got into full swing just before noon, more bad weather had arrived.
That forced everyone to pack up and drive to an indoor court roughly 30 minutes away, The Sports Club of West Bloomfield, to finish out the day.
The result was an event that didn’t end until just after 7:30 p.m., but the wait was well worth it for Cranbrook.
For the fourth straight year, the Cranes captured the Lower Peninsula Division 3 title, doing so in dominating fashion by winning seven flights and earning 39 points.
“They’ve responded that way all year,” Herdoiza said. “Whatever challenge has been put in front of them, they’ve handled it beautifully with the same approach. Obviously, (Saturday’s weather) threw some things off.”
Detroit Country Day was runner-up with 28 points, while East Grand Rapids netted 25 points to take third.
Cranbrook was led by junior Lucas Bosch, who captured the No. 1 singles title with a three-set win over rival Nikolas Gruskin of Country Day.
It was the third victory of the season for Bosch over Gruskin, but by far the hardest to achieve.
Gruskin won the first set, 6-3, before Bosch rallied to win the second, 6-1.
Bosch then pulled out a 6-4 win in the third set to win his second straight individual title after he won the crown at No. 2 singles last year.
Bosch said Gruskin made adjustments from the previous two matches, and playing indoors without any elements made it more intense.
“There was a lot more running this match,” Bosch said. “Going to my backhand, he was serving it a lot better. He had out-wide serves slicing away.”
Bosch had plenty of help though.
Justin Luo (No. 2), Nolan Sherwood (No. 3) and Joe Croskey (No. 4) each backed up their No. 1 seed in their respective flights by winning titles to help Cranbrook sweep the singles portion of the event.
Cranbrook won three of the four doubles flights, with the team of Patrick Tiwari/Sohum Acharya at No. 2 doubles, the team of Hayes Bradley/David Hermelin at No. 3 and the tandem of Geoffrey Qin/Isaiah Croskey at No. 4 doubles all finishing first.
Tiwari/Sohum and Qin/Croskey were seeded No. 1 going into the tournament, but the title won by Bradley/Hermelin was more of a surprise since that team entered seeded No. 3.
The only flight won by a team not named Cranbrook came at No. 1 doubles, where the East Grand Rapids pair of Ryan Poste and Kole Butterer won despite entering as the No. 3 seed.
“Even though we won by a wide margin, there were a lot of close matches that went our way,” Herdoiza said. “I attribute that to the guys and how they handle pressure moments. They are poised, and their competitiveness was off-the-charts good.”
PHOTO: (Top) Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood's Lucas Bosch sends back a volley during Saturday's Division 3 Finals. (Middle) Detroit Country Day's Nikolas Gruskin returns a shot, also at No. 1 singles. (Click to see more from HighSchoolSportsScene.com.)