Szabo, Kingsford: Kings of Court Again
May 28, 2015
By Keith Shelton
Special for Second Half
KINGSFORD — Kingsford's Adam Szabo considers himself a hockey player first and a tennis player second.
Yet, one look at the swing of the reigning Upper Peninsula Division 1 No. 1 singles champ reveals a talent above and beyond the rest of the field. A powerful "flick of the wrist" as he would call it, that most players would envy.
Szabo had it all working for him again Wednesday at the MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 Tennis Finals at Kingsford High School, leading his team to its second U.P. championship in the last three years.
"Adam had it going the whole season. He never let up once," said Szabo's head coach Mark Shanks.
Szabo wrapped up a dominant season, capped by his 6-0, 6-0 victory over Josh Downs of Marquette in the No. 1 singles final. Not only did Szabo go undefeated this season, he didn't drop a set. Szabo has only one loss over the last three seasons; Downs has the distinction of putting the lone blemish on Szabo's outstanding career at Kingsford.
It's a loss the Kingsford senior wishes he had back.
"That was a pretty rough match on my part. An off day, you could say," Szabo said of his loss to Downs last season. "I wish I could have that match last year back, but this was a great end to the road. I couldn't have asked for anything better."
Szabo said he holds scholarship offers from several Division II and III colleges to continue his tennis career, but isn't sure that's where his heart is.
"There's some schools talking, but I don't know if I want to," Szabo said. "I don't put a lot of time into this. I might go to college, enlist in the National Guard. I could play; I'm just not sure I want to."
Shanks is certain Szabo was a key part to the Flivvers' resurgence in tennis.
"I've known Adam since he was a second-grader, hanging out at the courts all the time near my house," he said. "I can't take credit for everything he's got; God gave him a lot of gifts, but I was out there to throw him a lot of balls.
"He's one of my top players,” Shanks added. “His brother who is four years apart was also a U.P. champ all four years. They're both good hockey players. Their father (Tony Szabo) gave them good genetics. He played on Northern Michigan University's national championship team in 1991."
Kingsford won the title with 16 points, winning five of eight flights. They were followed by Negaunee at 12, Marquette 10, Menominee 10, Gladstone 1, and Escanaba 1.
Also winning titles for the Flivvers were Chris Roell at No. 3 singles, Alek Shanks at No. 4 singles, Dan Harrington and Joe Gregory at No. 1 doubles, and Noah Voss and Austin VanPembrook at No. 3 doubles.
Harrington and Gregory won the No. 1 doubles title for the second straight year, battling out a heavily contested match against Karl Bittner and Alex Roth of Negaunee 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.
"We had our ups and downs today," said Harrington. "It was a little shakier than the last time we played them. They gave us a tough time."
Added Gregory, "We dropped the second set because we weren't playing aggressive enough. We picked it up at the end though."
Shanks was especially proud of his No. 3 doubles team that finished undefeated despite a switch of partners midway through the season. His son, Alek, won at No. 4 singles, defeating Negaunee's Ben Luke 7-6 (8), 6-2.
"That's the reason I'm still here, truthfully," Shanks said of the opportunity to coach his son. "I would have seen this group of kids through, but he'll keep me around a couple more years. It's always fun to see your own blood and kin out there playing. He lost three times to Luke this season. Last year, it was just the opposite. Alek beat Luke three times and then lost to him in the finals. They reversed roles this year."
The champions certainly earned it on this sporadic weather day. The start of the tournament was delayed three hours due to morning rain. There were further rain delays caused by brief downpours later on. Coaches squeegeed the courts in an effort to dry them faster, while players rested up. Most seemed to think the delays were a welcome reprieve.
"The rain delays actually helped," said Marquette's Noah Gannon, who won the No. 2 singles flight. "I was pretty tired after my semifinal match with Ryan Syrjala (a 6-0, 6-7 (3), 6-1 victory). The rain delays gave me a break to re-focus myself and get the job done."
Gannon fought off Menominee's Nathan Nowack in the final 6-3, 7-5, overcoming Nowack's powerful serve.
"It got pretty intense toward the end," said Gannon. "His serve was really hard to return. Eventually, I just pulled it out. I really felt confident in this match. I could feel the momentum coming through after I beat Syrjala"
Negaunee captured the No. 2 doubles flight, and Menominee won the No. 4 doubles flight.
Gladstone and Escanaba each advanced one flight to the semifinals before bowing out. Gladstone head coach Dan Williams had to tip his hat to the champions from Kingsford, who eliminated the Braves' No. 1 doubles team of Tyler Wells and Jeremy Kadish.
"Kingsford is the No. 1 team, so if you're going to lose to any team, you want to go out playing the best," Williams said.
The U.P. title is the third in Kingsford boys tennis history. Prior to the 2013 title, the first came back in 1953. Shanks said the team has had fun trying to compare the 2013 and 2015 teams, but he leans toward the 2015 team.
"This team will go down as the best team record-wise in the history of Kingsford school," he said. "We were 14-0 in dual meets; eight of those were 8-0 shutouts. We were 5-0 in tournaments. This is the first Kingsford team to go undefeated and sweep all five tournaments."
PHOTOS: (Top) Kingsford's Adam Szabo returns a shot on the way to repeating as U.P. Division 1 champion at No. 1 singles. (Middle) Marquette's Noah Gannon earned the No. 2 singles flight championship. (Photos by Keith Shelton.)
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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.