UP Tennis Finals: Negaunee, Westwood Reign

May 31, 2012

Negaunee won its third straight MHSAA Upper Peninsula Division 1 boys tennis championship Wednesday at Marquette High School, and Ishpeming Westwood won its first team title, ever, in Division 2 at Iron Mountain High School.

The Miners were heavy favorites in Division 1 after finishing ahead of Kingsford last season and tying with Kingsford for the 2010 title. Negaunee scored 20 points this time, eight more than runner-up Marquette.

Finalists from 2011 returned in all four singles flights in that division, with three earning individual championships this time. Negaunee’s Cody Tossava won his second-straight at No. 2, while teammate Kevin Price did the same at No. 3 and Rob Sertich won at No. 4 after finishing runner-up last season. The only singles flight the Miners didn’t win was No. 1, where Dave Terzaghi finished runner-up for the second straight season – this time falling 6-3, 0-6, 6-0 to Marquette’s Julien LeCosquer.

Another returning Miners flight won at No. 1 doubles – Lucas Christianson and Nick Kill, who were runners-up in 2011.  Teammates Austin Rice and Ryan Syrjala and Tyler Beaumont and Eric Ludlum won at Nos. 2 and 4 doubles, respectively. Ted Pietila and Sean Ryan claimed the No. 3 doubles championship for Kingsford, which finished third as a team.

At Iron Mountain, Westwood improved from sixth place in 2011 to edge reigning champ Iron River West Iron County by a point 16-15, although the Wykons had finalists in all four singles and two doubles flights.

West Iron County’s Austin Waara won his third MHSAA Finals championship and second straight at No. 1 singles by again beating Westwood’s Andrew LeSage in the title match, 6-1, 7-5.

Gwinn’s Derek Reetz downed reigning No. 3 singles champ Caleb Pellizzer of West Iron Country in the No. 2 Final, and Westwood’s Tyler Quayle won a three-set match for the championship at No. 3. Alex Rolston added a second singles title for West Iron County with a three-set win in the No. 4 Final.

Iron Mountain’s Gerry Pirkola and Max Frorenza and Henry Hakamaki and Taylor Huotari claimed the flight championships at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles, respectively – Pirkola and Frorenza after winning No. 3 doubles in 2011. Westwood closed out the team championship by winning the final two doubles flights – Quinn Leroy and Michael Ostlund at No. 3 and Derek Wing and Josh Nicholas at No. 4.

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Troy Extends 1st-Day Lead to Take Back Title, Rochester's Anderson Completes Climb

By Perry A. Farrell
Special for MHSAA.com

October 18, 2025

MIDLAND – It was the sweetest of Saturdays for the Troy High School boys tennis team at the Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals.

Troy entered Saturday’s final rounds at Midland Tennis Center with a 23-17 lead over second-place Bloomfield Hills, with Detroit Catholic Central one more point back at 16.

By the time the flights were in championship matches, Troy had built an eight-point lead on the way to finishing with 32 points followed by the Black Hawks with 22.

The Colts, last Finals champs in 2021, ended Bloomfield Hills’ three-year reign after finishing runners-up the last two seasons.

Nate Wanstreet, part of Troy's No. 3 doubles team with sophomore Jackson Kraus, said the momentum for this year started last season.

Rochester's Chad Anderson connects on a forehand.Wanstreet and Kraus defeated Troy Athens' Sahay Achar and Vikram Menon 6-0, 7-6, to win their flight.

"We only lost one player from last season,'' said Wanstreet. "We got off to a slow start this season, but we started to come on late and hopefully this will lead to a championship.

"All year we've gotten everyone's best at No. 1 doubles. Even teams that weren't playing well before they played us, we got their best shot. It kept us sharp all year.''

Troy also claimed No. 4 doubles as Raghav Karur and Zain Taqi defeated Novi's Vincent Maisano and Ronak Sharma, 6-1, 6-4.

In the featured match of the day, Rochester's Chad Anderson, the top seed at No. 1 singles, downed second-seeded Grant Miller of Ann Arbor Pioneer 7-5, 6-7 (0-7), 7-5.

Anderson suffered with cramps in his legs, thighs and quads after the first set.

"This is probably the happiest I've been on a tennis court,'' he said. "I'm still in a lot of pain, but it was worth it. I broke him in the second set, but he broke back. It was a struggle because of the pain I was in, but it's worth it.''

Anderson went up 5-1 in the first set, only to have Miller rally to tie the match at 5-5. Anderson regrouped to win the last two games and take the set.

Miller broke through to win the second.

"They were giving me mustard to help with the cramps,'' said Anderson, who had finished No. 1 singles runner-up last season and No. 2 singles runner-up as a sophomore.

A Troy athlete sends a tennis volley toward the net. Troy's first flight championship came at No. 2 doubles with Varun Shetty and Sourish Darui downing Bloomfield Hills Sajan Doshi and Meyer Saperstein in straight sets 7-5, 6-1.

"We wanted revenge this year; we had lost to Bloomfield Hills the last three years. I agree that our momentum started last year,'' said Darui.

Added Shetty: "I wanted to get revenge from last year. We lost our last match. We just focused on the things we learned from last year. It'll be a great celebration tonight.''

Bloomfield Hills senior Jonah Chernett had the moment of the day.

Plagued with a disorder that prevented him from competing in singles and had him taking five trips to the Cleveland Clinic and one to Stanford this year, he and teammate Krish Reddy defeated top-seeded Ben Waechter and Spencer Seneker of Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice 6-4, 4-6, 6-4, at No. 1 doubles.

"It has been such an amazing journey,'' said Chernett, who had to sit in a special chair during the changeover. "I've been playing singles all my life and not being able to compete was tough. I love my team and being able to get out there ... I felt at the start of the season we had a chance.''

Novi's Kris Thomas captured No. 2 singles with a 6-3, 7-6, victory over Troy's Dheeraj Yelleti. At No. 3 singles, Bloomfield Hills' Zev Spiegel defeated Okemos' Kai Minamisono. 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, to clinch. No. 4 singles saw Troy's Anthony Wu and Detroit Catholic Central's Graham Long go three sets with Wu prevailing 5-7, 6-2, 6-3.

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PHOTO (Top) Troy's Krish Gupta celebrates during Saturday's Division 1 second round at Midland Tennis Center. (Middle) Rochester's Chad Anderson returns a volley at No. 1 singles. (Below) Dheeraj Yelleti sends a forehand at No. 2. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)