Flight Finals Wins Help Iron Mountain Complete Team Title Climb
By
Travis Nelson
Special for Second Half
September 30, 2021
ISHPEMING – Iron Mountain capped off its season as Upper Peninsula Finals champions Thursday afternoon, claiming the Division 2 title at Westwood High School.
The Mountaineers won flight titles at No. 2 singles and No. 2 and 3 doubles, earning 17 points. Last season’s champion, West Iron County, finished runner-up with 14 points. Ironwood and Ishpeming tied for third with seven, followed by Munising with five, Gwinn four and Norway.
“First and foremost, I’m just extremely proud of these girls,” Iron Mountain coach Marcus Celello said. Last year we got second place and we were one match away from winning it, so we knew what it took to be close. But first day of practice, we said that was the ceiling, that was our potential, that nothing was going to be given to us. My main takeaway is just that I’m really proud of this group of girls.”
Iron Mountain had finished runner-up six times since winning its last Finals championship while playing in Division 1 in 2010.
This Division 2 title was going to come down to a couple of matches between Iron Mountain and West Iron County. The Mountaineers and Wykons faced off in three flight finals, and Iron Mountain won all of them.
“We knew it could very well come down to a situation like this, us and West Iron in a couple of finals, and whoever pulls away in those will come out on top,” Celello said. “Low and behold, that’s essentially what happened today. We were prepared for the possibility and we just didn’t let it affect us mentally, and we just played our game and took care of business.”
For the Mountaineers, Aziza Burgoon had to come back against West Iron County’s Aurora Dahl after losing the first set to win No. 2 singles 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 in a long match. She was joined by her waiting teammates on the court for a celebration afterward.
“The first set I was pretty nervous,” Burgoon said. “Normally, I’m not a very nervous person, but I guess emotions got to me and I dropped the first set. Then I went over and talked to my coach and they said, ‘Leave it all out there and just have fun,’ and that’s when I really started playing well. Just having fun, and I won the second set, and the third set I was nervous coming back a little bit.”
Danika Juul and Rediet Husing won No. 2 doubles for Iron Mountain, downing West Iron County’s Lillie Schmutzler and Callista Bortolameolli 6-2, 6-3.
“It feels really, really good,” Juul said. “When we play them, it’s always a really good match, and it feels good that we were able to pull through at the end there.”
The tandem’s motto for the season was “smarter not harder” on their shots, and it led to three points on the year’s biggest stage.
“Point by point too, that was key for us,” Husing said.
Anike Cameron and Kensie St. John captured No. 3 doubles for Iron Mountain with a 6-3, 6-3 win over West Iron County’s Autumn Smith and Seanna Stine.
Elsewhere, West Iron County’s Kali Applin had to bounce back after dropping the first set to win No. 1 singles 4-6, 6-1, 6-1 over Gwinn’s Lily Kerry. After taking home the No. 2 singles title last year, it was an emotional end to Applin’s career.
“It was a long match, but I feel good,” Applin said. “Just knowing that I had another chance to get it back, there’s always a second set, and if I win that, there’s always a third set that I can win. It feels good to win for the school.”
The Wykons also took No. 3 singles, with Brynlee Nodurft defeating Munising’s Jenna Matson in straight sets 6-4, 6-2.
“It was really my mental game,” Nodurft said. “I was down 4-1 in the first set and that was really hard for me, and I’m just glad I came back. It was really difficult and I’ve never played her, so it was really hard because I didn’t know how she played. So I guess I was just learning her game and how to mix with that.”
Ironwood and Ishpeming won the remaining flights, with Ironwood getting victories at No. 1 and No. 4 doubles, and the Hematites claiming No. 4 singles. Leilah Anderson and Ella Darrow defeated Iron Mountain’s Bella Brown and Anja Kleiman 6-1, 6-2 at No.1. The Red Devils’ pair of Sarah Lauzon and Yoyo Sin downed another Iron Mountain team of Hailey Greenleaf and Mia Vedin 2-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2 to clinch a share of third place.
Ishpeming was able to get No. 4 singles with a 6-1, 6-2 win by Emily DeMarois over Iron Mountain’s Elle Loftholm. DeMarois started the year playing doubles, and it took a tough adjustment to play singles and get the Hematites a flight title.
“It actually took a lot because I didn’t play singles until about halfway through the season,” DeMarois said. “So to come out here, especially in this heat, it’s crazy. It took a lot of mental power and just not beating myself the whole time.”
Iron Mountain didn’t have to face the adversity it experienced at times during the regular season, but the days that didn’t go right prior to Thursday helped make the championship moment.
“It took lots of ups and downs,” Celello said. “There were days where we lost 0-8, 1-7 sometimes against some high-quality opponents. You just can’t let that affect you mentally. What I’ve been preaching to the girls is that tennis is already 60 percent mental, 40 percent physical. If we let it get to more of a mental game than it already is, we’re not going to be successful. Our message before we all went out to start today was that we just had to take it point by point.”
PHOTOS (Top) Iron Mountain's Aziza Burgoon takes in the moment during her No. 2 singles win. (Middle) West Iron County's Kali Applin follows through on a shot during the No. 1 singles final. (Photos by Travis Nelson.)
Sadowski Motivated for More After Singles Title, Eisenhower's Best Finals Finish
By
Keith Dunlap
Special for MHSAA.com
May 15, 2025
UTICA — Gabby Sadowski could have followed a trend after winning last season’s Lower Peninsula Division 1 Finals championship at No. 1 singles.
Over the years, winning an individual Finals title as an underclassmen – of simply having great success – has been a jumping off point for top players to move on from high school tennis and focus on the junior circuit. An example: Three members of last year’s Clarkston lineup that won the Lower Peninsula Division 1 team title — including two Finals flight champions — decided to skip this high school season to play juniors.
Since Sadowski won the individual title at No. 1 singles last spring as a sophomore for Utica Eisenhower, it wouldn’t have been surprising to see her do the same.
But perhaps in an even more surprising development, Sadowski is instead again holding down the Eagles’ top singles spot.
“All of my life, I’ve been playing USTA tennis individually,” Sadowski said. “Being able to play high school on a team is something I’ve really enjoyed over the years.”
This spring, so far, is probably the most enjoyable Eisenhower girls tennis has ever had.
Not only is Sadowski back and dominating, but the Eagles for the first time are ranked No. 1 in Division 1 and primed to follow up their first-ever Finals runner-up finish last year with a march to a championship in two weeks.
Leading the way is Sadowski, who is simply a generational talent for the program.
“It’s said in tennis that it takes 10,000 hours to earn proficiency,” said Eisenhower co-coach Kevin Donahue. “Gabby is one of those few people at 20 hours a week and 10 hours of tennis, it would put her at 10,000 hours. Strength training, stretching, speed work and the hitting sessions. She’s dedicated as an athlete.”
The bug for tennis bit Sadowski early. She said she started playing at age 3 and competing in USTA junior events when she was 8.
As was the case with many young tennis players, Sadowski said she idolized Serena Williams.
“I think my game is similar to hers,” Sadowski said. “I think the way we both are really aggressive and looking to attack the ball.”
There are many good traits Sadowski has on the court, but Eisenhower co-coach Mike Pierson points to a few in particular.
“I’d say her ability to take a swing and volley separates her from other players, to be able to put it away” he said. “Just her mental toughness also.
“As far as coaching her, half the time we are talking about forehand cross battles, bringing your targets with the wind, or maybe telling her a joke to calm her down a little bit.”
Sadowski already has her college future planned out, as she has committed to Purdue. In addition to the tennis program, Sadowski — an animal over, particularly of cats — was drawn to West Lafayette, Ind., for its microbiology and veterinary medicine programs.
For the rest of this season, the goal for Sadowski and Eisenhower is to capitalize on what might be a once-in-a-lifetime team title opportunity.
Sadowski is certainly not all Eisenhower will rely on in that pursuit.
Freshman No. 2 singles player Morgan Emerick entered Regional play today 30-1 on the season, while the doubles teams of senior Alayna Aamodt and junior Alexis Gabriel, and sophomores Kara Lu and Maria Khami, are both undefeated.
Eisenhower likely will enter the Division 1 Finals in Byron Center as the favorite.
And if they are successful, it will surely further validate Sadowski’s decision to return to her high school team for another year.
“It would just mean a lot to all of us,” Sadowski said, “with all the work we’ve put in.”
Keith Dunlap has served in Detroit-area sports media for more than two decades, including as a sportswriter at the Oakland Press from 2001-16 primarily covering high school sports but also college and professional teams. His bylines also have appeared in USA Today, the Washington Post, the Detroit Free Press, the Houston Chronicle and the Boston Globe. He served as the administrator for the Oakland Activities Association’s website from 2017-2020. Contact him at [email protected] with story ideas for Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
PHOTOS (Top) Utica Eisenhower’s Gabby Sadowski lines up a backhand during last season’s Division 1 No. 1 singles championship match against Rochester Adams’ Nicole Fu. (Middle) Sadowski, right, and Fu approach the net after the match is complete. (Click for more from High School Sports Scene.)