By Jason Wesseldyk
Sports Editor
For the record, Allegan was not hosting the Division 4 Boys Tennis State Finals on Saturday, Sept. 20.
But based on the level of talent on hand at the Gary Ellis Courts, it had the feel of a mini Finals.
Five of the top-10-ranked teams in D4 were included in the 8-team field of the Tiger Invitational, meaning there was a high caliber of tennis played throughout the day.
And when all was said and done, the Tigers—ranked eighth in D4—placed third with 41 points, following second-ranked Jackson Lumen Christi (52 points) and Division 3 Ludington (48 points).
No. 6 Paw Paw was fourth with 35 points, No. 10 Lansing Catholic was fifth with 34 points and No. 9 Whitehall was sixth with 32 points. Calvin Christian (seventh with 27 points) and Goodrich (eighth with 23 points) rounded out the standings.
“We had a really strong showing with a very deep tournament,” Allegan coach Damien Arthur said. “And a few of our flights got some revenge on other teams that we’d lost to earlier in the year, so that was good.”
While Allegan didn’t have any flight champions, the Tigers did have a pair of runners-up.
No. 2 singles Ezra Smith beat Calvin Christian (6-1, 6-0) and Lumen Christi (6-4, 7-5) before falling to Ludington (6-1, 6-1). The No. 3 doubles team of Gage Mashburn/Charlie Morris, meanwhile, bested Goodrich (6-0, 6-0) and Lansing Catholic (6-2, 6-2) and fell to Lumen Christi (6-2, 6-0).
Three other flights—No. 1 singles Silas Neldon, No. 4 singles John DeLaet and No. 4 doubles Noah Willett/Sully Morgan—finished fourth for Allegan.
No. 3 singles Carson Woodhams and No. 1 doubles Noah Kuebler/Ian Gaulke placed fifth, while No. 2 doubles Wesley Goodspeed/Oliver Burnett placed sixth.
“At the end of the day, we came away with a third-place finish, rising to the occasion against some great teams,” Arthur said.
Earlier in the week, the Tigers tied Kalamazoo Christian 4-4 (Thursday, Sept. 18) and beat Hackett 5-3 (Tuesday, Sept. 16.
Against Kalamazoo Christian, Allegan got singles wins from No. 1 Neldon (3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (5)) and No. 2 Smith (6-1, 6-1). Winning doubles matches for the Tigers were No. 1 Kuebler/Gaulke (7-6 (4), 6-3) and No. 2 Burnett/Goodspeed (7-5, 6-4).
Neldon had to fight off three match points to secure his win, which allowed the Tigers to salvage the split.
In the Hackett match, Allegan wins went to No. 1 singles Neldon (6-3, 6-4), No. 2 singles Smith (6-2, 7-5), No. 3 singles Woodhams (2-6, 6-2, 6-2), No. 1 doubles Kuebler/Gaulke (6-2, 6-1) and No. 2 Burnett/Goodspeed (6-2, 6-0).
“Whenever we are matched up with the Irish, you can always expect a competitive dual and this was no exception,” Arthur said.
