John Glenn showed its skill and grit and mettle.
But very little patience.
Competing like mad for a second consecutive trip to the state finals, the Bobcats knew they were on the bubble at the Division 3 regional tennis tournament at Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood. And they wanted the answer now.
“The boys kept asking me if we were going to make it and I said ‘I’m not going to look until we leave.’ I didn’t want to jinx anything,” Glenn coach Kevin Miller said. “But they went behind my back and asked the (tournament director). He told them ‘Don’t worry, you’re going to states.’”
By scoring 15 team points, Glenn secured the third and final qualifying spot for the state finals, set for Greater Midland Tennis Center on Oct. 24-25. One year after qualifying as a team for the first time in program history, the Bobcats did it again.
Tom Dwan and Patrick Dwan led the charge, reaching the championship match before settling for runner-up honors at No. 1 and No. 2 singles. Both ran into the host team, which ran the table by winning all eight flights.
“They’re cousins and they were playing right next to each other on those stadium courts, and it was so cool to watch,” Miller said. “Tom always rises up to the competition. I’ve never seen him so intense.”
No. 3 David Ferrio and No. 4 Jack Pfeiffer in singles and No. 1 Corbin Sanborn and Dylan Werner, No. 3 Nolan Waibel and Brandon Wood, and No. 4 Aiden Hellebuyck and Landon Debo in doubles all won a match and reached the semifinals for Glenn.
Bay City Central scored two team points in the regional as No. 2 singles Jose Costilla and No. 4 doubles Marti Wernigan and Michael Briggs won matches.
D4: GARBER EARNS STATE BERTH
Essexville Garber scored a pair of semifinal upsets, and that was the margin of difference that propelled the Dukes on to the state finals.
Garber scored 14 points for third place in the Division 4 regional hosted by Traverse City St. Francis, edging Saginaw Nouvel for the final qualifying spot. The Dukes advance to the state finals at Greater Midland Tennis Center on Oct. 20-21.
It wasn’t exactly scripted that way, but the Dukes made it happen. No. 2 singles Colton Pritchard and No. 4 doubles Finn Murphy and Maxwell D’Archangel came through in the clutch, each scoring semifinal upsets of the No. 2 seeds to earn those crucial team points.
Garber finished as regional runner-up at both of those flights, leading the way to its first state berth in two years – and 45th in program history.
Garber also got semifinal appearances from No. 3 Matthew Pawlaczyk in singles and No. 1 Leo Branigan and Ben Nickerson, No. 2 Carter Radtke and Owen Lewis and No. 3 Henry Campbell and Adam Howard in doubles.
Brailyn Martin scored a first-round win for the Dukes at No. 4 singles.
D2: WESTERN SPARKED BY SEMIFINALIST
Bay City Western closed out its season at the Division 2 regional hosted by Midland Dow, scoring six team points.
Luke Abraham highlighted the day for the Warriors at No. 4 singles. He scored a quarterfinal victory then battled in a three-set loss in the semifinals.
The Warriors also posted first-round wins from No. 3 singles Aidan O’Dell, No. 1 doubles Ben VanTol and Grant Reder and No. 2 doubles Merrick Young and Logan Gillis.