Washington Boys Tennis

Anderson, Blades earn MVC honors

Cedar Rapids Kennedy senior Riley Galbraith has been named male Athlete of the Year in the MVC Mississippi Division.

Galbraith, who also plays on the Cougars' soccer team, finished fourth in the state in singles last year and is considered one of the top contenders for this year's title.

All six members of the Mississippi Division first team were unanimous selections. Five are from the Metro. Joining Galbraith are Linn-Mar sophomore Brady Anderson and senior Tyler McCann, Washington junior Mitch Blades and senior Mitch Anderson, and Dubuque Wahlert junior Brandon Schneider. Brady Anderson and Mitch Anderson are brothers.

Linn-Mar's Chis Wundram was named Mississippi Division Coach of the Year after guiding the Lions to their fourth straight division title.

There were no Metro players on the Valley Division first team, which featured three players from Iowa City West. Blake Oetting, an Iowa City West sophomore, was named Athlete of the Year and the Trojans' Mitch Gross was named Coach of the Year.

MVC ALL-CONFERENCE GIRLS TENNIS
* - Unanimous selections

MISSISSIPPI DIVISION

First Team
*Brady Anderson (LM), so.
*Tyler McCann (LM), sr.
*Mitch Blades (CRW), jr.
*Mitch Anderson (CRW), sr.
*Riley Galbraith (CRK), sr.
*Brandon Schneider (DW), jr.

Second Team
Trevor McCann (LM), fr.; Dillon Einck (LM) sr.; Clayton Hoyt (CRW), sr.; Tom Runde (DW), jr.; Wes Steffen (ICH), sr.; Gabe Mozena (DS), jr.

Honorable Mention
Kennedy -- Arjun Venkatesh, Mitch Martin
Washington -- Ian Schweiger; Reid Rossberger
Dubuque Senior -- Travis Busch, Noah Mozena
Dubuque Wahlert -- Garrett Hinz, James Ottavi
Iowa City High -- Sean Mullan, Erik McCoy
Linn-Mar -- John Kuster, Blake Young
Waterloo West -- Jacob Meyer, Armin Muhamedagic

Athlete of the Year -- Riley Galbraith (CRK)

Coach of the Year -- Chris Wundram (LM)

VALLEY DIVISION

First Team
*Blake Oetting (ICW), so.
*Kyle Appel (ICW), jr.
*Nick Johnson (DH), sr.
*Roy Ju (CF), jr.
Adam Boldt (ICW), jr.
Rex Ju (CF), jr.

Second Team
Adam Dellos (ICW), so.; Karl Wenzel (ICW), so.; David DiLeo (ICW), fr.; Noah Schmall (CRX), sr.; Jeff Teng (DH), so.; Jacob Donald (CRJ), so.

Honorable Mention
Cedar Falls -- Brennan Ashwood, Greg Power
Jefferson -- Colten Jourdan, Caleb Pfeil
Prairie -- Kevin LeCaptain, Derek Wheatley
Xavier -- Kyle D'Mello, Grant Hunt
Hempstead -- JT Bortscheller, Nathan Langfield
Iowa City West -- Trent Schneider, Ben Dellos
Waterloo East -- Ryan Gilbert, Alex Pietan

Athlete of the Year -- Blake Oetting (ICW)

Coach of the Year -- Mitch Gross (ICW)

All-Academic
Kennedy -- Eric Hansen, Mitch Martin
Washington -- Mitch Anderson, Dylan Shah
Linn-Mar -- Tim Bancks, Adam Abbott
Jefferson -- Jason Wong, Adam Houk
Prairie -- Kevin LeCaptain, Derek Wheatley
Xavier -- Noah Schmall, Grant Hunt

Doubles teams power Wash to district tennis title

Cedar Rapids Washington's doubles teams finished first and second and powered the Warriors to the boys Class 2A district tennis title Thursday at Veterans Memorial Tennis Center.

Washington's Mitch Anderson and Clayton Hoyt beat teammates Mitch Blades and Reid Rossberger, 6-4, 7-5, for the district doubles crown. Both pairs advance to the state meet May 25-26 at Vets Tennis Center.

Anderson and Hoyt were seeded No. 1, Blades and Rossberger No. 3. Blades and Rossberger knocked off second-seeded Rex Ju and Brennan Ashwood, 6-3, 6-3, in the semifinals.

Cedar Falls' Roy Ju beat Waterloo West's Sead Sarkic in the singles finals. A pair of Warriors -- Blaine Hartman and Ian Schweiger -- were knocked out in the semifinals. Hartman beat Schweiger, 6-3, 7-5, in the third place match.

Ju was seeded No. 1, Sarkic was second, Schweiger third and Hartman fourth. Ju and Sakic advance to the state meet.

The top three teams advance to the state team tournament. Waterloo West plays at Cedar Falls on Saturday. The winner of that meet and Washington advance to the substate meet on Saturday, May 19.

CLASS 2A DISTRICT TENNIS MEET
At Veterans Memorial Tennis Center

Teams - 1. CR Washington 29, 2. Cedar Falls 19, 3. Waterloo West 17, 4. Newton 7, 5. CR Prairie 3, 6. Waterloo East 0

Singles

First Round
McKinley Brown (New) def. Jeremy Cline (CRP), 7-6(4), 6-2
Alec McClain (WW) def. Brodie Abels (WE), 6-3, 6-1
Greg Power (CF) def. Ben Nichols (WE), 6-0, 6-0
Troy Scott (New) def. Kevin LeCaptain (CRP), 6-0, 6-2

Quarterfinals
Roy Ju (CF) def. McKinley Brown (New), 6-0, 6-1
Blaine Hartman (CRW) def. Alec McClain (WW), 6-1, 6-2
Ian Schweiger (CRW) def. Greg Power (CF), 6-2, 6-4
Sead Sarkic (WW) def. Troy Scott (New), 6-2, 2-6, 6-3

Semifinals
Roy Ju  (CF) def. Blaine Hartman (CRW), 6-0, 6-1
Sead Sarkic (WW) def. Ian Schweiger (CRW), 3-6, 7-5, 7-5

Third Place
Blaine Hartman (CRW) def. Ian Schweiger (CRW), 6-3, 7-5

Championship
Roy Ju (CF) def. Sead Sarkic (WW), 6-0, 6-0

Doubles

First Round
Thompson/McDermott (New) def. Cary/Belt (WE), 6-3, 6-0
Su/Dobson (CF) def. Habel/Larsson (CRP), 6-0, 6-4
Wheatley/Hoskins (CRP) def. Gilbert/Pietan (WE), 3-6, 7-6(8-6), 6-4
Vaughn/Meyer (WW) def. Tudor/Nascimento (New), 6-0, 6-2

Quarterfinals
Anderson/Hoyt (CRW) def. Thompson/McDermott (New), 6-0, 6-1
Richter/Muhamedagic (WW) def. Su/Dobson (CF), 6-0, 6-0
Blades/Rossberger (CRW) def. Wheatley/Hoskins (CRP), 6-1, 6-1
Ju/Ashwood (CF) def. Vaughn/Meyer (WW), 6-0, 6-2

Semifinals
Anderson/Hoyt (CRW) def. Richter/Muhamedagic (WW), 6-0, 6-2
Blades/Rossberger (CRW) def. Ju/Ashwood (CF), 6-3, 6-3

Third Place
Ju/Ashwood (CF) def. Richter/Muhamedagic (WW), 6-2, 6-2

Championship
Anderson/Hoyt (CRW) def. Blades/Rossberger (CRW), 6-4, 7-5

Warriors slam Kennedy in boys tennis

On paper, at least, the boys tennis match Tuesday between Washington and Kennedy looked to be a toss-up.

Both 9-3 in MVC dual conference play behind once-beaten Linn-Mar in the Mississippi Division of the Mississippi Valley Conference, they seemed similarly matched.

Instead, it turned out to be a rout as the Warriors won all but one singles pairing while coasting to an 8-1 victory in the regular season finale at Kennedy.

“I  really thought it would be close, and not so one-sided,” said Kennedy Coach Craig Bova. “We lost a couple of three-setters in singles. If we’d have won those, I think it would have changed the way some of the kids played doubles.”

First-year Washington Coach Rusty Graff was equally surprised by the outcome.

“I wouldn’t have expected it,” he said. “But we played well. And it’s good to see the kids improving at the right time of the year.”

The Warriors host a district tournament Thursday at the Veterans Memorial Tennis Center, while Kennedy has district play Thursday at Linn-Mar.

The match of the day Tuesday was a nearly two-hour slugfest between No. 4 singles players Ian Schweiger of Washington and Brett Blomberg of Kennedy. It started out in sunshine, turned cloudy with drizzle and ended with the lights on.

Marked by long volleys between two very methodical underclassmen, the match went down to the super tiebreaker 11-9 closing by Schweiger.

The Cougars’ only win came from undefeated No. 1 singles leader Riley Galbraith. He fell behind Washington’s  Mitch Blades 3-0 in the first set but rallied for a 6-4, 6-1 victory.

“I kind of choked after getting ahead,” Blades said. “But he’s  a pretty darned good player.”

WASHINGTON 8, KENNEDY 1

Singles

1. Riley Galbraith (K) def. Mitch Blades, 6-4, 6-1.
2. Mitch Anderson (W) def. Mitch Martin, 6-2, 6-1.
3. Clayton Hoyt (W) def. Arjun Venkatesh, 7-6, 6-2.
4. Ian Schweiger (W) def. Brett Blomberg, 6-4, 6-7, 1-0.
5. Reid Rossberger (W) def. Jimmy Cunningham, 0-6, 6-4, 1-0.
6. Blaine Hartman (W) def. Trevor Oates, 6-0, 6-1.

Doubles

1. Anderson/Hoyt (W) def. Galbraith/Martin, 6-3, 6-2.
2. Blades/Rossberger (W) def. Venkatesh/Oates, 6-2, 6-1.
3. Schweiger/Hartman (W) def. Blomberg/Cunningham, 6-2, 6-0.

Warriors whack Prairie Hawks, 9-0

Washington did not lose a set and routed Prairie, 9-0, Friday in boys tennis at Washington.

Washington's Ian Schweiger beat Prairie's Kevin LeCaptain, 6-1, 6-3, at No. 1 singles.

Washington switched up its lineup and used its top three players -- Mitchell Anderson, Clayton Hoyt and Mitch Blades -- only in doubles.

WASHINGTON 9, PRAIRIE 0

Singles
1. Ian Schweiger (CRW) def. Kevin LeCaptain, 6-1, 6-3
2. Reid Rossberger (CRW) def. Jeremy Cline, 6-0, 6-1
3. Blaine Hartman (CRW) def. Derek Wheatley, 6-1, 6-2
4. Grant Kamin (CRW) def. Tyce Hoskins, 6-0, 6-3
5. Barton Kennedy (CRW) def. Sam Habel, 6-2, 7-5
6. Madison Graff (CRW) def. Blake Larsson, 6-3, 6-1

Doubles
1. Mitchell Anderson/Clayton Hoyt (CRW) def. LeCaptain/Wheatley, 6-2, 6-2
2. Mitch Blades/Rossberger (CRW) def. Cline/Hoskins, 6-1, 6-1
3. Kennedy/Graff (CRW) def. Habel/Larsson, 6-0, 6-3