Greg Tunniciff
Sports Scene
FLINT, Michigan – Spencer Navarre added one more record to his collection at the Division 2 state tennis tournament October 19 and 20 at Genesys Athletic Club in Grand Blanc.
The Brandon senior went 1-1 at the two-day event en route to becoming the all-time winningest boy tennis player in Flint-area history.
Navarre posted a 27-4 mark on the season, pushing his final career mark to a whopping 111-11 (.910). The previous standard was 109 wins by Grand Blanc’s Nick Swanson from the 2007 spring season to 2009.
Navarre is second overall in area history, shy of the area record of 119 victories set by Powers Catholic’s Michelle Macksood from 2001-04.
At this year’s state tournament, Navarre won his opening-round match at No. 1 singles, beating Birmingham Seaholm’s Zaven Dadian, 6-2, 6-0.
He lost in the second round, 6-1, 6-2, to second-seed and eventual state champion, Davis Crocker of Kalamazoo Loy Norrix.
Navarre had a phenomenal four-year career at Brandon, which included becoming the first boy in the Flint Metro League’s 41-year history to win four straight league titles at the top flight.
He reached four consecutive regional finals at No. 1 singles, winning the last three.
The following is a roundup of all four state tournaments.
DIVISION 1
Ann Arbor Huron sent six flights to the finals and won three, en route to taking top honors with 33 points at Midland Community Tennis Center. Brother Rice and Novi tied for second place with 22 points.
It is the River Rats’ second straight state championship. The biggest upset came at No. 1 singles when second-seed Ed Covalschi of Utica Eisenhower downed top-seed and defending state champion Tyler Gardiner of Northville, 6-2, 7-5, in the championship match. Covalschi is headed to Notre Dame.
Huron’s victories came at No. 3 singles (Colin Williams), No. 1 doubles (Akihiro Ota and Aaron Bradkey) and No. 2 doubles (Max Teener and Ryan Stark).
DIVISION 2
Midland Dow continued its dominance, taking top honors with at Genesys Athletic Club. The Chargers finished with 35 points, 12 more than runner-up Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central (23).
It is Dow’s fourth straight state championship. The Chargers made it look easy, capturing five of the eight flights. Winning individual state titles for Dow at singles were Austin Woody (No. 2), Juli Guerra (No. 3), and Michael Szabo (No. 4).
Capturing state championships at doubles for the Chargers were Vikram Shanker and Jason Chang (No. 1) and Mark Gorte and Patrick Eschbach (No. 3).
At No. 1 singles, Davis Crocker of Kalamazoo Loy Norrix avenged a loss in the regional final by beating Portage Central’s Billy Heckman, 6-1, 6-0, in the state final.
Heckman had outlasted Crocker, 7-6 (7-4), 6-1, in the regional championship match. It is Crocker’s second straight state championship.
DIVISION 3
Detroit Country Day tied the Michigan High School Athletic Association all-division record for points en route to capturing its second straight state championship at Holland Christian High School.
The Yellowjackets finished with 39 points, tying the record set by Ann Arbor Pioneer in 2002. Country Day won seven of the eight flights October 20, finishing eight points ahead of runner-up St. Joseph.
Pacing Country Day was Max Fliegner, who beat Jan Krakora of Plainwell in the No. 1 singles championship match. It is Fliegner’s first state championship.
Also winning state titles for Country Day at singles were Sven Kranz (No. 2) and Rishi Patel (No. 3).
Winning doubles titles for the Yellowjackets were Alex Gruskin and Patrick Adams (No. 1), Max Lee and Lorenz Ghan (No. 2), Blake Burnstein and Rishabh Nayak (No. 3) ,and Matt Stebbins and D.J. Bailey (No. 4).
It is Country Day’s fourth state championship in the last eight years.
DIVISION 4
Greenhills School captured its fifth straight state championship, taking top honors at Kalamazoo College.
The Gryphons finished with 36 points, double the output of runner-up Comstock Park (18). Greenhills placed seven flights in the finals, winning six.
The only flight that didn’t feature a Greenhills player was No. 1 singles, where top-seeded Michael Sienko of Williamston defeated second seed Chance Conley of Portland 6-1, 6-0.
Winning individual titles for Greenhills at singles were Mithun Saha (No. 2) and Zach Tsai (No. 4).
Capturing doubles titles for the Gyphons were Chang Che and Zach Martell (No. 1), Adhi Rajaprabhakaran and Nick Sandhu (No. 2), Connor Kaczynski and Matteo Todisco (No. 3), and Neil Sykes and Gage Feldeisen (No. 4).
Juan Martin-Dyer took runner-up honors at No. 3 singles for Greenhills.