Bulldogs second at tennis divisional
The Bulldog tennis team scratched their way to a second place finish at the Northwest A tournament last week in Kalispell.
Whitefish tallied 35 points to finish just behind Polson.
The Dogs’ top singles player Holden Roberts cruised through the first day of tournament action, posting convincing wins over Brock Denny of Columbia Falls and Thomas Crosby of Polson.
On Friday, Roberts took down Gavin Thelen of Columbia Falls 6-0, 7-5 to earn a spot in the championship match against Brady Hislop — Polson’s tennis buzz saw.
Hislop dominated with his powerful serve and baseline game, winning the divisional singles title 6-0, 6-0. Hislop never dropped a game in the entire tournament.
“Holden came in as the No. 2 seed and exited as a No. 2 seed,” Whitefish coach Chris Schwaderer said. “He had a great tourney — Brady is hard to overcome.”
“Holden has put in a lot of hard work over last couple of years. He’s never been to state — it was important to him to get there.”
Roberts will face a No. 3 seed at state.
On the doubles side, Logan Blades and Nathan Fauth left it all on the court to place third overall and earn a trip to state.
The pair opened with a first round win over Rayson Arnold and Raymond Sadewasser of Libby 6-0, 6-1. A loss in the quarterfinals bumped them to the consolation bracket where they topped Polson’s Cadis Chowning and Tim Russell 6-1, 6-0 to stay alive.
They topped Jayden Wirkus and Trevor Wick of Columbia Falls to get into the semifinals.
Fighting for their chance to go to state, Blades and Fauth won a thrilling three-set match over Polson’s No. 2 seed of Tyler Dupuis and Tommy Mercer. They dropped the first set 3-6 only to come back and take the next two.
Schwaderer called the match the highlight of the tournament.
“There was a lot of pressure,” he said. “There was a lot riding on it for everybody.”
“Fauth felt pressure to deliver, but he really stepped up and made some great shots.”
“Blades was not going to lose. You could see he ramped it up three notches in that match.”
The paring snagged third place with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Mason Gedlaman and Caleb Baumann of Columbia Falls.
They will face a No. 2 seed at state.
Chaffin Ross just missed out on a trip to state after battling through a tough singles bracket. On the first day of play, Ross defeated Cooper Wendt of Columbia Falls 6-2, 6-1, and then took down Polson’s Colin Kenney 6-2, 7-6.
He finally fell in the semifinals to Hislop 6-0, 6-0.
“Chaffin elevated the quality of his game and it showed,” Schwaderer said.
Schwaderer was pleased with the Dogs overall performance. He noted that eight of the 10 players survived the first day.
“We were just two points behind Polson heading into the second day,” he said. “That says a lot about where we are as a team.”
BOYS
Team Scores — Polson 47, Whitefish 35, Columbia Falls 20, Libby 19.
Singles
Championship Bracket
Semifinals
Brady Hislop, P, def. Chaffin Ross, WF, 6-0, 6-0; Holden Roberts, WF, def. Gavin Thelen, CF, 6-0, 7-5.
Finals
Hislop def. Roberts, 6-0, 6-0.
Consolation Bracket
Third round
Quaid Harlan, P, def. Thomas Crosby, P, 6-1, 6-1; Colin Maloney, P, def. Colin Kenney, P, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
Semifinals
Harlan def. Ross, 6-3, 7-5; Thelen def. Maloney, 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7-5).
Third place
Thelen def. Harlan, 6-1, 7-6 (10-8).
Doubles
Championship Bracket
Semifinals
Dylan McCrumb/Layne Zimmerman, P, def. Mason Gedlaman/Caleb Baumann, CF, 6-2, 6-1; Jason Schnackenberg/Cody Wood, L, def. Tyler Dupuis/Tommy Mercer, 6-4, 6-4.
Finals
McCrumb/Zimmerman def. Schnackenberg/Cody Wood, 6-2, 6-3.
Consolation Bracket
Second Round
Tommy Murphy/Bailey Jack, WF, def. Brown/Potthoff, WF, 6-3, 6-0; Logan Blades/Nathan Fauth, WF, def. Wirkus/Wick, CF, 6-0, 6-0.
Semifinals
Gedlaman/Baumann def. Murphy/Jack, 6-4, 6-2; Blades/Fauth def. Dupuis/Mercer, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Third Place
Blades/Fauth def. Gedlaman/Baumann, 6-4, 6-0.