Individual player results:
KARL DANIELS:
Karl Daniels(SI) def. Daniel Fugle(CB) 6-1, 6-0
Karl Daniels (SI) def. Konnor Bjelland (CON) 7-5, 6-4
Kalen Christiaens (L) def. Karl Daniels (SI) 6-1, 6-0
Karl Daniels (SI) def. Nels Garnaas (L) 10-2
Seth Roessman (BF) def. Karl Daniels (SI) 10-7
STEVEN OLIVER:
Logan Lamm (BF) def. Steven Oliver (SI) 10-4
Dominic Chiaverini (T) def. Steven Oliver 10-0
TROY BONTRAGER:
Guvanch Agajumayev (BF) def. Troy Bontrager (SI) 10-3
Ethan Blevins ® def. Troy Bontrager (SI) 10-5
JAMIE MULLINS:
Isaac Matt (CB) def. Jamie Mullins (SI) 10-0
Andrew Haggerty (T) def. Jamie Mullins (SI) 10-8
KATZ YELSA/NICK JOHNSON:
Yelsa/Johnson (SI) def. Cullis/Shima ® 10-8
Jordan/Duve (TR) def. Yelsa/Johnson (SI) 6-1, 6-0
Yelsa/Johnson (SI) def. Grussling/Proctor (VC) 6-1, 6-1
Jordt/Martel (BF) def. Yelsa/Johnson (SI) 10-1
CHRIS CAMEL/ROBBIE ERICKSON:
Camel/Erickson def. Grussling/Proctor (VC) 10-0
Muth/Burke (L) def. Camel/Erickson (SI) 6-0, 6-1
Cullis/Shima ® def. Camel/Erickson (SI) 6-3, 6-2
St. Ignatius had a tough run at the 2013 State Tournament not only in the end results, but also in the weather. All three days were rained out and play was moved inside, which resulted in shortened scoring that could have affected a couple of players end results if they were to have played full sets and had time to make a come back. Karl Daniels, who was in the group of favorites for placing at State, unfortunately came back from a school sponsored event the nite before State Tournament with a fever, chills and dizziness. Despite that, he did battle on his first day and came out with two wins. But then he came up against 2nd place finisher Kalen Christiaens and just had no energy to fight against Kalen who was hitting very well throughout the whole tournament. In his last match of the tournament, Karl played Bigfork surprise Seth Roessman and was playing well. They were neck and neck in the game score up until the 5-5 mark when Seth broke Karl’s serve and went up 6-5. Karl got a bit nervous at that point and lost the next two games. After calming down and focusing on point by point, Karl won the next two games and was at 7-8. At that point, even though Karl was doing the right things in his plan to defeat Seth, the shots just weren’t working out and too many landing in the net. That was just enough for Seth to pull out the win at 10-7. Seth went on to win his next two matches also and place third in the tournament. Karl had a good tournament considering not hitting a tennis ball for three days before the tournament and then coming up sick. With time on the court this summer and hopefully getting started on next years season before the season starts, Karl should be able to make a mark at next years tournament as a Senior player.
A first year player for St. Ignatius that had also had a tough draw in playing Cutbank favorite Isaac Matt as his first opponent was Jamie Mullins. Jamie went out knowing that it was going to be hard, and yet he still got some winners off of Isaac. Jamie is a competitive player and hopefully took away from his loss what a top, seasoned player looks like and that he should set that goal for himself with hard work. Jamie went out and played a great match against another seasoned, Senior player in Andrew Haggerty from Troy. Jamie was up three games on Haggerty in the beginning when Haggerty started gaining a bit of an upper hand in his lobbing whenever Jamie went to the net. But, Jamie kept on fighting and still got lots of winner with his aggressive play. Came down to just having more experience and having been in that spot at State before when Haggerty pulled out a 10-8 win. Once again, Jamie can take away from that match that he almost pulled off an upset against a Senior player in Jamies first year of play.
With a bit of déjà-vu, Senior Katz Yelsa lost out in the doubles competition the match that would have earned him and his partner Nick Johnson a placement at State if they had won it. Same thing happened to Katz in 2012 with his partner Harry Suta. But, Katz really stepped up as a leader on the court this season at State. He was playing with first time player, Nick Johnson who was a senior that decided he would give tennis a try a couple of weeks into the season. Katz and Nick gelled well together with each other on the court, so Coach Ashley decided to have them give it a try. Katz really helped support Nick when he got frustrated and talked to him, told him how to improve on what they were doing. And Katz also hustled to make sure that every shot he could do something with, he did. Katz came away from State play with two wins and two losses.
