The Joplin High School boys tennis team finished fifth at the Truman Tournament on Saturday in Independence.
“Joplin had a good showing overall,” Eagles coach Aaron Stump told SoMo Sports. “Barstow and Staley, the top two teams in the tournament, were our only losses aside from No. 1 doubles falling to William Chrisman in their final match.”
Barstow (33), Staley (23.5), Lee’s Summit North (20.5) and Grain Valley (20) were the top four teams. Joplin (13.5) took fifth, followed by Truman (9), William Chrisman (6) and Kearney (5.5).
Joplin’s Adam Badr finished fourth at No. 1 singles.
Badr defeated Grain Valley’s Carter Williams 8-0 in the first round and then suffered a 7-5 (7-5 tie-breaker) setback to Staley’s Liam Colebank in the semifinals.
Badr dropped the third-place match to Lee Summit North’s Nate Wright 8-2.
“Adam had a great first match and went to a tie-breaker in his second match against a seasoned player from Staley,” Stump said. “He expended a lot of energy there, and had a tougher time in his third-place match.”
Josiah Hazlewood was the runner-up at No. 2 singles.
“Josiah had a great day, finishing in second place,” Stump said. “He won a couple tight matches before eventually falling to Staley in the championship match.”
Hazlewood defeated Truman’s Isaac Ulberg 8-6 and knocked off Grain Valley’s Trace Compton 8-4 in the semifinals.
In the bracket’s championship match, Staley’s Peyton Burch defeated Hazlewood 8-1.
Joplin’s No. 1 doubles team of Michael Mancipe-Hunter Merkley finished eighth after going 0-3.
Joplin’s No. 2 doubles team of Roman Venturella and Chapel Braman finished sixth. They went 1-2, falling to Staley 6-2 in the fifth-place match.
“We didn’t have a good draw in doubles, facing the winning Barstow team in round one of both brackets,” Stump noted.
The Eagles will host Carthage on Tuesday.
