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Tag: boys tennis

PREP TENNIS: Joplin earns close win over Carl Junction

Posted on by Jason Peake

Led by four wins in singles play, the Joplin High School boys tennis team defeated Carl Junction 5-4 on Tuesday at the JHS athletic complex.

The Eagles dropped two of three doubles matches, but then won four of the six singles matches to earn a close dual victory.

“Carl Junction played well,” Joplin coach Aaron Stump said. “They had an interesting doubles lineup, pairing their No. 1 and No. 11 ranked players, which worked to their advantage. We were able to win four singles matches to take the match.” 

At No. 1 doubles, Joplin’s Logan Merkley and Jeffrey Evenson defeated Connor Sztamenits and Cade Wilkerson 8-4.

“Logan and Jeffrey communicated well during their doubles match,” Stump commented. “They played with confidence and had few unforced errors.”

Carl Junction’s Josecito Figueroa Quezada and Jordan Markham defeated Joplin’s Ben Wardlow and Colin Vermillion 8-4.

“The Carl Junction team had nice lobs and placed the ball well against us with any short hits,” Stump said. 

In the No. 3 doubles match, Carl Junction’s Blaine Wilkerson and Nicholas Neal edged Josh Yarnall and Michael Mancipe 8-6.

At No. 1 singles, Merkley beat Blaine Wilkerson 8-2.

“Logan studied his opponent’s style of play early in the match and was able to counter it,” Stump noted. “He kept the ball in play and attacked when he had the opportunity.” 

Evenson beat Connor Sztamenits 8-2 at No. 2 singles.

“Jeffrey played with consistency,” Stump said. “He had a strong serve and placed subsequent shots with power and efficiency.” 

Wardlow defeated Cade Wilkerson 8-4 at No. 3 singles.

“Ben brought his A-game into the singles match,” Stump said. “He was hitting his serves better than I’ve seen in recent matches.” 

Yarnall beat Easton Szatamenits 8-1 at No. 4 singles.

“Josh adjusted his strategy from previous matches and competed well,” Stump commented. “It was nice to have him available for singles, especially since his victory won the match for Joplin.” 

Carl Junction won at No. 5 and No. 6 singles, as Quezada defeated Mancipe 8-4 and Markham topped Vermillion 8-3.

“Michael and Josecito were very evenly matched,” Stump said of the No. 5 match. “They played some of the longest rallie we’ve seen all season.” 

Joplin hosts Willard on Thursday, while Carl Junction hosts Branson on Thursday. 

 

Joplin’s Logan Merkley serves during the No. 1 doubles match against Carl Junction on Tuesday. Submitted photo.

BOYS TENNIS: Joplin suffers road loss at Ozark

Posted on by Jason Peake

OZARK, Mo. — A short-handed Joplin High School boys tennis team suffered an 8-1 loss at Ozark on Monday.

The Eagles played without Colin Vermillion and Josh Yarnall played doubles but was unable to compete in singles.

“We ended up having two junior varsity players fill in for us,” Joplin coach Aaron Stump said. 

At No. 1 doubles, Ozark’s Gavin Reese-Major Cardin defeated Joplin’s Logan Merkley-Jeffrey Evenson 8-2, while Clinton Quirk-Nathaniel Bottarel edged Ben Wardlow-Yarnall 9-7 at No. 2 doubles.

“Ben and Josh started out with a lead in the match and were a game away from winning,” Stump noted.

Ozark’s Ethan Fast and Anthony Psarev nipped Joplin’s Michael Mancipe and Hunter Merkley 9-8 (8-6 tie-breaker) at No. 3 doubles.

“Michael and Hunter played well together and were one hit away from winning the tie-breaker,” Stump said. 

Joplin’s lone win of the night came at No. 3 singles, as Wardlow defeated Quirk 8-6.

“Ben won a close match,” Stump commented. “He played smart and kept the ball in play on the close points.”

In other singles matches, Reese beat Logan Merkley 8-1, Cardin defeated Evenson 8-5 and Bottarel edged Mancipe 9-7.

“Michael traded serves with his opponent for most of the match, but had his serve broken at 6-6,” Stump commented. “He played up one rank since Josh Yarnall was unable to play singles.” 

Also, Brady Goss defeated Hunter Merkley 8-2 and Fast defeated Joplin’s Caleb Cantero 8-0.

Joplin hosts Carl Junction at 4:30 on Tuesday. 

 

PREP TENNIS: Thomas Jefferson wins Joplin invite; stellar spring continues for Cavs

Posted on by Jason Peake

The spring season continues to be a successful one for the Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers.

Competing against larger schools, Thomas Jefferson claimed the team championship at the Joplin Invitational boys tennis tournament on Friday at the JHS athletic complex. 

The Cavaliers went 13-3 overall in the invite’s four divisions. Willard went 12-4 and finished second in the team standings. The event was a five-team round-robin. 

Tom Brumfield’s Cavaliers also won their own invite earlier this month and are also 10-0 in dual matches.

Pictured is Thomas Jefferson’s Ian Ding.

THOMAS JEFFERSON RESULTS

Both of Thomas Jefferson’s doubles teams won their respective brackets.

At No. 1 doubles, Thomas Jefferson’s Noah Hamlett and Tyler Brouhard went 4-0. 

The Cavaliers defeated Joplin’s Ben Wardlow and Colin Vermillion 8-1, beat Branson’s Nathan Bartram and Gavin Brown 8-4, topped Carl Junction’s Cade Wilkerson and Easton Sztamenits 8-1 and defeated Willard’s Luke Christiansen and Brayden Roth 8-5.

Thomas Jefferson’s Prithvi Nagarajan and Lele Qian went 4-0 at No. 2 doubles. 

The Cavaliers beat Joplin’s Hunter Merkley-Caleb Cantero 8-2, Branson’s Caleb Buxton-Jacob Decker 8-5, Carl Junction’s Jose Figueroa-Jordan Markham 8-1 and Willard’s Austin Long-Seth Miller 8-4.

At No. 1 singles, Thomas Jefferson’s Ian Ding went 3-1 to finish second. 

Ding beat Joplin’s Jeffrey Evenson 8-0, Branson’s Hayes Stark 8-3 and Carl Junction’s Blaine Wilkerson 8-0. Willard’s Caiden Lingenfelser defeated Ding 8-1.

At No. 2 singles, TJ’s Christopher Wheelen went 2-2. 

Wheelen beat Joplin’s Michael Mancipe 8-0 and Carl Junction’s Connor Sztamenits 8-0. 

Branson’s Garrett Beckham defeated Wheelen 8-5 and Willard’s Alex Crawford edged Wheelen 8-6. 

 

JOPLIN RESULTS

Pictured is Joplin’s Ben Wardlow.

Evenson went 2-2 at No. 1 singles. He edged Branson’s  Stark 8-6 and defeated Carl Junction’s Wilkerson 8-3 and lost to TJ’s Ding (8-0) and Willard’s Lingenfelser (8-1). 

At No. 2 singles, Mancipe went 1-3, beating Carl Junction’s Sztamenits 8-2 and falling to Thomas Jefferson (8-0), Willard (8-0) and Branson (8-0). 

At No. 1 doubles, Wardlow and Vermillion went 1-3, beating Carl Junction 8-6 and falling to Willard (8-0), Branson (8-1) and Thomas Jefferson (8-1). 

Joplin’s No. 2 doubles team of Hunter Merkley-Caleb Cantero went 0-4. The Eagles lost to Thomas Jefferson 8-2, Willard 8-2, Branson 8-4 and Carl Junction 8-2.

 

CARL JUNCTION RESULTS

Carl Junction’s lone win of the day came at No. 2 doubles, where Figueroa-Markham beat Joplin 8-2.

WILLARD SWEEPS SINGLES 

Willard’s singles players, Lingenfelser and Crawford, both went 4-0 in their brackets. 

 

Joplin Invitational 

Team standings: Thomas Jefferson 13-3, Willard 12-4, Branson 10-6, Joplin 4-12, Carl Junction 1-15.

PREP TENNIS: Thomas Jefferson stays unbeaten with win over Joplin

Posted on by Jason Peake
Thomas Jefferson’s No. 1 singles player Ian Ding is pictured during Monday’s dual at Joplin High School. Photo by Israel Perez.

 

Nine duals. Nine wins. 

That’s how the Thomas Jefferson boys tennis team has started the 2021 season.

Thomas Jefferson kept its record perfect with a 9-0 win over Joplin on Monday at the JSH athletic complex.

At No. 1 singles, Thomas Jefferson’s Ian Ding beat Logan Merkley 8-0.

“Logan complimented Ian, saying that he is the best player he’s faced this season,” Joplin coach Aaron Stump commented. 

Noah Hamlett defeated Jeffrey Evenson 8-1 at No. 2, while Tyler Brouhard beat Ben Wardlow 8-1 and Christoper Wheelen edged Josh Yarnall 9-7 in the night’s closest match. 

“Josh had a lot of long rallies against Chris and was up 7-6, but he struggled to close out the match,” Stump said. 

Also for Tom Brumfield’s Cavaliers, Hari Nagarajan beat Michael Mancipe 8-1 and Prithvi Nagarajan topped Colin Vermillion 8-1.

In doubles action, Hamlett-Brouhard defeated Merkley-Evenson 8-2, while Ding-H. Nagarajan beat Wardlow-Vermillion 8-1 and Wheelen-P. Nagarajan topped Yarnall-Mancipe 8-3.

Thomas Jefferson hosts Greenwood at 4:30 on Thursday. Joplin (1-6) is at Republic on Thursday. The Eagles will also host a tournament on Friday. 

 

Pictured is Joplin’s Jeffrey Evenson. All photos by Israel Perez.
Pictured is Joplin’s Josh Yarnall. All photos by Israel Perez.

 

Joplin’s Ben Wardlow is pictured.

 

 

 

BOYS TENNIS: Thomas Jefferson tops Webb City, Cavs improve to 5-0

Posted on by Jason Peake

 

The Thomas Jefferson Cavaliers stayed undefeated in dual action this spring by earning a 9-0 win over Webb City on Wednesday.

At No. 1 singles, Thomas Jefferson’s Ian Ding defeated Trenton Hayes 8-1, while Noah Hamlett topped Cale Stephens 8-1 at No. 2 singles.

Tyler Brouhard defeated Jackson Dill 8-5 at No. 3 singles, while Christopher Wheelen beat Caiden Johnson 8-2.

At No. 5 singles, TJ’s Hari Nagarajan edged Drake Miller 9-8 (7-4 tie-breaker). Prithvi Nagarajan beat Tyler Wade 8-1 at No. 6 singles.

The No. 1 doubles match also went to a tie-breaker. Thomas Jefferson’s Hamlett-Brouhard edged Hayes-Stephens 9-8 (7-3 tie-breaker). 

Ding-Nagarajan beat Dill-Miller 8-3 and Nagarajan-Wheelen defeated Johnson-Wade 8-3.

Tom Brumfield’s Cavaliers are now 5-0. Thomas Jefferson has defeated all five of its opponents 9-0. The team’s wins have come against New Covenant Academy, Carl Junction, Carthage, Monett and Webb City.

The Cavaliers will host an invite on Friday. The action begins at 9 a.m.

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