By RYAN WALKER
The Norwell boys’ tennis team opened up the season at home with a win over Concordia Tuesday afternoon.
The Knights breezed through in a 5-0 sweep over a Cadets team that has a solid tennis program, and it was a sigh of relief for head coach Noah Tobias after seeing his team perform that way.
“I was pretty happy — the guys really came out well,” Tobias said. They were a little bit timid at first, but obviously, it’s your first match of the year, so that’s kind of what you expect but as soon as we started talking a little bit about certain situations and actually being out there seeing how other people play, it was a lot better.”
It wasn’t necessarily that Tobias had any doubt about this year’s team. It was more of just a question mark for a team that lost both the team’s No. 1 singles player Ethan Ottinger and the programs No. 1 doubles team of Winston Frauhiger and Brason Chaney. There was a little bit of nervousness from the now four-year head man.
Luckily, Ottinger and No. 2 singles junior teammate Grant Mishler were about as even in talent as they could be — a 1A and 2A for singles players, and Mishler did not disappoint in the first match.
Now as a senior, Mishler handled his business 6-0, 6-0 in his first match under the spotlight at No. 1 singles. He’s quick, has a strong serve, and has a fire to his game that shows he wants to win.
“Grant did a great job tonight,” Tobias said. “I’m super excited about him this season, just the fact that he is one of the biggest competitors that I’ve seen in my four years here. He just constantly wants to get better; he’s helping other people get better. Sometimes it hurts him because he’s so passionate about tennis, but at the same time, you just don’t have to worry about him not wanting it.”
At No. 1 doubles this season, seniors Jaden Payne and Jake Hoover won their match 6-4, 6-3. The two will have big shoes to fill with Frauhiger and Chaney, the group that continued on in the individual state tournament after Norwell fell in the regional.
Those two were rock solid, but Tobias shared that Payne and Hoover shouldn’t have too many issues in their new roles as they went back in forth in challenge matches last year with Frauhiger and Chaney during practices, and it was good experience for them this year.
No. 3 singles Bodie Zimmer gets a bump up to No. 2 singles, leaving the final three starting spots on varsity open for newcomers or junior varsity players. The ones who will fill those roles, at least based on Wednesday’s match, were Gavin Reynolds at No. 3 singles and the team of Eddie Archbold and Ayden Quintanilla at No. 2 doubles.
Archbold and Quintanilla had their first experience on varsity against Concordia and did win. Reynolds, on the other hand, had quite the moment on the team last year to get his feet wet on the varsity.
In the sectional semi-final, Mishler was injured the night before and needed to sit a game out at No. 2 singles. Since a team can’t change its lineups after the first match of the sectional, a junior varsity player had to come up and not only play in the postseason but play at No. 2 singles instead of No. 3 with the locked-in lineup. All Reynolds did was solidify a win for the Knights to sweep 5-0 over the Braves.
Now a full-time varsity starter, Reynolds’ coach is trying to tell him and the No. 2 doubles team that they deserve a shot to be there based on skill level and their abilities.
“I told (Reynolds) whenever he came off today, you just have to take that memory and know you belong here,” Tobias said. “That’s sometimes difficult for new varsity players to realize is that they do belong at varsity. I truly believe him and No. 2 doubles. I truly believe they belong on varsity. They just have to believe it now.”
Norwell’s next match will be at Jay County starting at 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 17.
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Varsity results:
• Grant Mishler defeated Chris Stamm 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
• Bodie Zimmer defeated Evan Herig 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
• Gavin Reynolds defeated Adam Bible 6-1, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
• Jaden Payne and Jake Hoover defeated Noah Schickler and Will Butler 6-4, 6-3 at No. 1 doubles.
• Eddie Archbold and Ayden Quintanilla defeated Nico Conley and Nathan Bryan 6-2, 1-6, 6-4at No. 2 doubles.
Concordia won the junior varsity match 4-2.
Results for JV:
• Josh Mason (C) defeated Braylon Troutt (N) 8-2.
• Richard Peperkin (C) defeated Christian Werling (8-0).
• Richard Peperkin (C) defeated Alex Baker (N) 8-0.
• Rylan Heyerly and Landon Diver (N) defeated Hudson Kraft and Nick Moter (C) 8-4.
• Ryan Ewing and Ethan Williamson (N) defeated Nolan Nutler and Charlie Lang (C) 8-7 (7-2).
• Hudson Kraft and Nick Moter (C) defeated Jasper Kreigh and Philip Mayer (N) 3-6.
