By RYAN WALKER
The battle between the two Wells County boys’ tennis teams went down Monday afternoon, and the Norwell Knights were on top by the end of the night with a 4-1 victory over Bluffton.
A win is a win, but none sweeter than beating a crosstown rival for Norwell head coach Noah Tobias, who played for the same Knights team back in his career and understands the magnitude of the match.
“We definitely feel that pressure a little bit just because we do want to be considered the best team in Wells County, even though there’s only two of us. It’s still kind of a thing you hold,” Tobias said after the match. “We’re a very close community with Bluffton, so, yeah, it obviously feels a lot better whenever you beat Bluffton.”
The Knights’ victory was over within the first three matches, with Grant Mishler and Bodie Zimmer winning at No. 1 and No. 2 singles, while Jaden Payne and Jake Hoover won their match at No. 1 doubles.
On a young Tigers team that graduated virtually their entire roster, the ones that left the court early in two sets were all juniors. The junior class is the eldest, as there are no seniors on the team.
Bluffton head coach Robert Vanderkolk has seen his older group at its best this year, but it wasn’t there on Tuesday.
“I need more out of my juniors,” Vanderkolk said. “There’s no senior leadership here. My juniors need to step up and take care of it. I’ve got five juniors on varsity. If they’re not going to take care of it, it’s impossible to win a match. I love ‘em. They give me everything they got more often than not, but for whatever reason tonight, they didn’t compete as well as they’re capable of competing.”
The last two matches had Bluffton winning in both at one point. Freshman Jacob Ribich ended up winning a close contest over Gavin Reynolds at No. 3 singles.
On the court right next to Ribich was junior Dane Schlagenhauf and freshman Coy Lantz at No. 2 doubles, who won the first set early, 7-5.
The Norwell No. 2 doubles team of Eddie Archbold and Ayden Quintanilla wouldn’t go down without a fight, though, winning the next set 6-3 and ultimately coming back with a 7-5 victory in the third set.
Tobias was impressed with his team’s ability to come back after losing the first game or set. Payne and Hoover lost the first game to Bluffton’s Kade Abbett and Ben Maggard, along with the No. 2 doubles team, but were able to come back and win.
“Even though we’re losing, we’re still doing a good job at finding a way how to win,” Tobias said. “Sometimes, we’re playing bad because we’re not perfect, obviously, but you just got to find a way, any way, and they did that, and I’m super proud of them.”
Vanderkolk also complimented Archbold and Quintanilla on their efforts.
“It’s just, ‘OK, who wants it more at five all?’ And Eddie and Ayden wanted it more, so hats off to them for finishing that match, especially coming into it down a set,” Vanderkolk said.
This year, the boys’ tennis sectional dropped Huntington North, which has had its way with bringing home hardware in recent history. The Vikings were the only team in the way of Norwell’s first sectional title since 2016.
Bluffton still has yet to see any of the schools in the sectional field during the regular season, with South Adams, Adams Central, and Bellmont on the schedule. The Tigers will get a look at the Starfires this Thursday, while the Jets and Braves await next week.
Pending Vanderkolk’s evaluation of the rest of the field, he believes there’s a good chance his Tigers will match up with the Knights again, no matter where the draw lands them.
Vanderkolk also wants to see some changes in his lineup to string together by the season’s end and give his best shot at winning. Like Tobias, his competitive spirit has him chomping at the bit to get back on the winners’ side in the county.
“Yeah, I want to play Norwell,” Vanderkolk said. “There’s nothing better than beating Norwell to win a sectional championship. If my guys don’t want to do that, we’ll just go home and get ready for the winter sports season.”
Norwell’s next match will be at New Haven at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 12.
Bluffton’s next match will be at Bishop Luers at 5 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 13.
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Results for varsity
• Grant Mishler (N) defeated Anthony Hartman at No. 1 singles 6-0, 6-0.
• Bodie Zimmer (N) defeated Nolan Lambert 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles.
• Jacob Ribich (B) defeated Gavin Reynolds 7-6, 7-5, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.
• Jaden Payne and Jake Hoover (N) defeated Kade Abbett and Ben Maggard 6-4, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.
• Eddie Archbold and Ayden Quintanilla defeated Dane Schlagenhauf and Coy Lantz 5-7, 6-3, 7-5 at No. 2 doubles.
Norwell also won the junior varsity match 8-2.
Results for JV
• Jed Logan (B) defeated Christian Werling 8-4.
• Phillip Mayer (N) defeated Braden Lemler 8-5.
• Jasper Kreigh (N) defeated Graham Linderwell 9-8 (11-9).
• Alex Maggard and Lance Moser (B) defeated Rylan Heyerly and Landon Diver 8-6.
• Ryan Ewing and Ethan Williamson (N) defeated Jackson Meyer and Lincoln Rodgers 9-8 (7-4).
• Chase Houser and Evan Klopfenstein (B) defeated Kabyn Peterson and Alex Baker 8-0.
