By RYAN WALKER
Norwell finally got it done.
The Knights captured their first sectional championship since 2016 in a 3-2 effort over county rival on Bluffton Saturday afternoon.
The first three matches to be completed all went in favor of Norwell to lock up the title without any drama.
Grant Mishler won over Anthony Hartman at No. 1 singles, Bodie Zimmer won over Nolan Lambert at No. 2 singles, and Jaden Payne and Jake Hoover won over Kade Abbett and Ben Maggard at No. 2 doubles.
Over the past seven years, Huntington North has been a thorn in the side of the rest of the sectional field with a strong program. This year, the Vikings switched to Marion’s region, leaving the door wide-open.
The win was especially sweet for alumni and head coach Noah Tobias, who spent four seasons as a player from the 2012-13 season to 2015-16, and is now in his fourth year as head coach.
Since the last sectional was in the fall of his graduating year, this was his first taste on top of the sectional in his tenure.
“First time in seven years,” Tobias said with a crowd of players and their families behind him, taking pictures with the trophy and celebrating. “(I) Never got the opportunity to do it as a player, but it feels really good to do it as a coach.”
The next steps for Norwell will be in the regional semifinal against the No. 8 ranked Homestead Spartans at Peru High School. The match will be on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.
The Spartans will be a tall task for the Knights to beat, but Tobias wants his group to leave it all on the table.
“We literally have nothing to lose,” Tobias said. “We just need to go out there. We need to give ourselves a chance because as soon as you walk onto that court, we have a chance. I mean, we just have to believe that.”
The Knights skipper admired his team’s fight to win the first three matches, but, was complimentary of the opposing Tigers, who picked up wins in the last two matches.
The Tigers lost 4-1 just three weeks ago to the Knights, winning with Jacob Ribich at No. 3 singles and nearly winning at No. 2 doubles.
This time around, Coy Lantz and Dane Schlagenhauf got the better of Eddie Archbold and Ayden Quintanilla at No. 2 doubles. Ribich secured another win over Gavin Reynolds at No. 3 singles.
“A couple of our guys had a couple of really tough matches in Bluffton,” Tobias said. “I mean, they got a lot better from the first time we played them this year to now., and I mean, kudos to them.”
“We made them earn it,” Bluffton head coach Robert Vanderkolk said. “(Norwell’s) relieved that they won the sectional title. My guys gave them everything they got. They made them earn it. That’s what I talked about last night; even if we’re going to go down, we’re going to go down swinging.”
The Tigers didn’t have the fairytale ending with an upset over the Knights, but it did set the tone for what’s to come for next year and beyond.
Vanderkolk had some figuring out to do, as last year’s team graduated seven players on the varsity team and left nobody. The coach went through many lineup changes trying to piece together a puzzle by the end of the season without a home match due to the courts getting redone.
All things considered, the Tigers took home their second conference crown in a row by way of a tiebreaker over Jay County. The team went from question marks all over the court to the ACAC and giving Norwell a run for its money.
“We shouldn’t have the success that we have this year, and that’s me being a pessimist,” Vanderkolk said. “If you’d have told me on August 1 we’re going to lose three to the sectional championship, I would have laughed. I said there’s absolutely no way we just don’t. We don’t have the guys yet.”
Now that the Tigers have seen a glimpse of what it could be, Vanderkolk isn’t holding back on any early-season predictions. A growing program will return every player on varsity and junior varsity, and some, including upcoming freshmen.
“I’ve got my top 18 coming back, plus some eighth-graders are chomping at the bit to get after it,” Vanderkolk said. “Some people are going to give me crap for this. I don’t care. This is my style. It’s been my style for 20 years. You’re interviewing next year’s sectional champion coach.”
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