2022 State Tournament Notes
Locations
2A - Vets Memorial Tennis Center - Indoor Backup HTRC
1A - Byrnes Park - Indoor Backup Black Hawk
Attendance Fees
The IHSAA charges an admission fee of $10 per day of the individual state tournament and team state tournament next week. Still think this is incredibly stupid and hurts attendance, just like having the individual tournaments in the middle of the freakin' week!
Individuals will need to have a ticket to get into the state tournament and as a result will receive a wristband. Tickets can be purchased here: https://www.iahsaa.org/tickets/
Live Brackets
It looks like the state association is providing live updated brackets this year (for the first time ever). What are the chances my coverage/blog had an impact on doing that, maybe so, maybe not? Hoping it goes well, but if they are not being updated quickly, I will have that covered to make sure you all can see results as they are happening.
2A
The Singles Bracket
Depending on how the draw shakes out with matchups this year, I think there are 8 clear players who all can finish top 8 in some sort of order. Defending singles state champion Daniel Lu from Dowling is back atop of the draw as the #1 seed this year and is the clear favorite to defend his title. From there, the biggest win for players in this draw is being on the opposite half as Lu (Taylor, Dolphin, Chacklackal & Peterson). Quinn Monson the #4 seed would have to play Lu in the semis assuming they both make it. Crushing to see Caleb Peterson and Kaden Taylor playing in the first round, two guys who have a serious shot at making the finals and one of the few guys who could make things frustrating for Lu a little bit. One of them will be headed to the backdraw after their first round. Lot of fun matchups all around and it should be a fairly competitive tournament.
Seeds
- Daniel Lu, Dowling
- Kaden Taylor, Waukee NW
- Jake Dolphin, Pleasant Valley
- Quinn Monson, Waukee
1st Round Matches to Watch:
#2 Kaden Taylor (Waukee NW) v Caleb Peterson (Centennial): An absolute insane first round matchup here with two guys who both could be making the finals. Peterson defeated Taylor 6-4 6-3 in the regular season and boy do they have to bring it and bring it quick on Tuesday morning. Winner of this is going to the finals.
#4 Quinn Monson (Waukee) v Seth Smigel (IC West): Sophomore sensation who is the defending doubles champ facing off about a freshman phenom. With identical UTRs of 8.88, this match can literally go either way. Smigel faced a super weak schedule this year in the MVC and his best opponent being his teammate in districts while Monson had to battle Peterson (2x), Lu and Taylor. Give me the sophomore this time around.
Finals Prediction
#1 Daniel Lu v #2 Kaden Taylor
The Doubles Bracket
A little more uncertainty arises in the doubles draw this year. While Adams/Barlow might be the slight favorite going into this, there looks to be a couple of teams that could really attend. Along with the top seeded Spartans, #2 seed Shin/Singh from IC West could make the finals and probably should with how weak the bottom half of the draw is compared to the top. Croatt/Nelson of Waukee NW have a nice opportunity of a shot at the semis and could face either the #4 seed Valley duo of Johnson/Amalkar or the Prairie tandem of Shulte/McCrea. Should top seeded PV and Waukee NW face off in the semis, that is a state final caliber match to me. After maybe the aforementioned couple of pairs, I don't think anybody else can really do some damage and win the title this year.
Seeds
- Adams/Barlow, Pleasant Valley
- Shin/Singh, IC West
- Rice/Hanna, Linn-Mar
- Johnson/Amalkar, Valley
1st Round Match to Watch:
Jones/Wellendorf (Centennial) v Alsheikha/Pangan (Pleasant Valley): This PV duo is back and looking to improve upon a semi-final appearance from last year. In what may be a possible trap match to open the tournament for the Spartans, they will need to be careful and come out ready to go with this Centennial tandem that certainly has nothing to lose.
Finals prediction:
#1 Adams/Barlow (PV) v Alsheikha/Pangan (PV)
1A
The Singles Bracket
The 2021 state doubles champ Brady Horstmann from Xavier enters the tournament as the #1 seed and will press his luck in the singles field this year. I wouldn't say the overwhelming favorite to win, but this tournament is his to lose. Ethan Moon, Caden Branum and Jack Freiburger round out the top 4 seeds this year. The top half of the draw should be pretty straight forward and the Horstmann drew in my opinion the second best player in this half out of the gate in Jaworski. Branum taking on R. Martineau in the first round is a big match to watch as I think the winner of this one is going to the finals. From there, I expect Moon to challenge on of those two in the semis, but not without putting in some work against Marcon or White.
Seeds
- Brady Horstmann, Xavier
- Ethan Moon, North Polk
- Caden Branum, Decorah
- Jack Freiburger, Wahlert
1st Round Matches to Watch:
Alejo Marcon (Pella Christian) v Carter White (St. Albert): An under the radar match that has the chance to be a pretty good one. Marcon has had a straight forward year only dropping one singles match in a super tiebreak to Calvin Jaworski of Grinnell (then beating him later on). White has had a tougher schedule which is good prep for this kind of moment down the stretch in the season.
#3 Caden Branum (Decorah) v Roan Martineau (Wahlert): These two are arguable the two best players in the bottom half of the draw along with second seeded Ethan Moon. Sadly they have to play each other in the first round with one of them vying for a 5th place finish at the start. Winner of this one for me is going to the finals.
Finals prediction:
#1 Brady Horstmann v #3 Caden Branum
The Doubles Bracket
Last year gave us a classic in the state final, and this year? The same two teams have a good chance to have their players collide in the final yet again. The top two seeds in Coe/Courter of Xavier and the Briggs Bros of Pella look prime to reach the finals and battle it out. After these two duos, there are a lot of tandems that can make a name for themselves this year. I don't feel there are any dominate forces after the top seeds and anybody can make a run. The Dension pair and #4 seed of Reis/Dahm I think have a fine path to the semis while Overland/Zimmerman the #3 seeds may have a little more work to do to get there. Enjoy this draw, lot of opportunities for a lot of teams this year!
Seeds
- Coe/Courter, Xavier
- Briggs/Briggs, Pella
- Overland/Zimmerman, Boone
- Reis/Dahm, Denison-Schleswig
1st Round Match to Watch:
All of them! I honestly don't know a ton about most of the pairs in the draw but feel that a lot of these first rounds can be good.
Finals prediction:
#1 Coe/Courter v #2 Briggs/Briggs
Hope you enjoy and best of luck to all players and coaches the next two days!
-Iowa HS Tennis
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