2A Boys Substate - Road to the Final Four

16 teams remain alive on a quest to reach the Final Four of the Class 2A Boys Team-State tennis tournament after competing in districts and preliminary substate. The only thing separating these teams from punching their ticket to the Final Four is winning two matches on Saturday during the next five days depending on forecasts calling for rain and indoor court availability.

→🏆See the Updated Bracket Here! 🏆←

It is my second time contributing to the blog as a guest writer. If there is any subject matter you would like me to cover, or if you find any corrections, I would welcome your feedback by shooting an email to iowahstennis@gmail.com! Without further ado, scroll down to check out our analysis on the four substate sites!

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Iowa City West Substate

Jack Wenzel, #1 Iowa City West

🔥Preliminary Substate Results

DBQ Senior defeated Davenport West 5-0, CR Jefferson defeated Ottumwa 5-1

💭Round of 16 Predictions

#1 Iowa City West 5-0 vs DBQ Senior

Bettendorf 5-0 vs CR Jefferson

🔑Key Quarterfinal Matchup(s)

ICW #1 Dubs (Sam Shin/Jack Wenzel) vs Bett #1 Dubs (Yash Singh/Jozef Porubcin)

🏆Predicted Winner: #1 Iowa City West- With ICW's depth from top-to-bottom, I don't expect too much drama here. In the regular season, substate competitors DBQ Senior and CR Jefferson were 2 of the 13 opponents the Trojans blanked 9-0. I expect a similar result from West this time around in the round of 16 against DBQ Senior. For Bettendorf, I think it is reasonable to think they might have a similar 5-0 score against CR Jefferson. But keep in mind, Jeff's #1 player, Kyle Lassen has been pretty strong at #1 this year and could battle well with Yash Singh. Assuming my predictions are correct, Bettendorf will play ICW in the quarterfinal. The Bulldogs and Trojans have had one common opponent this spring in a regular dual meet: the #5 Linn-Mar Lions. On April 15, the Trojans swept the Lions 9-0 while Bettendorf lost a close one 6-3 on April 26. While an initial prediction might be that West will wipe the floor with Bettendorf and win 5-0 given their results against Linn-Mar, keep an eye on #1 doubles, #1 singles and #2 singles. Yash Singh and Jozef Porubcin have been very strong at the top positions for the Bulldogs and could potentially extend the match beyond singles if the ball bounces once or twice in their favor.

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Dowling Catholic Substate

Ty Sherman, #4 CR Washington

🔥Preliminary Substate Results

#10 Dowling Catholic defeated Fort Dodge 5-0, #4 CR Washington defeated Mason City 5-0

💭Round of 16 Predictions

#8 Ames 5-4 vs #10 Dowling Catholic

#4 CR Washington 5-4 vs #6 Ankeny Centennial

🔑Key Quarterfinal Matchup(s)

It depends........

🏆Predicted Winner: ????? - Does anyone know how this substate will end up? If so, I would appreciate you sending me the memo! In the round of 16, #8 Ames will be pitted against #10 Dowling Catholic in what will be a rematch of their regular season showdown on May 6 which was won by Ames by a postseason score of 5-4. Big matches are at #1 doubles where Ames's Tim Ellis and Nate Withers defeated Daniel Lu and Ben Kinkor in a third set and at #3 singles where Dowling's Michael Frazier defeated David Kim in a third set in the regular season. #4 CR Washington will take on #6 Ankeny Centennial in what I will expect will also be a tough matchup after they lost a tight district to Ames and blanked Mason City 5-0 in preliminary substate. I am excited to see Will Blevins of Ankeny Centennial play Rami Scheetz of Wash at #1 singles in what I think will be a good match. Expect Wash to have the upper hand in the top half of the lineup led by Scheetz, Ty Sherman, and Grayson Zylstra, while Centennial has strength in numbers by having a little bit stronger 4,5,6. The question will be can Centennial steal a match at the top of the lineup or will Wash steal a match heading into doubles. If Ames and CR Washington win their round of 16 match ups (although I would not be surprised if both lose), I think the state quarterfinal will be verrrrrrrrryyyyy tight! Big matches to watch would be between last year's singles state champion from Ames, Tim Ellis, and this year's favorite, Rami Scheetz. The #1 doubles rematch between Ellis/Withers and Sherman/Zylstra which went three sets in Ames' favor will also be important as well as matches at 5,6 and 3 doubles. If Tim Ellis can go 2-0 and Ames can take, the #5 and #6 singles and #3 doubles matches, Ames will be your final four entry with a 5-4 win. By far, this will be the most competitive and exciting substate to follow.

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Valley Substate

Noah Burmeister, #3 Waukee

🔥Preliminary Substate Results

Roosevelt defeated Sioux City North 5-2, Johnston defeated Ankeny 5-1

💭Round of 16 Predictions

#3 Waukee 5-0 vs Roosevelt

#9 Valley 5-1 vs Johnston

🔑Key Quarterfinal Matchup(s): #2 Doubles (Valley's Kyle Elmore/Nick Songer vs Waukee's Sam Fouts/Steven Danna)

🏆Predicted Winner: #3 Waukee- The #3 Waukee Warriors vs. the #9 Valley Tigers...these two teams have been battling for supremacy in the CIML league for the past 5 years, and a new chapter will likely be written on Saturday afternoon barring either team losing their morning match. While I expect Waukee to roll against Roosevelt, the other round of 16 might be little bit more fun with Johnston being one of the best district runner-up teams other than #4 Wash going up against #9 Valley. But while the Dragons will give a nice challenge to the Valley Tigers, I still expect Valley will clinch the win in singles. Valley is one of the top-tier programs in the state, but I think Waukee's starting cast of Will Ecklund, Noah Burmeister and Sam Fouts leading the way will be too much for the Tigers to handle. Since the regular season result was a 9-0 postseason score victory for the Warriors against Valley, Valley being able to take the meet into doubles or win the meet would be quite an upset.

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Pleasant Valley Substate

Nathan Wong, #2 Pleasant Valley

🔥Preliminary Substate Results

DBQ Hempstead defeated Davenport North 5-4, #9 Cedar Falls defeated Waterloo West 5-0

💭Round of 16 Predictions

#2 Pleasant Valley 5-0 vs #9 Cedar Falls

#5 Linn-Mar 5-0 vs DBQ Hempstead

🔑Key Quarterfinal Matchup(s): #1 Singles (PV's Justin Sehlin vs LM's Luke Van Donslear), #2 Singles (PV's Nathan Wong vs LM's Jackson Eels)

🏆Predicted Winner: #2 Pleasant Valley- The Spartans boast their most complete team in school history and look to return to the Final Four for their third ever appearance (2001, 2017). But don't expect #5 Linn-Mar Lions and the #9 Cedar Falls Tigers to lie down. While I expect Cedar Falls to be able to compete in the morning against Pleasant Valley and give them at least some competition, the true match will be in the quarterfinal when the Spartans will take on #5 Linn-Mar with a ticket to Ankeny on the line. The first match to watch in the quarterfinal would be at #1 singles where Luke Van Donslear is a formidable competitor looking to get his second win against Justin Sehlin. He was the only player to snag a win during the Linn-Mar-PV bout on April 26 when the Spartans prevailed 5-1. While this will be a great #1 singles match, I expect PV will be able to prevail again in singles by another 5-1 or 5-0 score unless Linn-Mar is able to reinvigorate the spirits and energy behind their 2018 state championship to will them to victory and a major upset against the #2 Spartans. Given that PV and Linn-Mar did not play doubles against each other in the regular season, I would be curious to see how that goes if the score after singles is 4-2 or 3-3.

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Be on the lookout for additional postseason articles covering the individual state tournament at Veterans Memorial Tennis Center next week and an article going in-depth on the final four in Ankeny! To all the teams I didn't pick to win...prove me wrong! Best of luck to all of the teams competing on Saturday!