Just one more sleep until the boys state tournaments begin! Lots of fun headlines this year and I expect all four draws to provide some great tennis and competitive matches. 2ARedwood and myself dive into a quick round table discussion on a couple of different categories for this years tournaments! - Iowa HS Tennis2A Singles/Doubles State Tournament
1. What are your projections for the top 4 seeds in singles and doubles?IAHSTen
Singles:
1. Rami Scheetz, CR Wash
2. Justin Sehlin, Pleasant Valley
3. Sam Shin, IC West
4. Luke VanDonslear, Linn-Mar
Doubles:
1. Will Ecklund/Noah Burmeister, Waukee
2. Yash Singh/Josef Porubcin, Bettendorf
3. Neil Sura/Roy Jensen, Valley
4. Tim Ellis/Nate Withers, Ames
2ARedwood
Singles:
1. Rami Scheetz, CR Wash
2. Justin Sehlin, Pleasant Valley
3. Sam Shin, IC West
4. Will Blevins, Ankeny Centennial
Doubles:
1. Will Ecklund/Noah Burmeister, Waukee
2. Yash Singh/Josef Porubcin, Bettendorf
3. Tim Ellis/Nate Withers, Ames
4. Neil Sura/Roy Jensen, Valley
2. Who are you sleeper picks in this years draws?
IAHSTen:
Singles: Will Blevins, Centennial
Doubles: Roy Jensen/Neil Sura, Valley
2ARedwood
Singles: Daniel Lu, Dowling Catholic
Doubles: Sasha Chackalackal/Eli Young, IC West
3. Who is your favorite player/pair to win in each draw?
IAHSTen:
Singles: Rami Scheetz, CR Wash
Doubles: Will Ecklund/Noah Burmeister, Waukee
2ARedwood:
Singles: Rami Scheetz, CR Washington
Doubles: Tim Ellis/Nate Withers, Ames
4. What stands out to you about this years state tournament?
IAHSTen: I am going to have to agree with 2ARedwood here, that this state tournament is going to be very competitive. I also think 7 players in the singles draw has a good shot at winning and tons of doubles duos also have a great chance. It's been a couple years since the tournament has been this deep and I think the best 8 singles players in the draw, and the best 8 doubles pairs in the draw are going to place in the top 8. Honorable mention is that IC West and Pleasant Valley got all of their entries in, and the fact that a number of teams got multiple entries in!
2ARedwood: The depth of the field! I don't think we have seen so many talented players competing in the state tournament in a long time. I listed 7 players as legit contenders to win the singles draw and have 7+ doubles teams which I think are also capable of winning the doubles field. That hasn't always been the case in past years where unequal districts led to some of the best players being eliminated before state. 2018's singles runner-up, Rami Hermaiden of CR Kennedy was eliminated in the 2017 districts by IC High's Joe Hoff who went on to finish runner-up to the district's champion and 3-time state singles champion, Jiung Jung of IC West. I would say this year there might only be 1-2 names I can think of who should have made the tournament which means higher level tennis for everyone!
1A Singles/Doubles State Tournament
1. What are your projections for the top 4 seeds in singles and doubles?IAHSTen
Singles:
1. Cam Luhring, AP
2. Evan Moon, North Polk
3. Charlie Fair, Dubuque Wahlert
4. Jordan Roozeboom, Pella
Doubles:
1. AJ Clarkwilt/Drew Hall, Norwalk
2. Wes Johnson/Matthew Schmit, Xavier
3. Daniel Buchanan/Joseph Haag, Columbus
4. Caleb Hamerlinck/Max Olsan, Ballard
2ARedwood
Singles:
1. Cam Luhring, AP
2. Evan Moon, North Polk
3. Charlie Fair, Dubuque Wahlert
4. Jordan Roozeboom, Pella
Doubles:
1. Wes Johnson/Matthew Schmit, Xavier
2. Caleb Hamerlinck/Max Olsan, Ballard
3. AJ Clarkwilt/Drew Hall, Norwalk
4. Daniel Buchanan/Joseph Haag, Columbus
2. Who are you sleeper picks in this years draws?
IAHSTen:
Singles: Charlie Fair, Dubuque Wahlert
Doubles: Wes Johnson/Matthew Schmit, Xavier
2ARedwood:
Singles: Reed Miller, St. Albert
Doubles: Brady Horstman/Hugh Courter, Xavier
3. Who is your favorite player/pair to win in each draw?
IAHSTen:
Singles: Cam Luhring, AP
Doulbes: AJ Clarkwilt/Drew Hall, Norwalk
2ARedwood:
Singles: Cam Luhring, AP
Doubles: Wes Johnson/Matthew Schmit, Xavier
4. What stands out to you about this years state tournament?
IAHSTen: The biggest thing that stands out to me is the fact there are only three freshman total across the two draws. It is a pretty veteran group of players in the tournament, but nobody in the field has won state in the past! The opportunity, especially in doubles, is there for the taking and I think this is going to be a fun weekend with new state champions.
2ARedwood: There are three undefeated players in the singles draw! Cam Luhring of AP, Evan Moon of North Polk and Zach Wingert of LeMars all enter the draw with flawless records and will enter the tournament on Friday trying to maintain their perfect records!
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What did you enjoy most about the state tournament as a player?
IAHSTen: The atmosphere was the best. The crowd has traditionally been pretty good and being able to play against other teams from different parts of the state was a great opportunity. The support for from the fans, parents, schools, teams, coaches, players, everyone is outstanding. Plus, the stakes are high and their is quality tennis being played, who doesn't love that?
2ARedwood: I always played my best tennis at the stat tournament. It was always a fun atmosphere that became a little more ruckus and full of energy compared to any of the regular season meets and I liked to feed on that energy.
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