The Emporia High boys tennis team came away with a pair of second-place showings on Tuesday at the Emporia Invite at the EHS tennis courts, helping the Spartans to a third-place team finish.
No. 1 singles player Chris Reimer and the No. 2 doubles squad of Jonathan Roman and Nathan Ferree each finished as the runners-up in their respective divisions.
Roman and Ferree, playing together for the first time this season, finished with a 3-1 record. Their only loss came in their first match of the day to Washburn Rural’s Conner Edwards and Daniel beZamacoma, 8-1.
After that, Roman and Ferree came away with victories over doubles tandems from Wichita East (8-1), McPherson (8-4) and Manhattan (8-4) to take second place.
“I’m still trying to figure out the combinations for League and Regionals,” EHS coach Matt Irby said, “but seeing those two play well together was really nice to see.”
Reimer finished 3-1 as well, as he also suffered his only loss in the first round against Rural’s Johnny Stueve, 8-2.
Reimer bounced back in a big way, collecting blowout victories over Wichita East’s Zach Marsh, 8-0, McPherson’s Seth Mowbray, 8-0, and Manhattan’s Zach Lyman, 8-1.
“Chris played a tough first-round opponent. That guy will do very well at the 6A tournament at State,” Irby said. “But Chris hit well with him and didn’t back down.”
No. 2 singles player David Nasrazadani came away with a fourth-place finish, as his lone victory of the day came in the final round against Manhattan’s Derek Schmidt in a tiebreaker, 8-7(7-2).
Still, despite a 1-3 record, Irby was excited about Nasrazadani’s play.
“David had three losses, but at times he played about as well as I’ve ever seen him play,” Irby said.
The No. 1 doubles team of Sergio Segura and Mark DeDonder also placed fourth, collecting a victory in the second round against Wichita East’s Nick Pompeo and Alex Tretbar in a tiebreaker, 8-7 (7-4).
“The No. 1 doubles team had moments where they played well,” Irby said. “It was nice to see them get that tiebreaker win.”
Washburn Rural won the invitational, with McPherson finishing second. Manhattan was fourth and Wichita East placed fifth.
“Overall, I thought we got some good momentum going and had some guys playing as well as I’ve seen them play,” Irby said. “That’s comforting going into postseason play.”
Next up for the Spartans is the Centennial League tournament, to be hosted on Monday by Seaman at the Kossover courts in Topeka.
Emporia Invite
Tuesday at EHS
Team Scores
1. Washburn Rural, 2. McPherson, 3. Emporia, 4. Manhattan, 5. Wichita East.
No. 1 singles
Johnny Stueve, WR, def. Chris Reimer, Emp, 8-2; Reimer def. Zach Marsh, WE, 8-0; Reimer def. Seth Mowbray, McP, 8-0; Reimer def. Zach Lyman, Man, 8-1. (2nd place)
No. 2 singles
Bobby Florence, WR, def. David Nasrazadani, Emp, 8-5; John Reader, WE, def. Nasrazadani, 8-3; Mark Gayer, McP, def. Nasrazadani, 8-7(7-2); Nasrazadani def. Derek Schmidt, Man, 8-7(7-2). (4th)
No. 1 doubles
Jason Lupse/Bronson Brassel, WR, def. Sergio Segura/Mark Dedonder, Emp, 8-1; Segura/DeDonder def. Nick Pompeo/Alex Tretbar, WE, 8-7(7-4); Cody Fawl/Mason Wehrman, McP, def. Segura/DeDonder, 8-3; Elliott Goe/Logan Sylvester, Man, def. Segura/DeDonder, 8-5. (4th place)
No. 2 doubles
Conner Edwards/Daniel deZamacoma, WR, def. Jonathan Roman/Nathan Ferree, Emp, 8-1; Roman/Ferree def. Edward Nola/Tate Williams, WE, 8-1; Roman/Ferree def. Jerad Menard/Lee Williams, McP, 8-4; Roman/Ferree def. Pat Lin/Dylan Johnson, Man, 8-4. (2nd place)