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Greencastle, South Putnam exit Mooresville Boys' Tennis Sectional
MOORESVILLE – New alignments in the IHSAA Boys’ Tennis State Tournament series saw Greencastle and South Putnam sent east to Mooresville, making up half of a four-team sectional field that included the Pioneers and Martinsville.
Thursday’s opening round of the Mooresville Sectional proved to be a tough night for both Putnam County teams as the Tiger Cubs and Eagles were defeated by the hosts and the Artesians by 5-0 scores.
Of the 10 matches on show, the only one to have any legs to it was the match at No. 1 singles between Greencastle’s Jay Glotzbach and Mooresville’s Archer Query, though at first even that contest looked to be one-sided.
Query won the first set 6-1 before Glotzbach was able to dig in, turning the second set into a back-and-forth affair that went the way of the Tiger Cub junior 7-5, setting up the only three-set match of the evening.
Glotzbach began to battle himself as much as Query thanks to a demanding late-season schedule but the Pioneer sophomore was able to reestablish control over the match, winning the final set 6-2.
Across the other four courts, Greencastle was unable to make any headway into the Mooresville lineup as several courts were 6-0, 6-0 sweeps for the hosts, including at No. 2 singles for Bailey Kelso over Griffin Beasley, No. 3 singles for Kolten Wilson over Caleb Crowder and No. 1 doubles for Bradey Nalley and Craig Telke over Joel Hammond and Paul Wilson.
Kyle Brentlinger and Mitch Staggers avoided the shutout at No. 2 doubles but only by a game in a 6-0, 6-1 loss to Daniel Enkhorn Jr. and Samuel Fletcher.
“I’m excited to get (Mooresville) on our schedule,” Greencastle head coach Anette Munoz said. “They are a tough team but I believe we will be competitive over the years.
“We know what we’ll be looking at over the coming years and what we will be working toward. They had a little more speed, a little more pace but we didn’t make bad shot choices tonight nor did we get pushed over, even if the scores weren’t what we wanted in the end.
“The boys played competitively across the board and I’m very proud of our seniors and our squad this year,” Munoz added. “We didn’t have a lot of wins but we had a ton of growth and we’re looking forward to seeing how we can compete next year.”
Greencastle loses five seniors, including Hammond and Wilson, but will bring the other five positions, several now having a year of varsity experience to build off of ahead of the 2024 season.
“It’s going to pay off,” Munoz said about the underclassmen getting a year of varsity play in and experiencing the new sectional. “Hopefully they’ll be playing a lot in the offseason and they will bring another level to begin the season.
“If we can bring this much growth again next year, we’re going to be very competitive next season.”
The struggles also extended to South Putnam, who saw Luke Hutcheson at No. 1 singles and Carson Phillips at No. 2 singles fall 6-0, 6-0 to Martinsville’s Carter Dawson and Avery Sylvester. Artesian No. 3 Keller Boyd received a walkover.
In doubles action, Aiden Brinkman and William Schurrtter fell 6-2, 6-1 to Gavin Clements and Patrick McGown at No. 1 doubles while Grant Jackman and Brayden Pollock fell 6-1, 6-0 at No. 2 doubles to Landon Huston and Calvin Johnson.
“I can’t remember but maybe back in high school in the ‘80s,” South Putnam head coach Johnnie Briones said about the last time the school had faced Martinsville. “Sometimes change is a good thing but it could have gone better.
“I’m proud of the boys today and especially of their attitudes. They have great attitudes, work hard and, again, the final scores don’t reflect how close a lot of these games are. A lot of them go to deuce but that’s something that doesn’t get seen enough.”
With no seniors on the squad, South Putnam could return the entire lineup back for 2024 with Briones optimistic as the group is still very new to the game.
“We’ve come a long way in a short amount of time,” Briones said. “We’ve got a few kids who picked up a racquet for the first time in July and others who’ve not played for a year.
“We’ve made huge improvements in a short amount of time and we’re proud of all of them.”