Wildcats Win Conference Tennis Tournament

The University School boys tennis team won the Midwest Classic Conference Tournament held this weekend at USM.  The Wildcats won five of the seven flights as they swept to victory in the tournament. 

The Wildcats amassed a total of 52 points, four short of the best possible total of 56. Their nearest competitor, Brookfield Academy had 36 points.  The Prairie School took third place with 30 points, followed by St. Joseph Catholic Academy with 23 points, Martin Luther with 22 points, Dominican with 16 points, St. Catherine’s with 8 points, Wayland Academy with 5 points, and St. John’s Northwestern Military Academy with 4 points.

The USM tennis players won every set they played on their way to winning the two singles, three singles, four singles, one doubles, and three doubles flights.  USM took second place in the one singles flight and in the two doubles flight.

In two singles play, USM’s Brent Mackman beat Martin Luther’s Nick Klement 6-0, 6-0 in the quarter-finals and then beat St, Joseph’s Eric Schrandt 6-1, 6-0 in the semi-finals.  Mackman faced Thomas Ware of The Prairie School in the finals.  Ware took Mackman to task in the first set, but Mackman outlasted him and won the set 7-5.  Mackman then won the second set, 6-2, to win the flight’s conference championship for USM.

Michael Lukas of USM lost only five games in winning the three singles flight.  He began his conquest by defeating Zach Fitzpatrick of St. Joseph’s 6-1, 6-0 in the quarter-finals.  Lukas won the semi-final.  The score was 2-0, 2-0 because his opponent defaulted.  That moved Lukas to the finals match.  In that match, he whipped Will Conley of Brookfield Academy 6-2, 6-2 to become conference champion.

Tommy Camilleri of USM also won every set as he moved through the four singles bracket.  He began by defeating Jacob Scobey-Polacheck of Dominican 6-0, 6-1 in the flight’s quarter-final match.  Camilleri then beat St. Joseph’s Joe Beben by a 6-4, 6-0 margin. Camilleri became the conference champion by knocking off Martin Luther’s Connor Iaquinta, 6-2, 6-0 in the finals.

In the number one doubles competition, USM’s Topher McGee and Adam Salaymeh had little trouble in winning the flight.  They began the tournament by beating Wayland’s Ken Ye and Bouw John, 6-1, 6-0.  In the semi-finals, McGee and Salaymeh defeated Martin Luther’s Adam Busch and Jeremiah Mertz, 6-2, 6-0.  In the finals they beat Nate McKeon and Pat McKeon of St. Joseph 6-0, 6-2 to become the one doubles conference champions.

USM also won the three doubles flight.  Emmett Scovil and Andrew Buchanan began their march to the championship by beating Dominican’s Adam McDonagh and Henry Dabrowski, 6-0, 6-0.  In the flight’s semi-final match Scovil and Buchanan dispatched St. Joseph’s Spann Beere and Jett Beere by the same 6-0, 6-0 score.  The finals posed more of a struggle for the USM pair, but Scovil and Buchanan eventually prevail over Brookfield Academy’s Arirnar Ornari and Ajay Duniparthi, 6-4, 7-6 (7-3).

In the number one singles flight, USM’s Ty Parks made it to the finals before falling to Zane Navratil of The prairie School by a 6-2, 6-2 score.  In the quarterfinals, Parks handled Martin Luther’s Joel Maas, 6-1, 6-0.  In the semi-finals Parks was victorious over Brookfield Academy’s Chris Conley by a 7-5, 6-3 margin.

USM’s two doubles team of Spencer Haas and Joey Harris sailed through the bracket's quarter-finals and semi-finals.  In their first match, they beat St. Joseph’s Pete Collins and Max Ferraro, 6-0, 6-1 and in the semi-finals Haas and Harris beat Dominican’s Nick McDonagh and Andrew Zehner by a 6-0, 6-0 score.  The seas got rough for the USM duo in the finals, however.  They won the first set over Jusin Saelan and Jack Eimerman of Brookfield Academy,6-2.  But Saelan and Eimerman won the next two sets, 7-6(7-4), 6-2 to capture the conference title.

USM plays in another dual match against a Division 1 opponent on Tuesday when the Wildcats host to Kenosha Tremper High School at 4:00 p.m.