By Travis Smola
The Vicksburg varsity boys’ tennis team had a thrilling end to its season, culminating with a Wolverine Conference Championship. The title ended a half-century-long conference championship drought for the Bulldogs.
Singles action saw Maddox Rosalin as the conference runner-up. He started the day with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Three Rivers before eliminating Otsego 6-1, 6-3 for a trip to an unsuccessful final match against Sturgis. Jordan Diekman earned a conference championship in the two singles, with his first match against Niles being a 6-0, 6-0 win. He eliminated rival Edwardsburg 6-3, 6-1, before getting into the finals against perennially tough Otsego. Diekman took the final match 6-2, 6-2 to win the title.
Sawyer Kite started the day against Plainwell, advancing 6-0, 6-1, before facing Otsego. Kite took that matchup to advance to the finals against Paw Paw. He won the final matchup to notch another conference singles championship for the Bulldogs. Caden Town rounded out play in the four singles. He defeated Three Rivers in round one before a more challenging showdown against Edwardsburg in round two. Town persisted and went to the finals against Paw Paw, where he triumphed with a 7-5, 6-2 win for the conference championship.
In doubles action, Wes Post and Gio Gangloff finished in fourth place in the one doubles. Thomas Christiansen and Grant VanWoert had the best showing for Vicksburg’s doubles teams. They took down Edwardsburg 6-0, 6-3 before defeating Sturgis 7-6, 6-1. Unfortunately, they could not close it against Otsego in the final, needing to settle for runner-up.
In the three doubles, Reese Brush and Gaige Patnoude took third place. Their day started with a tough 6-3, 1-6, 6-0 win over Sturgis. They fell in round two to Otsego. Elias Ryder and Ryan Haddix took third in four doubles. They defeated Three Rivers 6-1, 6-0 before being eliminated by Paw Paw in round two.
Ultimately, the Bulldogs earned enough team points, 55, to narrowly squeak out a four-point win over runner-up Paw Paw, which had 51.
Roughly a week later, Vicksburg finished fourth place at the regional meet. It was a tough competition involving three teams ranked in the top ten for the state. Diekman successfully earned a regional championship to go with his conference title.
This was Head Coach Warner Offord’s final fall coaching the Bulldogs. He will do one more stint coaching the girls in the spring before retiring. It was a bonus that Offord was named Wolverine Conference Coach of the Year in his final fall coaching the boys.
