Area teams battle at districts

FAIRFIELD — A trifecta of area boys tennis teams were in action at Fairfield Middle School and the Punj Tennis Center on Wednesday. Unfortunately for area tennis teams, none of those schools will be sending anybody on to state.

All three of the Union area squads missed out on the Top-3 team scores, meaning none will be playing in the substate tournament. Mt. Pleasant and Maharishi each tied for fifth with seven points, and Fairfield was shut out for eighth place.

The area saw most of its success in the singles format. Mt. Pleasant’s David Nguyen and Maharishi’s Roml Patel each made the semifinals. The top two in each bracket advanced, meaning both came one win away from a state berth.

Nguyen was given the No. 4 seed on the boys side. He cruised past Centerville’s Owen Williams in the first round, beating him 6-1, 6-1, and then outlasted Levi Sissel of Fort Madison 6-3, 6-4 in the second round.

In the semifinals, Nguyen faced a familiar foe in Keokuk’s Abbot Haner, who was the tournament’s No. 1 seed. Haner had too much, defeating Nguyen 6-1, 6-2.

On the other side of the bracket, second-seeded Patel breezed through the first round with a 6-1, 6-0 win over Fort Madison’s Kadin Medland, which set him up for a showdown against Keokuk’s Callum Tackes. Patel won a thrilling three-setter over Tackes, moving on 3-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Patel had No. 3 seed Trenton Linx of Xavier waiting for him in the semifinals. Linx knocked out Patel 6-1, 6-4 to punch his ticket to state.

Nguyen and Patel played in the third place game, where Nguyen battled to a three-set win, taking it 3-6, 7-5, 10-7.

No other area singles players made it past the first round. Maharishi’s Budhil Thijm was ousted by Haner, falling 6-1, 6-1. Fairfield’s Tristan Paton lost to Sissel 6-4, 6-3. Mt. Pleasant’s Owen Vansickel was knocked out 6-2, 6-3 by Davis County’s Clayton McFarland, and Fairfield’s Brecken Courtright lost to Tackes, 6-2, 6-0.

Haner ended up winning the singles bracket, beating Linx 6-2, 6-2 in the final.

Mt. Pleasant and Maharishi drew each other in two first round doubles games. In the first, Mt. Pleasant’s Jack Schimmelpfennig and Levi Graber won 7-5, 6-3 over Maharishi’s Jayanta Wegman and Dominic Dupoux. In the second, Maharishi’s James Nguyen and Polo Altinski-Ross beat Mt. Pleasant’s Lincoln Henriksen and Jake Ensminger 6-2, 6-2.

The Mt. Pleasant duo of Schimmelpfennig and Graber were swept 6-0, 6-0 in the second round, falling to eventual champions Brady Horstmann and Matthew Schmit.

Maharishi’s Nguyen and Ross had to match up against Xavier duo Declan Coe and Hugh Courter. The Saints team beat Nguyen and Ross 6-2, 6-1 and went on to knock out SEC duos champions Jason and Vasin Thurman of Fort Madison in the semifinals.

Fairfield’s doubles teams had a tough draw. The Trojans’ No. 1 team of Blake Holden and Goodale had to play Horstmann and Schmit in the first round, falling 6-0, 6-2. Garrett Flanagan and Jace Hanes lost in the first round as well, falling 7-5, 6-1 to Centerville’s Reece Sells and Lucas Henderson.

TEAM SCORES: 1. Xavier 29; 2. Keokuk 13; 3. Centerville 9; 4. Fort Madison 8; T-5. Mt. Pleasant 7; T-5. Maharishi 7; 7. Davis County 2; 8. Fairfield 0