Maharishi tennis moves on with win over Mt. Pleasant

FAIRFIELD — The Pioneers of Maharishi knew exactly what they needed to do.

It was the third meeting of the season between the two boys tennis teams. The season series was split heading in, but Thursdays match is when it mattered most.

The matches were a battle through and through.

At the end of the singles games, it was all knotted up at 3-3.

“We try to separate singles from doubles,” Maharishi head coach Steve Briggs said. “After we got done with singles, the guys who win are on a high and the guys who lose you have to get it out of their head. We’re going home if we lose.”

Mt. Pleasant got wins from Owen Vansickel, Levi Graber and Lincoln Henriksen in the opening round of singles.

Vansickel downed Maharishi No. 1 Zak Askar after three sets, 2-6, 6-1 and 6-4.

Graber defeated Ruimin Luo 7-5 and 6-4 in their two set match.

Henriksen was a 2-1 winner over Polo Altynski-Ross, winning after a three set tie breaker, 3-6, 6-3 and 7-6 (7-5).

Maharishi got wins from Ruimin Luo, Dominic Dupoux and Gabriel Roesler.

Luo bested the Panthers Jake Ensminger 7-5 and 6-4 in two sets.

Dupoux was a winner over Elliot Cook 6-3 in their two sets.

Roesler downed Tim Cam in three sets, 3-6, 6-3 and 6-4.

With the match tied, Luo and Dupoux put the Pioneers in great starting position.

The two downed Vansickel and Ensminger in a hard fought No. 1 match. Luo and Dupoux took the first set 6-4, then battled for a 7-6 (7-5) victory in the second.

Both teams scraped and clawed for every point, something of which Briggs accredited Mt. Pleasant.

“Mt. Pleasant is a scrappy team,” he said. “All those guys play multiple sports. They know how to come back. If you got guys who are really good at playing under pressure and I feel like Mt. Pleasant stepped up. We gotta learn to close the deal.”

Altynski-Ross and Kahiu put the icing on the cake for Maharishi.

The duo topped Cook and Cam in the back and fourth battle 6-3, 4-6 and 6-3.

Askar and Wegman were also winners 2-1 over Graber and Henriksen, 6-2, 4-6 and 5-2.

“I credit the win to a lot of things,” Dupoux said. “Playing smart. Keeping calm. We knew exactly where we wanted to hit the ball. We wanted to hit it to the weaker of the two doubles. We didn’t want to take too many risks and just stay in the game. Raymond had a very good attitude of just winning no matter what.”

The loss marks the end of the tennis season for the Mt. Pleasant boys. They end with a 7-4 overall record.

The Pioneers will now travel to South Tama Wednesday to face off with Boone in the next round.

“I know Boone,” Luo said. “I saw there players at the Pella Invitational and they have really good players and a really good team. As a freshman, I really want to beat them.”