Mt. Pleasant takes second in boys’ tennis

FAIRFIELD - Mt. Pleasant came four points away from repeating as Southeast Conference champions on Monday in Fairfield. The Panther boys finished second place at the SEC meet, scoring 16 points. Ft. Madison took the championship with 20 points. Keokuk was third, with 11 points, and Fairfield took fourth, with seven.

Corbin Broeker competed in the No. 1 singles tournament, taking third in the conference. He fell 6-3 in both sets against Keokuk's Abbot Haner, sending him to the third-place game. In the third-place game, Broeker defeated A.J. Greiner of Fairfield, 8-4. Ft. Madison's Sam Avery was the SEC champion, defeating Haner 6-0 and 6-4.

In the No. 2 singles tournament, Jaxon Hoyle finished second. He won a tough semifinal, 4-6, 6-4, 10-6, against Fairfield's Noel Peterson. He faced Ft. Mdison's Vason Thurman in the No. 2 championship, falling 6-0 in both games.

Donny Arledge competed in the No. 3 singles tournament, taking fourth. He fell 7-6(7-2) and 6-3 against Keokuk's Calvin Tackes, and dropped the third-place match 8-2 against Fairfield's Will Sheppard.

Clayton Henriksen played in the No. 4 singles tournament. He fell 6-4 in both games against Blake Holden of Fairfield, but bounced back to take out Keokuk's Jared Evans 8-3 in the third-place match.

David Nguyen and Jack Schimmelpfennig picked up some big points in the No. 5 and No. 6 singles tournaments respectively. Nguyen won the No. 5 bracket, taking out Keokuk's Will James 7-6(8-6) and 6-1, and beating Brian Parcell 6-4 and 6-1. Schimmelpfennig took the No. 6 match, beating Tucker Hanan of Keokuk 6-4 and 6-2, and beating Levi Sissel of Ft. Madison 6-0 and 6-0.

Broeker and Hoyle finished second place in the No. 1 doubles tournament. They knocked out the Fairfield team 4-6, 6-0 and 10-7, in the semifinals, but fell to the Ft. Madison duo 6-0 and 6-2 in the conference championship.

Arledge and Schimmelpfennig took third in the No. 2 doubles bracket. They fell 7-5 and 6-0 to Keokuk, but bounced back to defeat Fairfield 8-5.

Nguyen and Henricksen took first place in the No. 3 doubles tournament. They beat the Keokuk duo 4-6, 6-3 (12-10) in the semifinal, and swept Fairfield 6-3 and 6-2.

Mt. Pleasant will now turn its attention toward the district tournament in Fairfield later this week. They'll head to Fairfield on Wednesday, May 8 for the district tournaments, which begin at 8 a.m.