STURGIS — The Sturgis tennis team is headed back to the state finals.
Last week, Augspurger Courts was the site of the regional tennis tournament. Sturgis knew coming into the tournament that it had a solid chance of reaching the necessary points (18) to qualify for the state finals, but it wanted to push itself as well. Because of there only being six regional tournaments throughout the state in Division 3, it also meant the top three finishing teams at each of those regionals qualified for state.
So Sturgis had some wiggle room. Ultimately, though, they did not need too much of it, as they cemented themselves into the state finals with a promising showing.
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"We really showed up to play to our best ability today, I thought. We've been working a lot with our guys on their mindsets and being focused on what is at hand," Sturgis coach George Earl said. "Very proud of this group."
The Midland Tennis Center is hosting all four Lower Peninsula state championships this year. Sturgis, in Division 3, will play this weekend. The D1 finals are being held Wednesday and Thursday this week, D2 and D4 are scheduled for next week.
St. Joseph won the regional with 30 team points on the day. Sturgis posted 21 for second and Edwardsburg also qualified for 16 team points.
Sturgis had one flight champion. It came at third singles, where unseeded Andrew Scheske navigated his way through a day of matches to claim the regional title. Scheske beat Jack Johansen of St. Joseph in the finals, 6-2 and 6-1. To reach the finals, Scheske started his day with a 7-5, 6-1 win over Sam Lundberg of Niles and then upset Charlie Cotts of Harper Creek 6-4, 6-1. In the semifinals, Scheske upset Caleb Robbins of Vicksburg, the second seed, with score of 6-1 and 6-1.
At first singles, Carter Oswald held his seed and played his way into the semifinals. He dropped a 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 decision to Adam Redden of Edwardsburg in the semis. To get there, Oswald beat Carson Wisner of Otsego 6-1, 6-1.
Brody Currier held his seed at second singles as well, reaching the semifinals. He dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Logan Summy of Edwardsburg in the semis, but got there by taking out Quinten Valenzuela of Harper Creek 6-1, 6-4.
Cooper Barkby at fourth singles made the finals in his flight. There, he was upended by Ben Kirschenbaum of St. Joseph in three sets. Barkby won the first 6-1 but Kirschenbaum won the next two at 6-2, 6-2. Barkby reached the finals be beating Jeremiah Becraft of Niles 6-0, 6-1 and Griffin Schiedel of Vicksburg 6-0, 6-2.
Both the first and fourth doubles teams made the regional finals for Sturgis.
Easton Barkby and Seth Larimer cruised to the finals. They beat Shawn Atkins and Carson Pugh of Niles 6-1, 6-1 in their opening match before taking out Jack Marsh and John Hazen of Marshall in the semifinals. The SHS group was tough in the finals, but dropped a 6-2, 6-2 decision to Wyatt Milletics and Ben Hosbein of St. Joseph in the finals.
At fourth doubles, the team of Zach Charles and Tyler Martinez were seeded second and held that seed. They fell in the finals to Baxter Dorrow and Wyatt Petzke of St. Joseph 6-4, 7-5. To get there, the Sturgis duo knocked off Mason Motes and Bere Wischmeyer of Coldwater 7-5, 6-1 before beating Emry Barnes and Spencer Sertic of Vicksburg 6-1, 6-2.
Dominic Brown and Kellen Meyer finished 1-1 at third doubles. They beat Coldwater's team of Grant Miller and Nolan Winright 6-3, 6-7 and 6-0 in their first match, but dropped a 6-3, 6-3 decision to St. Joseph's team of Henry Smith and Archie Johansen in the semifinals.
Alex and Andrew Cypher were seeded fourth at third doubles for the Trojans. They won their opening match over Niles' team of Gabriel Dillard and Ryker Leaverton with scores of 6-2, 7-5. The Cyphers were upended by St. Joseph's team of Gustavo Luckman and Anderson Schroeder by scores of 6-3 and 6-2 in the semifinals.
Flights for the Division 3 state finals were expected by the MHSAA on Tuesday evening. Earl and his team know the finals will be a grind, but they are looking forward to playing in Midland.
"A lot of our guys are high-achievers. They're in the band, they have accelerated classes, some college classes, so we know their schedules are a lot," he said. "For them to continue to come together this season and give us their best was a great thing to see. Overall, it's been a very good season and we've had some bumps here and there, but we're happy to be back at the state finals."
Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BwatsonSJ.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Sturgis tennis is headed back to the state finals, Scheske wins regional