When it came down to who would top the OAA White league, Clarkston was right up there.
They finished in the league in third place after taking third in not only league dual matches but at the OAA White tournament, Oct. 2.
“I was pleased with it,” said Clarkston Boys Varsity Tennis Coach Chas Claus after the tournament. “We played well. I enjoyed that several guys got to play revenge matches and played teams they were beaten by earlier in the season. We beat quite a few of them.”
The Wolves took third place with 37 points while Troy Athens finished in second with 50 points, and Seaholm took first, 54 points.
“We did a nice job of holding our place,” said Claus. “We had a target on our back from certain teams like Rochester and Lake Orion from them wanting revenge from dual matches. We got the better of them again.?
Junior Matt Dahl, Singles #1, and freshman Alexis Haselwanter, Singles #4, finished in second place in their courts.
Dahl went 2-1 for the day beating Avondale and Berkley. He lost to Athens in the final round, 6-1, 6-1.
“He is the second best player in the league out of 100 players,” Claus said. “He is number two overall which is a good accomplishment. It is his third year on varsity.”
Haselwanter went 1-1. He had a bye the first round, beat Lake Orion in the second round and lost to Seaholm in the last round, 7-6(5), 6-4.
Brendan Greenlee, Singles #3 and Joey and Johnny Whall, Doubles #1, finished in third place.
Claus added playing in the OAA league has helped prep the players for when they go into MHSAA Regionals this week.
“The OAA is a very good league,” he added. “We get to see a lot of teams that are traditional power houses. Not just locally but on the state level. The big benefit of the OAA is playing close matches.”
He noted before the OAA, the team didn’t have a lot of close matches and couldn’t grow from competing against strong opponents.
“Our league helps us not only in our league but crossover in the upper division which are very good teams,” Claus said. “It gets us ready to face competition.”
The boys head into the regionals on Thursday at Rochester High School. They will compete against Brother Rice, Lake Orion, Rochester. Rochester Adams, Stoney Creek, Walled Lake Central, Waterford Kettering, Waterford Mott and West Bloomfield.
“Our regional is extraordinarily tough,” Claus said. “We have four excellent teams in it in most years finish in the top two in regional. Most of our players are playing better now than they have all season. We will accept the challenge and see how we do.”