The Reeths-Puffer boys tennis team was not a serious contender to successfully defend its 2024 GMAA Tournament championship on Saturday, just because the Rockets are rebuilding with a lot of underclassmen.
But they still had a very nice outing, with a third place finish and two medal winners in the tournament, which pits every team from Muskegon County against each other.
“Great day for R-P tennis, showing immense improvement versus every local opponent,” said R-P head coach Ryan Hankinson.
Seniors Ethan Frang (No. 1 singles) and Cory Judd (No. 2 singles) both posted 2-1 records, advanced to the championship round in their respective flights and won medals for finishing in second place.
Ethan Frang, who finished second at No. 1 singles.
Frang beat Fruitport’s Remy Parker 6-0, 6-1 and North Muskegon’s Kaden Bartomeolli 6-1, 6-2. He lost to Mona Shores’ standout Reid Hackney 6-0, 6-0 in the championship round.
Judd beat Whitehall's Evan Schuitema 7-5, 6-1 and won another match by forfeit, before falling to Mona Shores’ Marcus Powell 6-0, 6-0 in the finals.
Jackson Baldus (No. 3 singles) and Roman Ponce(No. 4 singles) both posted 2-1 records and finished in third place in their flights.
Cameron Mock and Jack Erickson also went 2-1 and finished third at No. 4 singles, after starting the day as fifth seeds in their flight.
Cory Judd, who finished second at No. 2 singles.
Henrik Ketner and Landon VanderKooi went 1-2 and finished fourth in No. 2 doubles.
Mona Shores won the team championship with 43 points. Whitehall was second with 36, while the Rockets tied North Muskegon for third place with 26 points apiece.
The Rockets will compete in the O-K Green conference tournament on Friday.
“The team hopes to use the knowledge gained and lessons learned to improve, individually and as a team, over four straight days of practice next week before traveling to Jenison on Friday for a tough conference tournament,” Hankinson said.