The Wolves finished the fall season proving the varsity tennis team keeps getting better each season.
Before going into the MHSAA Regional, they won the 14th Annual Van Dyke Classic with 17 points, two more than Notre Dame in second place.
‘It was a very good day for us,? said Clarkston Varsity Boys Tennis Coach Chas Claus. ‘Romeo has a lot of solid teams. It was a nice affirmation for the boys to go in and see despite their records they are a good team.?
Alex Matisse, Ian Stuart and Alexis Haselwanter won gold on their respective Singles courts.
‘Those three singles on the day had a combined 108-11 advantage over their opponents so they had a dominate day,? Claus added. ‘They have been a cornerstone all year but it was just another affirmation of the fact we are a good team who play great teams every day.?
Doubles No. 4 team of Connor Schrei and Jason Richards also finished with gold.
‘All year they have been putting it together and really close to victory a lot of times or have a core first set and a great second set,? Claus said. ‘I knew they were on the verge of really breaking out and getting everything in gear. I was very proud of them. They have been on the brink a lot this year and just have a day where everything clicks was nice to see.?
Tristan Greenlee, Singles No. 4, and Mitch Rogowski and Andrew Gibson, Doubles No. 1 finished in second place with silver.
‘Andrew, who is usually Doubles No. 3, was an interesting case because even on the day of he didn’t know until that morning he was going to play a different flight,? Claus said. ‘He found out an hour before he was moving up two flights and playing with a partner he hadn’t played with before. Credit to him and Mitch they were able to go out and make it to the championship round without playing before.?
The boys finished their first season in the OAA Red in seventh place.
‘We were on the heels of a lot of the teams and in the middle of the pack,? Claus added. ‘We didn’t get upset but we pulled a few of our own.?
The Wolves finished the season during regional playoffs and missed making their second consecutive trip as a team to the state finals by one point.
‘I was really pleased with the regional,? Claus said, explained the team had played a tough schedule all year.
‘I am so proud of these guys,? said Claus about the season. ‘We have by far played the toughest schedule in program history. Almost every team we played made it to the state tournament. We have some elite players who knew how to hang. We played well. They stuck to it until the end. We played hard. We pulled some significant upsets and caused some problems for some people. I am proud of this team, it is a team that really enjoys each other, supports each other, and is happy for each other’s successes.?
The team bids goodbye to their four starting seniors – Gibson, Rogowski, Brendan Greenlee and Kaiden Kamp.
‘The senior class has put us over the hump in a sense,? said Claus. ‘They came when we started getting good. They were there to get us to states last year. Even though the team didn’t qualify they led the way by setting a tone.?
Claus added one of the things he learned as a Wolf from his coach and continued as a coach was to set the goal of always crossing off one team each season off the list Clarkston had been afraid of.
‘I really think these seniors are the head of the first group not afraid of anybody,? he said.
‘We are not afraid to play anybody. Even regionals we beat three guys we had beaten us three times each. To go out and beat all of them, we are not afraid of all of them. This senior class is a fearless group. They don’t fear any opponents and they are willing to believe in what their coaches want them to do.?