Boys’ Tennis Team: Threepeat State Champions!

On Saturday, the Greenhills boys’ tennis team won the Division 4 state title for the third year in a row.

The 2010 version of Greenhills varsity boys’ tennis boasted a roster filled with many new faces. Having graduated nine of the top fourteen from the back-to-back state championship team of 2009, fans could be forgiven for thinking that this was to be a rebuilding year. However, led by five returning starters and a group of talented players up from the JV, the Gryphons were able to again ascend the pinnacle of their sport and claim the State Championship.

Barnstorming the state to play the top division four teams, the Gryphons went undefeated in those dual meets. The regular season also saw the team play many of the top ranked teams across all divisions. Along the way, they claimed two tournament titles, as well as a third straight Regional trophy.

The Gryphons finished the state finals with 29 total points, a full nine points ahead of State Runner-up, and regional rival Grosse Ile. A third regional qualifier, University Liggett, took third overall.

Greenhills seized the lead of the state tournament on the first day of play “getting through” by advancing seven out of the eight flights to the semi-final round, with the 8th flight bowing out in the quarter-finals. On the second day, and with everyone chasing them, the Gryphons wrapped up the title by winning three individual flight championships. Junior Thane Feldeisen was crowned champion at four singles, seniors David Goldfarb and Shamik Gangulyavenged their only loss of the season in their flight by soundly defeating the #2 seed in the finals at two doubles, and junior Sean Saint partnered with sophomore Matteo Todisco to hold their top seed and win the four doubles title. Senior co-captain John Adams fell to the eventual state runner-up in the quarterfinals at one singles. Seniors A.J. Gay(also co-captain) and his partner Ben Froehlich advanced to the semi-finals before falling to the eventual state champions. Sophomore Mithun Saha gave the #2 seed all he could handle in the semi-finals before giving way in a third set tiebreaker. Freshman Zach Tsai also fell in the semi-finals at three singles. The three doubles tandem of sophomores Connor Kaczynski and Chang Che upset the #4 seed in the quarterfinal round and gave the #1 seed and eventual state champions quite a battle, losing a semi-final match in three sets. Rounding out the roster are junior Sam Markel, and freshman Adhi Rajaprabhakaran who were invaluable to the coaches and squad at the state tournament, and all season long. Perhaps more than any previous year the outstanding work of JV coach Bob Newton was on display as four of his charges from last year stepped up and into individual state titles. It was a team title in the truest sense of the word, with every player contributing at least two points toward the winning total.

This marks the third straight state championship for the Gryphon netters, and the 6th in the last nine years for coaches Eric Gajar and Mark Randolph. Congratulations on another remarkable season.