The Chelan High School tennis team finished off their 2021 “regular” season with the 1st ever North Central Region 1A Tournament. Since the WIAA did not allow a state tournament, this was our state tournament.
The tournament took place in Cashmere on Thursday, May 13 and finished with the championships in Quincy on Saturday, May 15 The general format was a 16 entry bracket in girls singles, girls doubles, boys singles and boys doubles. The first round was single elimination, so half of the tourney entrants were eliminated in their opening match (no pressure there!). Fortunately, 7 out of the 10 Chelan entrants survived that opening round gauntlet to compete in the double-elimination round of 8. Here is their story-
Ladies first:
In girls singles, sophomore Olivia Strandberg fell to #2 seed Faith Kert in the quarterfinals, but definitely played the best singles of her season in that match. In a loser out match on Saturday, Liv lost a true “nailbiter” to Ellie Martin of Cashmere 7-6 (7), 6-4. Olivia made huge gains in the past two weeks, and looks to have a great junior season.
In girls doubles, seniors and #1 seeds Bella Gatzemeier/Elle Rothlisberger coasted in their quarterfinal 6-0, 6-1 over Quincy. They had a little harder time beating Sites and Graybill of Cashmere in the semifinal, but prevailed 6-2, 6-4. In the championship match, Bella and Elle fell to Molly Wiser and Stella Johnson of Cascade 6-4, 6-3 to finish 2nd overall. Seniors Elle and Bella are 4 year letter winners who broke through right away in their freshman year as a doubles team when they upset multiple high seeds in the post-season, finished 2nd in the district tournament, and qualified for state. Bella finished 5th in state her sophomore season with teammate Abby Martin. These two will be greatly missed, but they leave behind an impressive legacy, totaling over 70 career match wins between them.
Also in girls doubles, senior Ruby Wier and junior Ally Williams lost their quarterfinal to #3 seed Cascade, but easily won their follow-up consolation bracket match over Sheffield/Jenkins of Cascade 6-1, 6-1. In a loser out match vs Sites and Graybill of Cashmere, Ruby and Ally fell short, but finished 5th overall. Since Ruby is graduating in only 3 years, she unfortunately only had one “normal” non-pandemic season as a freshman. As the #3 player on our challenge ladder, Ruby leaves big shoes to fill. However, Ally will be back in 2022 to help anchor a strong returning crew.
Chelan gentlemen:
In boys doubles, juniors and #2 seeds Charlie Bordner and Teagen Moody lost their quarterfinal in a tough three-setter to Cascade’s Peterson and Bard, but struck back on Saturday to defeat a Royal High School squad 6-3, 6-3. In their loser out consolation match, they fell to Cascade’s Priebe and Runions. Both Charlie and Teagen will return in 2022 to help lead a boys squad that does not lose a single member to graduation here in 2021, and has the potential to compete for a league title.
Also, in boys doubles, Freshmen Cade Christopherson and Sam Bordner lost their quarterfinal match and subsequent loser out match, but competed well against their upperclassmen competitors. Our three freshman letter winners in 2021 (Cade, Sam and Rylen Moody) have the future looking bright.
In boys singles, junior #2 seed Nate Harding defeated Zac Holton of Cascade 7-5, 6-1, and won his semifinal over Adam Hendrick of Omak in a roller-coaster three setter 6-4, 2-6, 6-1. The bad news: Nate lost the championship match to a talented Kane Andruss of Cashmere. The good news: Kane is a senior, but Nate is a junior. So, Nate returns in 2022 as one of the “players to beat” in the CTL.
Also in boys singles, junior Cody Sanderson fell to Dayne Ziegler of Royal in his quarterfinal, and also to Jonathon Kirk of Omak in his loser-out consolation match. However, Cody definitely found his niche in singles during the 2nd half of this season, and is displaying greater consistency. He will be a force to be reckoned with next year as a senior.
Chelan JV squad
The Chelan JV squad also had an impressive Saturday May 15 for their culminating tournament in Ephrata.
The boys doubles team of junior Aiden Avery and senior Einn McVay-Dunckel took 2nd place in their bracket. Thank you Einn for a great high school tennis career! Aiden will compete fiercely for a varsity spot in 2022, keeping pressure on the teammates narrowly ahead of him on the ladder and forcing everyone to improve!
The mixed doubles team of frosh Sawyer Jeffries and junior Marissa Manda took 5th in their bracket. As returning players, they look forward to another victory filled season in 2022! Sawyer and Marissa - keep playing tennis.
The girls doubles team of frosh Maya Cowan and senior Molly Stepanov took 1st place in clutch fashion, winning both the semifinal match and final match in tiebreakers! First year senior Molly excelled in her short time on the court, and we wish we’d had her for more than just one season! Maya has three more years to shine, and is making huge strides in her game in a short amount of time (winning a championship...obviously!)
Go Goats.
Cashmere at Chelan
Chelan’s Senior Night
May 10
Girls: Cashmere 4, Chelan 1
#1 Singles: Lauren Kert (Cash) def Caelan Rothlisberger 6-0, 6-0
#2 Singles: Faith Kert (Cash) def Arden Paglia 6-0, 6-0
#3 Singles: Ellie Martin (Cash) def Makayla Griffith 6-1, 6-2
#1 Doubles: Bella Gatzemeier/Elle Rothlisberger (Che) def Kate Cooper/Lexi Neu 6-2, 6-1
#2 Doubles: Sophie Graybill/Miranda Sites (Cash) def Piper Grossberg/Ruby Wier 6-3, 6-4
Boys: Cashmere 3,
Chelan 2
#1 Singles: Kane Andruss (Cash) def Nate Harding 6-1, 7-5
#2 Singles: Zeke Lewis (Cash) def Cody Sanderson 6-1, 5-7, 6-4
#3 Singles: Rylen Moody (Che) def JJ Groner 6-2, 6-2
#1 Doubles: Charlie Bordner/Teagen Moody (Che) def Julian Hernandez/Luis Morelos 6-3, 1-6, 6-2
#2 Doubles: Dyllion Taylor/Kyle Carney (Cash) def Luke Christopherson/Sam Bordner 6-4, 6-2
Chelan JV wins:
Aiden Avery/Einn McVay-Dunckel 8-2, Jesse Rahm/Oscar Cardenas 8-6, Kyle Rynd 6-3, Maya Cowan/Amberly Guerrero 8-2, Molly Stepanov/Yuly Nunez 8-3
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