Sturgis tennis finishes season tied for 18th at Division 3 state finals

Sturgis junior class wins Powder Puff first place with convincing wins

MIDLAND — The Sturgis tennis team navigated its way to the Division 3 state finals this year. The Trojans qualified for the finals by finishing second at the regional round, they then headed north to Midland, which hosted all four of the MHSAA tennis finals this year.

Detroit Country Day won the Division 3 state finals, posting 34 points. That edged out Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood, which finished with 33, while Holland Christian placed third with 24 and Ann Arbor Greenhills finished fourth with 23.

Sturgis finished tied for 18th place at the finals with Trenton, Milan, Holly and Parma Western. Those teams recorded zero points at the finals.

At first singles, Carter Oswald was upended in his first match by Grant Martin of East Grand Rapids, 6-3 and 6-2. Brody Currier was awarded a bye in the opening round at second singles, but he fell in his first match to Corbin Mitchell of Hudsonville Unity Christian in the next round at 6-1 and 6-1.

In third singles action, Andrew Scheske, who won the individual regional championship, dropped a 6-1, 6-0 decision to Micah Avery of East Grand Rapids in his first match. Cooper Barkby had a bye in his first round at the finals for fourth singles, but fell to Ethan Ying of Ann Arbor Greenhills in the next round at 6-1 and 6-2.

In doubles play, Sturgis' team of Easton Barkby and Seth Larimer lost a first-doubles match to Will Deblecourt and Eli Setlock of East Grand Rapids in the opening round at 6-4 and 6-2.

Dominic Brown and Kellen Meyer had a bye in the opening round at second doubles. The Trojan duo then dropped a 6-2, 6-1 decision to Luca Giardello and Sebastian Valdina of Chelsea in the next round.

For third doubles, the Sturgis team of Alex and Andrew Cypher were awarded a bye. They fell to Kyle Hoezee and Arie Vredevoogd of Hudsonville Unity Christian in the next round at 6-0 and 6-1.

Zach Charles and Tyler Martinez were awarded a bye in the first round as well. They battled against Owen Shaddock and Maxwell Mashni of Dewitt in the second round, falling 6-3 in the opening set. Sturgis' duo won the next set at 6-3, but the Dewitt grouping picked up a 10-6 victory in the third and final set to claim the win.

In Division 1 action, Troy won the state championship with 30 points, while Bloomfield Hills Brother Rice was second with 20, and Ann Arbor Pioneer came in third with 19. The Division 2 state finals were won by Birmingham Seaholm with 35 points, Midland Dow finished with 25, and Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern was third with 24. The Division 4 state was claimed by Jackson Lumen Christi with 24 points, Grosse Pointe Woods University Liggett was tied for second with Ludington at 20 points.

Contact Sports Editor Brandon Watson at bwatson@gannett.com . Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @BwatsonSJ.