By Murray Gleffe
Correspondent
MADISON – The Notre Dame Academy boy’s tennis team captured the WIAA Division 2 team state championship held June 7-8 at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.
“First and foremost, it is a great honor to be able to coach and be fortunate to win a state tennis championship in Division 2,” said Notre Dame head coach Steve Burns. “I believe this group of individuals came together and peaked at the right time to capture this title. I was greatly impressed with Ryan [Schram] at No. 4 singles. He definitely has been our most improved player, and he has solidified that position on our team.”
The Tritons breezed through the semifinal match with La Crosse Logan by not dropping a single set in all seven flights.
Schram and the No. 3 doubles team of Will Templeton and Henry Parish took it a step farther by not giving up a single game all match.
In the final, Notre Dame met up with the Blue Knights of Brookfield Academy.
With the exception of No. 1 singles (Pablo Dale – individual singles champion), the Tritons were thoroughly dominant in dropping only eight games at No. 1 one and No. 2 doubles where Notre Dame just placed in the top three at the individual tournament the previous weekend.
“This is my first team championship,” added Burns. “They all have one thing in common – leadership. The two captains on this team were very involved with me on all aspects of our successful season. I believe another very important part of this equation is the fact that we are blessed and fortunate to have parents that support and travel with our team to play in the very best of tournaments throughout Wisconsin. Because we can compete with the very best teams in the state, you naturally get better whether you win or lose. Your level of competition and your expectations help elevate your player’s skills.”
This was Notre Dame’s first team title since 2012.
Semifinal score: Notre Dame 7, La Crosse Logan 0
Singles Flight 1 –Myles Krzewinski, 11 (ND) def. Ben Fowler, 12 (LCL) 6-2, 6-4. Flight 2 –JV Steckart, 10 (ND) def. Ian Hofland, 11 (LCL) Default. Flight 3 –Tommy Zakowski, 10 (ND) def. Max Roswall, 12 (LCL) 6-2, 6-0. Flight 4 –Ryan Schram, 11 (ND) def. Conner Perry, 9 (LCL) 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles Flight 1 –Will Schneider, 12/Alan Schneider, 9 (ND) def. Avery Schams, 12/Garrett Simmons, 12 (LCL) 6-2, 6-1. Flight 2 –Josh Janssen, 12/Christian Remington, 11 (ND) def. Johnathan Marcou, 12/Sam Novak, 12 (LCL) 6-0, 6-2. Flight 3 –Will Templeton, 12/Henry Parish, 10 (ND) def. William Coffey, 9/Wyatt Restel, 9 (LCL) 6-0, 6-0.
Final Score: Notre Dame 6, def. Brookfield Academy 1
Singles Flight 1 –Pablo Dale, 11 (BA) def. Myles Krzewinski, 11 (ND) 6-1, 6-1. Flight 2 –JV Steckart, 10 (ND) def. Taytem Matthews, 10 (BA) 6-4, retired. Flight 3 –Tommy Zakowski, 10 (ND) def. Andy Liu, (BA) 6-2, 6-4. Flight 4 –Ryan Schram, 11 (ND) def. Christian Hong, 11 (BA) 6-4, 6-4.
Doubles Flight 1 –Will Schneider, 12/Alan Schneider, 9 (ND) def. Michael Long, 12/Hansen Zaiser, 12 (BA) 6-2, 6-2. Flight 2 –Josh Janssen, 12/Christian Remington, 11 (ND) def. Noah Godsell, 11/Andrew Buckholdt, 11 (BA) 6-2, 6-2. Flight 3 –Will Templeton, 12/Henry Parish, 10 (ND) def. Pranav Gogineni, 9/Sanjiv Kodali, 11 (BA) 6-4, 6-4.