First Posted: 4/5/2015
NOTE: The information was supplied by the coaches. Any school not listed, the information was not provided by the school.
AREA TENNIS CAPSULES
ADA
COACH: Christy Beaschler
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: This is a first-year program for Ada
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: N/A
DIVISION: II
2015 ROSTER: Zach Beaschler (Fr.), Evan Smittle (Soph.), Jacob Dungan (Fr.), Justin Light (Fr.), Eli Garman (Soph.), Drayson Gamble (Jr.), Zach Beckwith (Jr.), Adam Bailey (Fr.), Mitchell Wilcox (Sr.), Andrew Robey (Soph.).
TEAM OUTLOOK: Enthusiasm is high for Ada’s new team. The last time Ada had a boys tennis player was 2001 as Seth Banks was a four-time state participant. While tennis is a new sport for some of these players, most of them participated in Ada’s summer programs. Beaschler knows it will be a learning year but said the team hopes to be competitive by the end of the season.
BATH
COACH: John Berens
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 2nd, 1-13
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 1-13 overall, 0-9 WBL
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS (*indicates returning starter): *Jacob Clark (Jr.), *Chris Ellington (Sr.), *Bryce Hinegardner (Jr.), *Kyle Spragg (Sr.), *Ian Younts (Soph.).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Jared Deitsch (Soph.), Aaron Dickrede (Jr.), Caden Schmidt (Fr.).
TEAM OUTLOOK: The Wildcats are a year more experienced and looking to compete in a solid WBL.
BLUFFTON
COACH: Mike Hilty
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 9th season
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: N/A
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Kyle Strahm (Sr.), Tim Huber (Sr.), Jared Geiser (Soph.), Trevor Bunch (Soph.).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Justin Haggard (Fr., first singles), Tad Steiner (Fr.), Ryan Sprague (Soph., second singles), Levi Mikesell (Soph.).
TEAM OUTLOOK: Hilty states the team is hungry to get on the court and looks to improve this season.
CELINA
COACH: Toma Hainline
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 3rd year (seven more in the 1990s).
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 18-2 overall, Co-WBL champions
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Joel Weitz (second doubles), Nathan Lutz (third singles).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Garrett Weininger, Drew Rosengarten, Andy Ewing, Matt Rable, Heath Laux.
TEAM OUTLOOK: Celina will be very young and inexperienced, according to Hainline, but the goal is simply to reload not rebuild.
DEFIANCE
COACH: Amy McDonald
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 2nd, 8-9 as boys coach
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 8-9 overall, 4-5 WBL
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Joseph Andonegui (Sr.), Michael Gineman (Sr.), Matthew Winner (Sr.), Austin Hubbard (Jr.), Jordan Scott (Jr.).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: James Proulx (Sr.), D.J. Gustwiler (Sr.), Matthew Belland (Sr.), Michael Menendez (Soph.), Joseph Kanouh (Soph.), Mitchell Behringer (Soph.), Daniel Lasarte (Fr.).
TEAM OUTLOOK: The Bulldogs return plenty of experience and athletic newcomers that looks to compete well in a balanced WBL.
ELIDA
COACH: Chris Kelley
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 3rd, 27-26
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 9-9 overall, fifth in WBL tournament (seventh overall)
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Ian Klaus (Jr., first singles/first doubles), Drew Sarno (Soph., first doubles), Tyler Mikesell (Sr., second doubles), Andrew Line (Jr., second/third singles), Tony Savage (Jr., second/third singles), Alex Yonut (Jr., second doubles).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Austin Allemeier (Sr.) and four freshmen.
TEAM OUTLOOK: The Bulldogs return six varsity players with experience and add basketball standout Allemeier to the varsity squad. According to Kelley, he looks for his seniors to lead his underclassmen to a winning season and a solid showing at the WBL tournament.
KENTON
COACH: Keith Kissling
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 3rd, 17-19
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 12-5 overall, 5-4 WBL
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Dale Oates (Sr., first singles), Jake Abbott (Sr., second singles), Troy Gooden (Sr., first doubles), Kyle Gooden (Soph., first doubles), Kyle Phillips (Sr., third singles), Avery Collins (Jr., second doubles), Brandon Feltner (Soph., second doubles), Jared Barrett (Jr., second doubles/third singles).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Ethan Beverly, Seth Kuhlman.
TEAM OUTLOOK: Kenton’s program has consistently improved in the past few years and looks to continue that this season with a solid core of seniors and returning letterwinners returning to the fold.
LIMA CENTRAL CATHOLIC
COACH: Kevin Bruin
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 10th, 188-81
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 12-6 overall (sent the doubles team of Bradshaw/Janowski and singles player Pierre Desprat to state)
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Luke Buettner (Sr., singles/doubles), Dalton Brenner (Sr., doubles), Thomas Huffman (Sr., doubles), Darrell Allman (Sr., doubles), Weston Young (Sr., doubles), Jake Tabler (Sr., singles/doubles), Logan Korzan (Jr., singles/doubles), Troy Hile (Jr., singles, doubles), Spencer Collins (Jr., singles), Sam Meredith (Jr., doubles), Jared Jackson (Jr., doubles).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Ben Brinkman (Fr., singles/doubles), Kyle Smith (Jr., doubles).
TEAM OUTLOOK: The Thunderbirds return an experienced and deep team that should be solid for the 2015 campaign. Bruin’s team gets along well together and that translates to good communication on the court. He states the team is always working to improve serving and consistent ground strokes.
LIMA SENIOR
COACH: Tim Warner
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: N/A
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: N/A
DIVISION: I
CURRENT STARTING LINEUP: Dante Gonzalez (singles), Jaden Weltmer (singles), Brandon Dyson (singles), Travis Tuttle (doubles), Derek Schneider (doubles), Hunter Vermillion (doubles), Will Jolliff (doubles).
TEAM OUTLOOK: No information available.
OTTAWA-GLANDORF
COACH: Jay Laubenthal
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 3rd year
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 7-2 WBL, third place
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Brandon Hempfling (Sr.), John Schroeder (Sr.), Connor Kuhlman (Sr.).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Jordan Verhoff (Jr.), Mitch Niese (Sr.), Evan Barrett (Jr.), Jeff Kaufman (Soph.), Caleb Liebrecht (Sr.), Derek Maag (Sr.), Nick Schroeder (Sr.), Jesse Siefker (Jr.).
TEAM OUTLOOK: The Titans are loaded with hard-working players excited about the season ahead. Laubenthal states competition in practice is sky high, however the team is working hard to replace four-year letterwinner and first singles standout Alex Schroeder.
SHAWNEE
COACH: Steve Jones
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 2nd year, 14-4
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 14-4 overall, 8-1 Co-WBL Champions (sent the doubles team of Jason Barton and Timmy Rutter to state)
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS (*indicates returning starter): *Timmy Rutter (Sr., singles), *Ruthvik Avvari (Sr., singles), Neil Parsa (Sr., doubles).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Michael Rutter (Fr., singles/doubles), Danny Kesner (Soph., singles/doubles), Jake Liddle (Soph., singles/doubles), Max Jones (Soph., doubles), Isaac Hanover (Fr., singles/doubles).
TEAM OUTLOOK: Jones states the team worked very hard in the offseason and looks forward to aggressively defending its WBL title. Ground strokes and shot placement are strengths while footwork, court position and consistency during long points are being crafted.
ST. MARYS
COACH: Brice Brenneman
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: N/A years, 360-257
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 5-9 overall, 3-6 WBL
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS (*indicates returning starter): *Zac Nelson (Sr., second singles), *Justin Nedderman (Sr., third singles), *Max Moeller (Sr., second doubles), *Luke Gossard (Sr., second doubles), *Bobby Miller (Jr., first doubles), *Nick Rohr (Jr., first singles), Riley Neikamp (Jr.).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Ben Hertenstein (Jr., doubles), Jacob Grannon (Soph., doubles), Josh Wingett (Soph.), Cameron Dingledine (Fr.), C.J. Vanderhorst (Fr.).
TEAM OUTLOOK: The Roughriders are deep with 11-12 players capable of starting, but Brenneman states getting wins at the top of the lineup will be a challenge. St. Marys is trying to rebound after its first losing season in 12 years.
VAN WERT
COACH: Mitch Price
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 8th
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 10-6 overall, 4-5/fifth in WBL
DIVISION: II
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS: Brandon Amstuz (Jr.), Nick Etter (Jr.), Erik Yeung (Sr.), Kory Schlatter (Sr.), Ryan Keber, Gabe Rollins.
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Davis Monroe, Mike Etter.
TEAM OUTLOOK: Price believes his team is poised to make a run at the WBL title this year.
WAPAKONETA
COACH: Darrell Heintz
YEARS, RECORD AT SCHOOL: 30th, 229-283
LAST YEAR’S RECORD: 6-12 overall, 2-7 WBL
DIVISION: I
RETURNING LETTERWINNERS (*indicates returning starter): *Drew Wayman (Sr., second singles), *Joe Pitts (Sr., third singles/doubles), *Ben Schroer (Jr., third singles/doubles), *Andrew Gibson (Jr., doubles), *Alex Stinebaugh (Jr., doubles), *Seth Bowers (Soph., doubles), *Bryce Schlenker (Soph., doubles).
PROMISING NEWCOMERS: Emerson Hager (Jr., first singles), Riley Werling (Jr., doubles).
TEAM OUTLOOK: According to Heintz, the addition of Hager at the No. 1 spot along with Wayman – a district qualifier last year – at No. 2 gives the Redskins very strong singles play. However, the team is working to find the right doubles combinations. Overall, the entire team returns from 2014 and Hager should be one of the top singles players in the area.
