GREENFIELD — It was a battle of early-season supremacy on the local high school boys tennis scene.
Greenfield-Central, coming in 6-0 overall, 1-0 in the Hoosier Heritage Conference and defending sectional champions, welcomed 5-1 and 2-0 New Palestine.
It was the second of a number of meetings of Hancock County foes [New Palestine played Eastern Hancock earlier] during the 2024 season. All four county schools will get together Sept. 14 at New Palestine for the county tournament and convene again at Mt. Vernon High School at the beginning of October for the sectional.
In addition, Greenfield-Central and New Palestine will have duals against Mt. Vernon Sept. 10 and Sept. 25, respectively.
On Wednesday at G-C, New Palestine was a 4-1 victor.
“All the respect in the world for Greenfield,” New Palestine coach Jean Graham said. “They were 6-0 and sectional champions beating Mt. Vernon [last year]. They’re a good team and were going to be tough to beat. I just think we have a little more depth.
“We’ve got a good, solid group of seniors and we’re going to ride their backs all season.”
The match lasted two and one-half hours, though the Dragons had clinched the team win just over one-hour in.
At No. 1 doubles, Dragon seniors Moses Haynes and Max Havel were first off the court after a 6-0, 6-2 victory over Luke Sitzman and Jacob Welch.
Ten minutes later, the Dragons took a 2-0 lead. With an identical score, New Pal’s No. 2 doubles group of Carson Rush and Andrew Hahn downed Nolan Frye and Kasen Jarnecke 6-0, 6-2.
The Dragons upped their record to 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the HHC when No. 3 singles player Brady Torzewski came off the court with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Ethan Ortwein.
“I think it just shows how far we’ve come the last couple of years,” Torzewski, one of six seniors in the lineup that have been playing varsity tennis as far back as their freshman and sophomore seasons, said. “When we stepped up as sophomores we were losing a lot of matches and we didn’t have the experience. This shows how much experience we have. We have a lot of senior leadership and I think we’re ready to do something special this year.”
The Cougars had lost the match, but they showed their resilience in the two remaining contests.
Both No. 1 and No. 2 singles matches were extended to three sets after New Pal’s players had won opening sets.
At No. 1, New Palestine’s Arjomand Khokhar prevailed against G-C’s Nathan Roberts, 6-3, 2-6, 6-1.
The lone G-C win came at No. 2 with Alex Michalek, who remained unbeaten on the season.
In the longest match of the evening, 90 minutes after the Dragons had won at No. 1 doubles, Michalek rallied for a 6-7 (5), 7-5, 6-1 victory over Joey McPike.
“[New Palestine] is a good team and they brought back a lot of talent [from last season] and we knew that coming in,” Greenfield-Central coach Michael Turpin said. “… Overall, being tested like that and to see Nathan and Alex force a third set, it didn’t go how we wanted it in the third for Nathan, but those guys stayed tough, they ground it out. It’s good to play matches like that early. It shows us what we need to fix.”
“We’ve got to keep getting better,” Graham added on her Dragons. “We knew Greenfield would be strong and we’re going to see them a couple of more times. All in all, I thought it was a very good, competitive county clash. I think the level of tennis in Hancock County has gotten much, much better. We’re glad to be part of it.”
