NEW PALESTINE — All four county teams left New Palestine High School on Saturday having helped show that boys tennis throughout Hancock County is in a good spot.
All had individual champions and the county’s smallest school — Eastern Hancock — showed immense improvement from last year, while New Palestine took home its first Hancock County team title since 2021.
Led by their sweep at doubles, the Dragons scored 22 points for the county crown, besting Eastern Hancock’s 15 points. Winners of four of the last five titles coming into the year, Mt. Vernon placed third with 12 points, and Greenfield-Central rounded out the team scoring with 11.
“It feels great. We’ve been working on this for three years,” New Palestine head coach Jean Graham said. “The boys played well. We’ve still got some things to work on, but for the most part, it was a great day.”
Two seasons ago, the Dragons placed last in the tournament with eight points, and last year tied for second with 17.
That nine-point improvement was all the proof Graham and the coaching staff needed to see to know that the program was heading in the right direction.
With a senior-heavy team this season that had been a part of those tournaments the last two years, their hard work finally paid off.
“The boys bought into it that they need to apply themselves more and play more tennis in the winter. They did that and this was a goal that they set,” Graham said. “Very happy that they worked towards it and were able to win it.”
“What’s helped them is that they’re friends on the court and off the court, so they motivate each other while they’re here, but also in the offseason to play and get better,” assistant coach Clint Rush added. “It’s a collective team effort, and all seven guys push each other year-round to get better.”
After the early-morning opening round, New Palestine had done nearly all it could to set itself up for the team title.
The Dragons advanced to the finals in four of five possible spots to lead in team points 12-9 over the Royals heading into championship and consolation rounds.
For the early part of the afternoon session, the two schools traded points.
At No. 3 singles, Brady Torzewski was the first off the court, defeating Greenfield-Central’s Luke Sitzman in the consolation match to push the Dragons lead to five.
Eastern Hancock’s Luke Zeilinga followed with a win of his own in the No. 1 singles consolation match to answer Torzewski’s win.
At No. 1 doubles, in what was a tournament-deciding match, the New Palestine duo of Moses Haynes and Max Havel defeated Eastern Hancock’s Myles Wennen and Luke Fletcher 6-1, 6-1.
The team’s No. 1 singles player last season, Haynes moved to doubles this year and alongside Havel has lost just one match all season.
“Moses is a gifted athlete. He plays well, has great hand-eye coordination and is one of the leaders on this team,” Graham said. “We’re happy to have him in that spot.”
Following the loss at No. 1 doubles, the Royals had three chances left at points — Josiah Swauger in the No. 3 singles championship, Luke Schilling in the No. 2 singles championship and Bo Dixon and Jalen Helderbrand in the No. 2 doubles consolation match.
At doubles, the Royals were defeated by Greenfield-Central, and shortly after, Mt. Vernon’s Bryndan Wylie defeated Swauger to claim the No. 3 singles individual title and end the Royals bid for first place.
The second-place finish was an improvement on last year’s fourth-place finish where the Royals did not win a match or score a point.
“Our kids have worked so hard. We played three tough matches this week and really wanted to be prepared for this tournament, so I tried to give them a night off and told them they didn’t need to come out last night. They all came out anyways,” Eastern Hancock head coach Chris Zeilinga said. “They’ve all just bought in and really believe.”
With the tournament already decided, the Dragons added another individual championship, and the Royals added their first.
At No. 2 doubles, the New Palestine team of Carson Rush and Andrew Hahn defeated Mt. Vernon’s Eli Muterspaugh and Spencer Douglas in a super tiebreaker and at No. 2 singles, Eastern’s Schilling outlasted New Palestine’s Joey McPike.
“Luke has played a lot of really long matches this year. He’s been a four-year starter and gives everything he’s got every day whether it’s a match or practice,” coach Zeilinga said. “He’s been a great senior leader for us.”
The lone champion for the Cougars came from Nathan Roberts at No. 1 singles. Roberts defeated New Palestine’s Arjomand Khokhar.
The Cougars grabbed consolation wins from Alex Michalek at No. 2 singles and Ethan Ortwein and Jacob Welch at No. 2 doubles.
Mt. Vernon, using a new-look lineup, got a consolation win at No. 1 doubles from Gavin Weaver and Ty Ralstin, along with Wylie’s title at No. 3 singles.
