Ryan Divish
Havre Daily News Sports Editor
rdivish@havredailynews.com
About the only thing that went wrong for the Havre High tennis teams this weekend in Billings at the Mayfair Invitational was the weather. The Pony boys and girls squads finished the weekend with perfect 3-0 records in dual action.
Their final two duals against Hardin and Miles City were rained out.
With two weeks until the Central A Divisional tournament, it was the type of tennis, albeit interrupted, that head coach George Ferguson wanted to see.
"Both of our tennis teams continued to play very well this weekend," Ferguson said. "The only downside to this weekend was the rain on Saturday. We didn't get a chance to play Miles City and Hardin. The dual against Hardin would have been the most difficult for both our boys and girls team because they look very solid."
For the first time in weeks, the Pony girls squad fielded its full squad for the weekend, and the results were positive.
The Pony girls opened action on Friday with a 5-2 win over Billings Central as the Ponies' singles players won three of four matches.
Havre's No. 1 single player, Amy McLain, picked up a tough 6-4, 7-5 win over Shannon Hatzell. Megan Rice followed it up with a win at No. 2, defeating Kelsey Meyer 6-2, 6-2. Katie Mariani scored a win at No. 4, defeating Caitlin Stribley 6-2, 6-2.
In the doubles, Havre got wins from the No. 1 team of Keelie Solomon and Steph Flatau and No. 3 team of Alexa Lipp and Jocelyn Chagnon.
In the second dual Friday, the Ponies again scored a 5-3 win, this time over Eastern A foe Glendive.
Havre swept the singles as McLain, Rice, Karissa Olson and Mariani all picked up wins. Olson rallied after losing her first set against Nichole Dobson to win the second set and a tiebreaker.
In the doubles, Flatau and Solomon were victorious, but Glendive's No. 2 and No. 3 doubles teams picked up wins.
On Saturday, Havre had little trouble defeating Cody, Wyo., 6-1. McLain remained perfect for the weekend with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Brigette Roney. Rice also finished 3-0 on the weekend with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Brittany Quade. Olson finished the weekend 2-1, scoring a 6-1, 6-0 win, while Mariani finished 3-0 with a 6-0, 6-0 win.
"Our girls singles looked really good this weekend," Ferguson said. "Amy played very well against Shannon Hatzell, and Megan Rice and Katie Mariani both went undefeated and were never really threatened. Karissa also started to get her form back as the tournament went on, so I couldn't be more pleased with that." In the doubles matches, Flatau and Solomon finished 3-0 on the weekend with a 7-5, 6-2 win, while Lipp and Chagnon also picked up a win.
"Our girls doubles teams also played well this weekend," Ferguson said. "Steph and Keelie were very sharp and we got a pair of really good wins from Alexa Lipp and Jocelyn Chagnon."
On the boys side, the Ponies remained undefeated on the season in dual matches, and did so in dominant fashion.
Havre opened the tournament with a 5-2 win over Billings Central on Friday. The Ponies swept the doubles portion as the No. 1 team of Marc Mariani and Gary Wagner and the No. 2 team of Billy Wagner and Coda Tchida cruised to easy wins, while the No. 3 team of John Christian and Patch Wirtzberger picked up a tough 6-1, 7-6 win.
In the singles, No. 1 player Kyle Baltrusch and Ryan Kinholt each picked up wins, while Chase Castloo and Scott Miller were upset.
In its remaining two duals, Havre was perfect, scoring 7-0 wins over Glendive and Cody, Wyo.
Baltrusch lost just two games in two matches, while Castloo rebounded from the upset loss in the first dual to pick up a pair of wins. Miller also bounced back from his opening dual loss to score a pair of easy wins. Kinholt finished the weekend undefeated, winning both of his remaining matches.
"Kyle Baltrusch was in control of his game in all three matches," Ferguson said. "He looked very good against Orcutt from Glendive, who is a returning state qualifier."
In the doubles, Mariani and Wagner breezed through their remaining matches, losing just one game. The duo of Tchida and Wagner also went unbeaten, winning their other two matches with relative ease. Havre switched up its No. 3 team against Glendive as Christian teamed with Lucas Hamilton to defeat Bryce Muller and Justin Duke 6-1, 7-6 (7-4). In the final dual, Hamilton and Wirtzberger scored a 6-0, 6-0 win.
"Our doubles teams were also extremely dominant, as we did not lose a single match in three duals," Ferguson said.
The results were satisfying for Ferguson, considering his boys have been playing a higher level of competition the past few weeks.
"Our boys team was rarely threatened this weekend, but they still looked very sharp," Ferguson said. "I was very happy with how the boys kept their focus, because I was curious to see how they would react to coming back down to the Class A level after three weeks of playing all Class AA competition."
MAYFAIR INVITATIONAL
BILLINGS
Friday
Boys
Havre 5, Central 2
Singles - Kyle Baltrusch, Havre def. Storr Oakland 6-0, 6-1; Alex Powers, Cent def. Chase Castloo 6-1, 7-6(7-0); Rob Fust, Cent def. Scott Miller 6-4, 6-1; Ryan Kinholt, Havre def. Justin Peterson 6-2, 6-3.
Doubles - Marc Mariani-Gary Wagner, Havre def. David Rickett-Bryce Burke 6-0, 6-0; Billy Wagner-Coda Tchida, Havre def. Brian Robbins-Sean Clancy 6-1, 6-2; Patch Wirtzberger-John Christian, Havre def. Andrew Pearson-Isaac Boelman 6-1, 7-6(11-9).
Havre 7, Glendive 0
Singles - Kyle Baltrusch, Havre def. Drew Orcutt 6-1, 6-0; Chase Castloo, Havre def. Drew Turner 6-2, 6-2; Scott Miller, Havre def. Ben Leavell 6-2, 6-2; Ryan Kinholt, Havre def. Brett Patterson 6-1, 6-2.
Doubles - Marc Mariani-Gary Wagner, Havre def. Todd Haggerty-Nate Kaufman 6-0, 6-0; Coda Tchida-Billy Wagner, Havre def. Jordan Burbach-Alex Tsomaya 6-4, 6-1; John Christian-Lucas Hamilton, Havre def. Bryce Muller-Justin Duke 6-1, 7-6(7-4).
Saturday
Havre 7, Cody 0
Singles - Kyle Baltrusch, Havre def. Jeff Sanstead 6-1, 6-0; Chase Castloo, Havre def. Jeff Banks 4-6,6-0, (7-4); Scott Miller, Havre def. Logan Shane 6-0, 6-3; Ryan Kinholt, Havre def. Ben Ross 7-6(10-8), 6-4.
Doubles - Marc Mariani-Gary Wagner, Havre def. Tanner Moir-Jake Tuten 6-1, 6-0; Bill Wagner-Coda Tchida, Havre def. Dan Waters-Paul Schipferman 6-0, 6-1; Patch Wirtzberger-Luke Hamilton, Havre def. Aaron Sinner-Trey McDonald 6-0, 6-0.
Girls
Friday
Havre 5, Billings Central 2
Singles - Amy McClain, H, def. Shannon Hatzell, 6-4, 7-5; Megan Rice, H, def. Kelsey Meyer, 6-2, 6-2; Zahrah Zimmerer, BC, def. Karissa Olson, 6-4, 6-4; Katie Mariani, H, def. Caitlin Stribley, 6-2, 6-2.
Doubles - Keelie Solomon-Steph Flatau, H, def. Amy Millikan-Trish Casey, 6-2, 6-4; Chelsea Wagner-Whitney Wilbert, BC, def. Kari Gorder-Kristi Hollingshead, 6-4, 3-6, (8-6); Alexa Lipp-Jocelyn Chagnon, H, def. Jenna White-Gena Beckers, 7-6 (7-3), 6-2.
Havre 5, Glendive 2
Singles - Amy McLain, H, def. Cienna Nielsen, 6-2, 6-2; Megan Rice, H, def. Mariah Linn, 6-1, 6-0; Karissa Olson, H, def. Nichole Dobson, 3-6, 6-3 (7-2); Katie Mariani, H, def. Megan Geiger, 6-2, 6-3.
Doubles - Steph Flatau-Keelie Solomon, H, def. Addie Lordemann-Bethany Orcutt, 6-1, 6-3; Leann Athas-Breann Burman, G, def. Kari Gorder-Kristi Hollingshead, 7-5, 4-6 (8-6); Katie Shepherd-Megan Denning, G, def. Alexa Lipp-Christen Kittelson, 6-4, 6-4.
Saturday
Havre 6, Cody 1
Singles - Amy McLain, Havre def. Brigette Roney 6-3, 6-0; Megan Rice, Havre def. Brittany Quade 6-0, 6-0; Karissa Olson, Havre def. Jacey Meyers 6-1, 6-0; Katie Mariani, Havre def. Angela Manisi 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles - Steph Flatau-Keelie Solomon, Havre def. Erin Jones-Alicia Ross 7-5, 6-1; Catherine Taggert-Lauren Rolly, Cody def. Kari Gorder-Kristi Hollingshead 4-6, 6-2, (7-5); Alexa Lipp-Jocelyn Chagnon, Havre def. Melissa Grey-Sara Guymon 6-2, 6-2.
