Duchesne tennis player Ty Merkle has been lightly challenged this season. With district and sectional play around the corner, he realizes that's going to change.
Merkle's 6-0, 6-2 win over Fort Zumwalt East's Dylan Gilbert at No. 1 singles in the Gateway Athletic Conference North tennis tournament on Wednesday was just another example of the dominance the senior has put on display. He is unbeaten on the year and has only had a match reach a third set once.
"Ty's far and away our best player and he's certainly carried our team this year," said Duchesne coach Doug Becker, whose squad finished second to Fort Zumwalt South in the team standings. "He's been our one real constant and gives the same type of consistent play match in and match out. He hasn't had a ton of competitive matches and hasn't been challenged a whole lot, but he hasn't played any less because of the competition. He's been dominant in the way he's won."
Merkle, who was a state qualifier last year, won his first match handily at state before losing 6-2, 6-1 to the top seed and eventual Class 1 singles champion Teddy Fitzgibbons of Pembroke Hill in Kansas City. Merkle went on to finish tied for eighth place.
"I got a good taste of what the big leagues are like," Merkle said of his first trip to the state tournament in Springfield. "It was a huge learning experience. I've had some close matches this year but nothing compared to what state really brings."
Despite having a lack of comparable competition, Merkle doesn't necessarily see it as a negative.
"I know what's out there and what kind of talent is out there so it's really no surprise to me," he said. "I know I continually have to keep working on my game despite what I've faced before or what I'll face in the future."
Merkle's GAC North title at No. 1 singles was the third of his high school career.
His older brother, Zach Merkle, a 2008 Duchesne graduate, was a four-time state qualifier as a doubles player and was a senior when Ty was a freshman.
"I think Ty feels like he needs to live up to his brother's legacy kind of," Becker said. "They're both talented tennis players. If you took Zach and Ty at their best and put them against one another, it's kind of a tossup who would win."
While Ty said he's inspired by his brother to succeed, he's more interested in carving his own path.
"He was always the doubles man, something I was never lucky enough to do," Ty said of Zach. "I look up to what he's been able to do but I try not to think about it because that's not me. I try to separate myself from him even though he had such great accomplishments."
Becker said Merkle is favored to win the Class 1 District 6 tournament, which will be held May 14 at Zumwalt South. If he does he will advance to the sectional round, which is being introduced by MSHSAA for the first time this year, the following week at MICDS.
At sectionals Merkle will face his most fierce competition yet, something he's prepared for as best he can.
Becker is certainly has confidence in his potential.
"There's no reason why he can't compete for a state championship, assuming he makes it that far," Becker said. "If he manages to get to Springfield there's no reason why he wouldn't have as good a chance as anyone else. There are other strong players around the state but he's not an individual who would back down from playing the best. He wants a chance to see where he stacks up."
Fort Zumwalt South takes team title
While the tournament host Bulldogs don't have a standout player of Merkle's stature, they blew through much of the rest of the field in nearly every other flight.
Zumwalt South players were responsible for championships in seven flights: Nos. 2-6 singles and Nos. 1 and 3 doubles.
"We have a lot of strong players and a very deep team," Zumwalt South coach Dave Fox said. "If there's one or two guys who aren't playing their best we have four or five others who can pick it up and help the team win. We're lucky to have that."
Slater Felzien (No. 2), Luke Salisbury (3), Mark Compton (4), Sathwik Katragadda (5) and Andrew Kempfer (6) all won singles titles.
Trevor Millsaps and Felzien beat Duchesne's pairing of Merkle and Justin Park 8-4 for the No. 1 doubles championship.
"That was very impressive," Fox said of his top doubles team. "Everyone knows Ty Merkle is a great player and they were just able to put it all together. They didn't make mistakes, played under control, were aggressive at the net and just did everything right."
Kempfer and Katragadda were the winning duo at No. 3 doubles, while Duchesne's Nick Koval and Patrick Brennan took home the title at No. 2 doubles.
