It was less than one week ago when Lafayette's Mick Lyons and Jake Goodman defeated Kirkwood's Drew Morris and Tanner Morris in the deciding match of the Class 2 team quarterfinals.
The doubles teams knew at the time there was the possibility that they could see each other again in the individual portion of the state tournament. They just did not know it was going to happen in the opening round.
The revealing of the draw at the state tournament is met with mixed emotions by players and coaches and much of the success, or lack thereof, of state qualifiers depends on the draw.
And, as always, this year's draw is an interesting one starting with the battle between Lyons and Goodman and Morris and Morris in the opening round Friday at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield. The top half of the Class 2 doubles draw includes four St. Louis teams and they are all playing each other. Josh Papes and Carlton Poindexter of McCluer North will play Ben Hess and Dan Brodnick of Francis Howell North in a first-round match with the winner moving on to play the Lafayette-Kirkwood winner.
The bottom half of the Class 2 doubles bracket does not appear as strong overall which should bode well for Kirkwood's Robert Conroy and Josh Waite. They will play Kelsey Garnett and Ryan Bunselmeyer of Springfield Central in the first round.
Rockwood's Summit's Dylan Steffens has had an outstanding season, winning 17 of his 18 matches. But the Falcon sophomore has had no luck when it comes to the state draw. Last season, Steffens had to play Ford Zitsch of Rock Bridge in the first round. Zitsch finished third. This season's draw is even tougher as Steffens drew Paul Nahon of Springfield Glendale in the first round. Nahon, a senior, is a three-time state medalist and is 27-0 this season. Nahon is the defending Class 2 singles champion. Michael Davis of Parkway Central is also is in the same quarter of the draw. He will face Jeremy Sellmeyer of Mehlville in the opening round.
Another interesting first-round match will pit a pair of local players as Parkway Central's Ashwath Sampath plays Greg Marifian of SLUH. Marifian is a three-time state qualifier and former medalist.
Charlie Curtis of MICDS and Alec Kaczkowski of University City are both on the same quarter of the Class 1 singles draw.
Curtis, who is one of two undefeated players in the Class 1 singles draw, will play Orobola Akinmoladun of Grandview in the first round while Kaczkowski, who is a two-time state medalist, will play Alejandro Macias in the first round. If Curtis and Kaczkowski get by their first round matches they will play each other in the quarterfinals.
MICDS' Teddy Jones and Clayton's Mac Rachan are in the bottom half of the draw. Jones is in the same quarter as Will Welte, the No. 1 player on team champion Pembroke Hill, while Rachan has Eric Dailey of Excelsior Springs in his draw. Dailey is the other undefeated Class 1 singles player, winning all 32 of his matches.
Three players who won medals in Class 1 doubles are all in the bottom half of the bracket this year and all have different partners.
Pembroke Hill's Chandler McCray and Josh Girson were state medalists. Girson and Will Welte finished third while McCray and Kevin Hornbeck were fifth. Westminster's Cameron Smith is also a returning state medalist. He finished sixth with Nick O'Neal last year. This year he is teamed with freshman Bailey Merkle.
Class 1 action begins at 9 a.m. Friday while Class 2 singles and doubles action is scheduled to start at 10:15 a.m.
Here is a list of area players who will be competing at the MSHSAA Tournament May 27 and 28 at the Cooper Tennis Complex in Springfield:
Class 1
Singles
Sam Ranzetta, Lutheran South; Mac Rechan, Clayton; Alec Kaczkowski, University City; Charlie Curtis, MICDS; Teddy Jones, MICDS
Doubles
Joseph Richmeyer/Jon Wilson, St. Pius; Jake Lee/Joseph Dulle, Clayton; Matthew Wong/Brent Westbrook, John Burroughs; Bailey Merkle/Cameron Smith, Westminster; Tim Miller/Stephen Lillenberg, Westminster
Class 2
Singles
Jeremy Sellmeyer, Mehlville; Greg Marifian, SLUH; Dylan Steffens, Summit; Alex Pozo, CBC; Ashwath Sampath, Parkway Central; Michael Davis, Parkway Central; Conner Bunch, Holt; Dylan Gilbert, Fort Zumwalt East
Doubles
Andrew Morris/Tanner Morris, Kirkwood; Robert Conroy/Josh Waite, Kirkwood; Mick Lyons/Jake Goodman, Lafayette; Spencer Hilton/Chris Matteo, Chaminade; Josh Papes/Carlton Poindexter, McCluer North; Ninaad Balachandran/Daniel Li, Parkway Central; Ben Hess/Dan Brodwick, Francis Howell North; Slater Feltzien/Trevor Millsaps-Fair, Fort Zumwalt South
