BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
It was an up and down week for the Wolves on the court as they defeated a rival and lost to OAA Red league foes.
The rival win for Clarkston Boys Varsity Tennis happened last Wednesday at home against Lake Orion, 9-0.
“Orion has been an annual rival for decades in most sports so be able to sweep them was a confidence booster for a couple of flights who hadn’t won a lot lately,” said Chas Claus, head coach. “Any shut out is always great when every single person on the team can walk off the courts feeling good about their performance.”
Wins from the Singles players included Alex Matisse defeating Felix Partington, 6-0, 6-0 on Singles No. 1; Luke Baylis defeating Julian Olejni, 6-2, 6-3 on Singles No. 2; Jacob Burkett defeating Taggart Hatch, 6-1, 6-2 on Singles No. 3; and Frankie Piana defeating Stephan Serzo, 6-0, 6-0 on Singles No. 4.
For Doubles, David Carpenter and Tristan Greenlee defeated Nathan Palatka and Austin Emig 6-1, 6-0, Doubles No. 1; Charlie Lussenhop and Jason Richards defeated Joey Bieda and Leo Nunez 6-1, 6-3, Doubles No. 2; Ryan Knight and Cole Manilla defeated Eric Nielson and Brandon Stanyer 6-2, 6-4, Doubles No. 3; Shane McArthur and Luke Renchik defeated Spencer Powell-Daniel Bojanowski 6-3, 5-7, 6-2, Doubles No. 4; Logan Knowlson and Brody Tuomi defeated Nick Palatka and Shawn Donahue 2-6, 6-4, 10-7, Doubles No. 5.
“Shane and Luke had a really nice showing against Lake Orion,” said Claus. “They have been on a tough streak for awhile but pulled through. They had a solid victory they had to dig in and fight to the end in.”
The Wolves grabbed one win in their battle against Bloomfield Hills in the 7-1 loss last Thursday.
Carpenter and Greenlee defeated Alex Ross and Sebastian Burman, 1-6, 1-0 retired.
“They are the No.1 team in the state and extremely deep team,” Claus said. “We had hopes to show out better. We knew they would be a real challenge.
Claus added he was impressed with Piana in his match against Brad Silverman, 0-6, 6-7 (5).
“He had a really nice second set against a very tough player who has lost only once in all of last year and this year. He gave him a run for his money,” he said.
Claus added going against Bloomfield Hills will help the boys as they prepare for the league meet and the post-season.
“They are the best of the best,” he explained. “Not just a few players but they are a very deep team. It’s high quality tennis. What I have found over the years is you get a lot better at the sport by playing the best players even if you are not winning against them. It will improve your skills.”
The boys opened the week with a loss to Troy Athens on Sept. 20, 5-4.
“It was somewhat disappointing,” said Claus. “It was closer in number but Athens is a team I think we can beat. We came close in some of the doubles matches. Singles did very well.”
He added Knight and Manilla had a good match on the Doubles No. 3 though the score didn’t reflect it in the 5-7, 7-5, 4-6 loss.
“They played some guys with an unorthodox style with a lot of soft hitting and it takes a lot of patience,” Claus said. “You tend to over react and get antsy. They did a nice job of just being patient.”
Winning points for the Wolves were: Matisse, 6-0, 7-5; Baylis, 6-0, 6-1; Burkett, 6-0, 6-0; Piana, 6-0, 6-0.
“We have opportunities against each of these teams again,” said Claus. “We see Athens and Bloomfield in the league tournament this week and we see Lake Orion in the regional tournament next week. We knew going in it would be a way to measure ourselves.”
The boys opened the week on Monday with a 6-2 win over Rochester Adams with points from Matisse, Baylis, Burkett and Piana on the singles courts; and Carpenter and Greenlee and Lussenhop and Richards on the doubles courts.
The Wolves head to the league tournament on Thursday, held at Troy. They host Holly next Tuesday before hosting the MHSAA Regionals, Oct. 5.

  clarkston, Varsity Boys Tennis