BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Accolades keep rolling in for the Clarkston Boys Varsity Tennis team.
They finished in seventh place at the state championship, the best in program history. The team also qualified for Academic All-State honors; freshman Luke Baylis and senior Alex Matisse were named to the First Team All-State. Even their coach, Chas Claus earned accolades as both Regional Coach of the Year and Division 1 State Coach of the Year.
For the team qualifing for Academic All-State, Claus explained the team’s grade point average is 3.63.
“We tend to have a very bright team and a very hard working team,” he said, explaining to qualify the average is 3.25. “We made it by a wide margin especially Alex and David Carpenter are in the top few in their graduating class. They lead the way in that department. Half of the line up has better than a 3.8 so it is a extremely strong record to have with those scholars.”
He added any varsity level sport at Clarkston is a high level commitment.
“A lot of them are extremely focused and diligent in taking care of their classwork,” he said. “Even the ones whom tennis is an option they are not going to be a pro tennis player they set themselves up for future greatness which may or may not be on the tennis court.”
For individual honors it is third time for Matisse to be named All-State, as a freshman he received honorable mention.
“It is a wonderful accomplishment and really something that has become normal for him,” said Claus. “Alex had a fantastic career.”
Baylis received All-State honors for his first year with the varsity team.
“It is another tremendous accomplishment,” said Claus. “They both had great seasons. They are gentlemen on the court. They are fierce competitors, but they are also honest. They play hard. They’re not rude, they’re not into trash talk, they let their play do the talking. That to some degree is, unless you are winning the state title at No. 1 Singles, that’s the sort of players who get picked for this. Not just players who are really good, but players who have a good reputation. I am very excited for both of them. I am very proud to have the opportunity to work with them and proud of their accomplishments. They are both very deserving of the honor.”
The players were proud of their coach for being named Regional Coach of the Year and Division 1 State Coach of the Year.
“Coach Claus is a mentor on and off the courts,” said Carpenter. “He teaches life lessons besides how to be a better tennis player so we become better people. We are really happy he is getting recognized – besides being a lot of fun he has a big heart.”
“He is a remarkable coach because he expects everyone’s best every day and then does whatever he can to help us play our best,” added Charlie Lussenhop. “He doesn’t try to do any crazy strategy instruction or change the way we hit the ball or play. He just helps to make sure we have the best possible chance of winning with the way we play. The strength of the schedule Claus sets out for us, combined with the attitude he instills with us means by the end of the season, when every single point is really important, we have either played the team we need to beat or have played someone better and we can go in confident we know what to do.”
He explained Claus also cares about every player on the team.
“It’s what makes it so easy to listen to him, whether it is coaching during a match or advice off the court,” Lussenhop said.
Jason Richards appreciates advice on and off the court while taking Claus’ Advanced Placement United States history class.
“He is an amazing teacher,” he said. “He is the most passionate teacher for any subject I have had. He is an amazing person, teacher and coach. He knows when to push his players on the court and when to just let us be high schoolers.”
For Claus, who began coaching the varsity team in 2004, it is a tremendous honor to recieve both accolades.
“I work with a lot of excellent coaches,” he said. “I work with a lot, within our league and within our region, who are in the Hall of Fame. Across the state there are probably 70 or 80 guys out there in Division 1. It is very humbling to be recognized particular recognized by guys who have been doing this for 30 years who are in the Hall of Fame themselves. They are the best of the best. For a committee like that to look at me and say we respect what you are and we like the players on your team and what they produce. We like how your team carries itself. It’s a great honor and one at the state level I did not expect, but one I am very proud of.”
Claus played with the Wolves when he was in the high school and he thinks it help gives the program continuity.
“This is the history teacher in me coming out, for high schoolers they live in the moment, the year, the season, without no sense of the bigger picture. It’s cool to say this is how it used to be in the 90s when I played,” he said. He added this year he introduced his team to Kevin Ortwine, who coached him in the 1990s.
“Just being able to have that connection it gives them a good prospective and makes them proud of the lineage especially since we have had the best 4-5 years of the program history,” Claus said.
“Both the players and me appreciate where we have come and going to states was not the norm. It was a dream of a lot of players before them. They appreciate what they have and how good they are and how far the program has been able to come. It’s not just about this one year. But, I am a big believer in you stand on the shoulders of those who came before.”

  clarkston, Tennis