BY WENDI REARDON PRICE
Clarkston News Sports Writer
Excitement broke out at the Clarkston High School tennis courts as the Wolves secured the ten points they needed to qualify for the MHSAA Division 1 Boys Tennis State Championship.
They ended up finishing the regional match last Thursday with 13 points and in second place while Bloomfield Hills won the regional championship with 23 points.

“It was a very exciting day,” said Chas Claus, head coach for Clarkston Boys Varsity Tennis. “I am so happy for them. It never gets old. We have done it for several years now. I am very proud of them and very happy for all my players especially the seniors who get to go out this way.”
Claus added every player on the team did their job.
“In a lot of team sports, a lot of times a transcendent player can take over a game on their own,” he explained. “With tennis, it’s all head to head and involves the whole team. We needed ten points to qualify for states, and the most any one player could get is three points. You really need the whole team to do their job.”
Frankie Piana finished the day winning his flight on Single No. 3 court which included defeating Sebastian Burman from Bloomfield Hills, 7-6, 7-6.
“He was the only upset all day of any of the teams of any of the matches and there were 56 matches,” Claus said. “It was a super close match and he did it. I was really proud of the effort.”
Luke Baylis, on Singles No. 1; Jacob Burkett, Singles No. 2; and Noah Faszewski, Singles No. 3, finished in second place to their Bloomfield Hills counterparts.
“Looking at matches, several of my doubles teams were pretty nervous, pretty tight at the start and had good comeback wins,” said Claus.
He added Logan Knowlson and Adam Zentner on Doubles No. 1 started out slow but beat a team they didn’t know a lot about.
“They did their job pretty quickly,” Claus said.
Jed Horst and Max Meehan on Doubles No. 2 had a comeback victory during the tournament to help the Wolves out.
Evan Walsh and Nicholas Rouman, on Doubles No. 4, started off slow and had a comeback win against Lake Orion to tie. They won the match winning the third set, 6-4.
“It was a point that sealed the trip to states for us,” Claus said. “It was point 10. They set off a big party for the team.”
The boys head to Greater Midland Tennis Center this Friday and Saturday to play for the state championship.
“The biggest thing is staying hungry and continue working,” Claus said. “The biggest thing for the players is emphasizing business is not done. We have done this before. We are there to do damage. We are there to compete in the best. This team wants to be the best in program history. Just like regionals, it’s going to take a team effort to get ourselves set up to do it.”
He added being at the state tournament is amazing.
“It’s quite an affair – there are 18 indoor courts and 22 outdoor courts,” Claus said. “It starts early and it’s just action everywhere. For anyone looking around at the bright lights, it moves pretty quickly it’s easy to get yourself out of it. There’s nothing like going to states, but there’s nothing like winning a match at states. It’s something they want and something I want for them so we will work for it.”

  Clarkston Boys Tennis, MHSAA Boys Tennis Regionals