By Wendi Reardon Price
Staff Writer
wprice@mihomepaper.com
INDEPENDENCE TWP. — Clarkston Boys Tennis is a few weeks into the season – and the outlook is good.
“Things are going well,” said Chas Claus, head coach for the varsity team. “I have been impressed with us so far. I think this is one of the deepest teams I have had – not only strong in all flights of varsity but deep all the way through varsity and JV teams. We have a lot experience and a lot of very talented newcomers which is great as a coach.”

“Our top eight players have a lot of varsity experience so they are not overwhelmed by the moments,” Claus said. “They aren’t just out there running around. They know what to do. They are doing it at self analysis. Tennis takes a lot of self analysis. Coaches can only talk to you at particular moments unlike other sports. Baseball and basketball can talk it out after plays. Tennis you get windows for talking and even then there’s one or two coaches and eight courts going. The best players are those who can analyze for themselves and make the adjustments on their own. I have a lot of players who played a lot and are pretty good at that.”
Claus shared the Wolves continue to play an aggressive schedule which helps them achieve goals for later in the season.
“We want to play as many great teams as we can because we’ll not just trying to win matches now, we are trying to win our league, do well at the regional and go to state finals,” he said. “Good competition is always good for sharpening us whether we win or lose we get better in the course of playing these good opponents. It sharpens us for future events which mean a lot more to us as a team.”
The Wolves opened the week with a 7-2 win over Lake Orion, Sept. 3.
“We had a strong win but definitely some things to improve on,” said Claus. “Some flights were strong throughout, and some played to where we were ragged at times and didn’t play our best. We let a few bad shots effect us mentally where we turned a few into a lot. Some of those matches we were able to turn around and win, others we’re looking forward to the rematches in other flights.”
Clarkston won three of the flights in singles with Ethan Banyas defeating Mantra Kaushal, 6-2, 6-2, on Singles No. 2; Evan Banyas defeating Sri Senthil, 6-3, 6-4, on Singles No. 3; and Nathaniel Keller defeating Alex Lytle, 3-6, 7-6, 6-3.
The Wolves won four of the flights in doubles. The team of Brady Ebling and David Richardson defeated Connor Fox and Macks Peters, 4-6, 7-5, 6-3, on Doubles No. 2; Sam Yerian and Kiyan Shushtari defeated Lance Little and Vikran Patil, 6-2, 7-5, on Doubles No. 3; Max Dodge-Rubin and Kamy Shushtari defeated Manov Khosla and Vincent Haviland, 6-4, 6-0, on Doubles No. 4; and Henry Haviland and Conner Sanderson defeated Ozzie Schons and Tristan Omtvedt, 8-3, on Doubles No. 5.
“We bring back three of our singles players, which is nice,” Claus said, adding Thomas McCormick is back in his sophomore year playing on Singles Flight No. 1, and brothers Ethan and Evan Banyas are on courts two and three. “They are all talented players. Ethan and Evan are both seniors and have played singles for a few years, but also both of them were outstanding doubles players as well which gives them a skill set and a comfort level all around the court that some of their opponents don’t have which is really great.”
The Wolves also defeated Brighton, 6-3, with a sweep in the singles flights last Wednesday. Thomas McCormick defeated Pierce Pettengill, 6-0, 6-3, on Singles No. 1; Ethan Banyas defeated Tyler Adams, 6-0, 6-0, on Singles No. 2; Evan Banyas defeated Logan Fossum, 6-3, 7-5, on Singles No. 3; and Keller defeated Keegan Parrish, 6-3, 6-7 (4), 6-4, on Singles No. 4.
Yerian and Kiyan Shushtari defeated Lucas Furness and Joseph Mertes, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, on Doubles No. 3; and Dodge-Rubin and Kamy Shushtari defeated Grantin Gallant and Jonathan Solgat, 6-1, 7-5, on Doubles No. 4.
Clarkston defeated Farmington at home last Thursday, 9-0.
The Wolves competed in the Traverse City Invitational and went 1-1-1, Aug. 29. Finishing as medalists were Ethan Banyas in first place and Keller in second place for singles. The team of Yerian and Kiyan Shushtari and the team of Dodge-Rubin and Kamy Shushtari finished in second places.
The Wolves swept the courts going 8-0 against Grandville. McCormick defeated Isaac Renkema, 6-1, 6-1, on Singles No. 1; Ethan Banyas defeated Evan Mann, 6-0, 6-1, on Singles No. 2; Evan Banyas defeated. Ethan Zuidema, 6-2, 6-0, on Singles No. 3; and Keller defeated Zayne Sorokin, 6-1, 6-1, on Singles No. 4.
Ryan Merritt and Max Downey defeated Pete Heyboer and Luke Holleman, 6-1, 6-0, on Doubles No. 1; Ebling and Richardson defeated Connor Scott and Ethan Lynch, 6-2, 6-3, on Doubles No. 2; Yerian and Kiyan Shushtari defeated Michael Malinowski and Ethan Valko, 6-2, 7-5, on Doubles No. 3; and Dodge-Rubin and Kamy Shushtari defeated Landon Nguyen and Nolan Sheriden, 6-1, 6-0, on Doubles No. 4.
Clarkston tied against Traverse City Central, 4-4. Ethan Banyas defeated Alex Lamphier, 6-0, 6-2, on Singles No. 2; and Keller defeated Haru Matsuzaki, 6-3, 6-1, on Singles No. 4.
Yerian and Kiyan Shushtari defeated Nate Brewer and Chris Girrbach, 6-1, 6-4, on Doubles No. 3; and Dodge-Rubin and Kamy Shushtari defeated Oliver Christensen and Holden Beery, 6-4, 6-1, on Doubles No. 4.
Clarkston lost to Birmingham Seaholm, 7-1, with the lone win by Ethan Banyas over Joaquim Flory, 7-5, 6-3, on Singles No. 2.
Clarkston opened this week against Rochester. They host North Farmington on Thursday and Berkley on Tuesday, Sept. 17. They compete in the OAA White League meet at Rochester High School on Thursday, Sept. 19.
“The league is strong,” Claus said. “We are certainly hoping and expecting to compete for a title. I think the favorite has got to be Rochester, but there are a lot of very good teams. Our players know that on any given day in this league if one team brings their best and the other team doesn’t, any team is good enough to beat another team in the league.”

  Boys Tennis, Clarkston Athletics