St. Marys Tennis competes at Sections, athletes advance
LIMA – The St. Marys tennis team had a strong showing in Division 2 Sectional action Thursday. The Roughriders advanced athletes to the District level and capped off a strong season for others on the team.
“First off, I’d like to recognize my 3 underclassmen who are playing their first year of tennis. Jake Ackroyd, Ollie Chisholm, and Noah White. An absolutely remarkable season for all three. I am so proud of how they played this spring and the accomplishments achieved show that they will be ready to take the reins of this program in 2025,” said St. Marys tennis coach Luke Gossard.
As a group, the Roughriders competed at a high level and positioned themselves well throughout the competition.
All starting seven played in the quarterfinals, meaning they are one win away from going to Districts. My young guys showed a lot of resiliency.
Noah went from playing 2nd doubles to singles in Sectionals and won his first two matches of the day in straight sets. Both against opponents who played singles in the regular season. Noah ended up falling to the 3rd seed from Ada,” said Gossard.
St. Marys displayed plenty of depth with solid performances all-around in the Sectional competition.
“Ollie and Jake. Those two sure have fun playing together! They won their first
two matches against Ada 1st doubles and Kenton 1st doubles, both in straight sets as well. They fell in the quarterfinals to the 3rd seed as well, a doubles combo of OG’s 1st and 2nd Singles,” said Gossard.
Isaac Wibbeler continues to perform at a high level and that trend continued in the postseason for the Roughriders.
“Isaac received a first-round bye and then played Bluffton winning 6-0, 6-0. Then came the second match, playing Bath. Wins the first set 6-0, I go out to talk to him, I tell him I’m changing his grip on the racquet he says no, we argue (laughingly), his racquet has a new grip, and he goes back out and oh no what have I done. Isaac lost the first two games, I talked in between changeovers, and he continued to go down 3-4 in the 2nd and Isaac said while smiling, “You changing my grip is why I’m down and said I’m kicking you off my court.” I respected it and said I’ll stay far away, I’ll get Coach Amstutz to watch. Well, the kid (Isaac) wins the next three games to take the match. He walks off the court and we’re both smiling, and I say, it’s okay you can still hate me. In all honesty, he played great, the two of us have a great relationship, and I love his personality,” said Gossard.
Wibbeler competes in the semifinals on Saturday morning against Ada’s Nathan Williams.
Cody Birt delivered another strong performance for the Roughriders in Sectional competition to advance to the District Level.
“Another winning day for Cody. Seems like that has been the story for all three years he’s played. Cody also received a first-round bye before playing Aaron Reichert of Van Wert. He made quick work of his match. 40 mins and the match was over 6-1, 6-0. In the quarterfinals, he played Bluffton’s big hitter and best player, Branson Hilty, who on paper is not the matchup I wanted for Cody. Cody fell behind early in the 1st set 1-2. Brandon (Coach Amstutz) went out and made some adjustments with Cody on the changeover and we never looked back. Cody won the next 11 games! Winning the match 6-2, 6-0. I continue to be proud of Cody and his work ethic. You know, no player likes losing, but Cody hates losing which gives him a different drive to compete when he falls behind,” said Gossard.
Birt returns to action on Saturday for the Roughriders and takes on Elida’s Eben Jackson in the semifinals.
The combination of Rhett Chisholm and Jaxton Spees also advanced to the next level after a solid performance at the Section level.
“Rhett and Jaxton are not normal doubles partners and for Rhett, he is not in familiar territory as he’s played singles all year. The boys agreed to pair together as they were both seniors and wanted to go out with a bang. Well, they did just that, and the closing chapter, well we will have to wait and see. The two also received a bye in the first round before taking on Van Wert’s stronger doubles team. The score is not as close as what the match really was. The boys won 6-1, 6-2. I counted at least 7 of the 15 games went to deuce. In the 3rd round, we had an unfavorable matchup against a very powerful Bluffton duo. We had to make adjustments before the match on our return game because both of the Bluffton boys can blast their serves and it’s hard to get a handle on them. We came out too anxious to start and it showed. We got up 2-1 then points started to get away from us really fast. Our presence at the net was nowhere to be found and our first serve percentage was truthfully awful. We didn’t look good, losing the 1st set 3-6. As we changed over we talked through the first set. I believe it is best to ask doubles players the question, what went wrong, what did we lack that could have changed the outcome?” said Gossard.
“We were all on the same page. We weren’t balanced at all. Not closing out at the net and shifting together as one. The boys went back out and I thought they handled the situation well. We hung tight but we were down 2-3 in the 2nd set and the boys just needed a spark and gain the moment. I brought Coach Chavez and Amstutz out with me on the changeover and just had a reality check with them. I was iterating that if this is the finale of your two’s careers fine, but we’re not playing at the best of our ability. I challenged them that they need to believe in each other and that they are the better two players on the court. Rhett and Jaxton both gave gestures and then it was on! The rest of the match was almost like the end of a feel-good movie when there was adversity along the way. The two came out playing like I expect my players to from the start. Total dominance kicked in for the two seniors winning the next 4 games to take the second set 6-3 and then a continuation of dominance in the 3rd set 6-2 to win the match,” continued Gossard.
“I’m beyond excited to see Rhett and Jaxton extend their career for at least another week. It comes full circle to see that all 4 of my seniors who started varsity be able to go together to Districts in Port Clinton. Don’t be fooled either. Districts are very hard to achieve. There are programs that have gone a decade or more since their last appearance,” said Gossard.
The combination is back in action Saturday morning as the Roughrider duo will take on Elida’s first and second singles.
The Roughrider team is poised for the next level and motivated to compete on the court. St. Marys will be looking to capitalize on opportunities.
The time is now for us. The boys will fight hard to put themselves in a position to be seeded high at Districts. What is to come is unknown, but I know all of us never want this season to end. So for now, it’s back to work,” said Gossard.