Spartans end Creighton Prep's run in Class A

By RON POWELL / Lincoln Journal Star

Friday, Oct 12, 2007 - 10:36:02 pm CDT

OMAHA — There was definitely a “Back to the Future’’ theme to the Class A boys state tennis tournament Friday at Koch Tennis Center.

The retro part of the meet was Lincoln East taking home the team title for the first time since 1995. The Spartans, winners of eight straight championships from 1988-95, scored 411⁄2 points, ending Omaha Creighton Prep’s run of six consecutive championships.

East’s No. 2 doubles team of seniors Garth Hamilton and David Meagher officially put an end to the Junior Jays’ reign by defeating Prep’s Gregory Beaufait and Tyler Nelsen 6-2, 6-4 in the finals to wrap up a 33-0 season. Prep edged out Omaha Westside 37-36 for second place.

The future is now for freshmen Jackson Withrow of Omaha Burke and Grant Tesmer of Lincoln Southeast, both of whom finished off undefeated seasons with victories in the No. 1 and 2 singles finals, respectively.

Withrow capped off a 32-0 fall with a 6-2, 2-6, 6-1 win over 2005 No. 1 singles state champion John DeVose of Papillion-La Vista South. Tesmer (27-0) fought off cramps late in the second set to outlast 2006 No. 2 singles champion Matt Frost of Creighton Prep 6-4, 7-6 (9-7).

The team championship also capped an undefeated year for the Spartans, who went 10-0 in duals and won all six tournaments they played. And like they have all season, the Spartans used a total team effort to pile up points in every division.

“This might be the most special of all the state championship teams,’’ said East coach Jeff Hoham, who’s guided the Spartans to all nine of their boys tennis championships, plus three of East’s Class A boys state soccer titles.

“Five of our six guys don’t play year-round tennis, and in this age of specialization, that makes this incredible,” Hoham said. “To get kids from different skill sets and sports backgrounds and have them come together like this, to me that’s the ultimate team.”

Senior Brandon Videtich overcame a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 loss to DeVose in the No. 1 singles semifinals Friday morning to win the third-place match 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 over Kyle Obermeier of North Platte. Matt Dunlap, another senior, took third at No. 2 singles, claiming a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 win over Omaha Westside’s Aaron Placzek in the third-place match.

“You play high school tennis for the team aspect, so this feels sweet,” said Videtich, the Nebraska Closed 18-and-under state champion this past summer. “We always have expectations of winning state, that‘s always the goal. This year, we finally had the team to do it.”

East’s No. 1 doubles combination of Alex Neuhaus and Ross Schulenberg finished fourth, but their quarterfinal win on Thursday put the Spartans in control heading into the second day. The Westside duo of Andrew Mellen and Christopher Arkfeld came from behind to topple Lincoln Southeast’s Seth Garnett and Seth Shimerda 3-6, 6-4, 6-1 in the finals.

Meagher and Hamilton started slowly in both sets of the finals, trailing 2-0 and 2-1 in first and second sets, respectively. They responded with aggressive shots from Meagher and the 6-foot-8 Hamilton, the starting center on East’s basketball team, knocking off volleys at the net.

“We just know going into a match that we have the mental edge,” said Meagher, who didn’t play tennis as a sophomore or junior after transferring from Lincoln Pius X. “We haven‘t lost all year so we’re confident we’re going to win.”

Withrow had that same self-assurance in the finals against DeVose, especially after beating the senior in two earlier matches this season. DeVose, however, seemed to have the momentum after winning the second set and taking a 1-0 lead in the third.

Withrow reeled off the last six games with a consistent baseline attack that wore down DeVose, who needed a 10-minute medical timeout midway through the third set to deal with cramps.

“I knew beating him a third time would be tough and John played a good match,” Withrow said. “(In the second set) I was stepping in, trying to be more aggressive and I was missing. In the third set, I moved back, kept my feet moving and started putting more balls in play.’’

Frost wiped out two Tesmer match points with the Knight lead 5-4, 40-15 in the second set. They eventually ended up in a tiebreaker that took almost 30 minutes to play.

Early in the tiebreaker, Tesmer took a 10-minute medical timeout for cramps. Frost was leading 5-3 in the breaker when he also needed 10 minutes because of cramps.

Frost had three set points ahead 6-3 in the tiebreaker, but Tesmer’s quickness around the court and steady baseline game eventually prevailed.

“I’ve never cramped before, I could hardly move,’’ Tesmer said. “When I was down 6-3 (in the tiebreaker), I asked the chair umpire if the third set was a full set or a (match) tiebreaker. There was no way I could’ve played a full set, so I had to win it there.”