BOWLING GREEN – With a first-round victory in its pocket, Fremont Ross’ No. 1 doubles team of Alex Thatcher and Trevor Weickert was one win away from advancing to Day 2 of the district tournament.
Alex Thatcher
Trevor Weickert
But then the Little Giants ran into a powerful doubles squad from Anthony Wayne. Chris Huffman and Austin Sweiger took control of their match against Thatcher and Weickert and never let go, ending the Little Giants’ season in a 6-1, 6-0 second-round defeat.
“They were crazy good,” Ross coach Lisa Wolfe said. “They were all over the court. And it seemed like we crumbled, we were falling apart then and we couldn’t get that drive to get to Saturday, couldn’t quite get that mindset.”
Thatcher and Weicker advanced to the second round after knocking off the Defiance duo of Drew Klausing and Zachary Tettenhorst, 6-4, 6-3.
“They handled them very well,” Wolfe said. “Trevor and Alex played very good doubles, like they have been lately.”
Both seniors, Thatcher’s season closed with a 26-9 record, playing mostly at No. 2 singles, while Weickert, mainly a doubles player, went 24-10.
“I will miss them,” Wolfe said. “Alex has been the No.1 for the last couple (previous) years and plays with a lot of grace. He just does everything right on the court, there is no need to worry about Alex when he is playing.
“Trevor, his doubles skills are at their peak right now,” she added. “…He’s a top-notch doubles player right now. That was a great combination between Alex and Trevor.”
Lucas Cronin
Sam Long
Ross’ No. 2 doubles team of Sam Long and Lucas Cronin received a tough draw. They opened the tournament against Findlay’s Ethan Heidepriem Logan Tichenor, who played Nos. 2 and 3 singles during the season. The Trojans were too much for the Little Giants as Heidepriem and Tichenor ended Long and Cronin’s season, 6-2, 6-1.
“They knew what they were up against,” Wolfe said of Long and Cronin, “the Findlay kids have great skills.”
Long, a senior, closed out his season with a 23-10 record, while Cronin, a junior, totaled a 29-5 record.
“Sam’s presence will be missed. His leadership will definitely be missed,” Wolfe said. “Lucas, it’s nice to know he’s got another year.”
In singles action, Nils Nolte lost in the first round, 0-6, 6-3, 3-6, losing to Southview’s Lucas Podolsky.
“Nils played great,” Wolfe said. “We thought (Nolte) had (Podolsky) in the second set, had figured him out and I don’t know, the kid just came back. His weakness was his backhand, this Southview kid, and Nils did a great job to plug that backhand in, but he was quick on his feet and get around to everything on forehand.
Nils Nolte
The loss ends Nolte’s season with a 21-12 record, an impressive season for the foreign exchange student from Germany. While Wolfe has coached foreign exchange students before, she’s never had a player come in and take over the No. 1 singles position.
“And I forget sometimes, he just turned 16. Normally, they’re 17 or 18 when they come here,” she said. “He’s extremely young to be a foreign exchange student and I think he handled himself really well playing against the best on any team. …He took the No. 1 position and ran with it.”
While the Little Giants’ season is over, the tennis court will be hosting one more match Wednesday at 4 p.m. as Ross’ boys take on the Lady Giants’ team. The sexes will clash in the Ace for the Cure, a fundraiser of the Susan G. Komen Foundation for breast cancer research.
The boys and girls teams will play matches against one another and fans and spectators will be able to play a challenge match against players for a donation as well.
“That’s a fun event,” Wolfe said. “We started about eight years ago and we’ve done it every year. It ends the school year with boys and girls against each other. It’s fun.”