Effingham, St. Anthony, Teutopolis Finish One-Two-Three at Casey Sectional

Saturday was a good tennis day for the Effingham, St. Anthony and Teutopolis boys tennis teams, as they finished one-two-three in the Casey-Westfield Sectional.

Ironically, the Hearts won the sectional without advancing any singles players to State competition next weekend.

Effingham's Wyatt Wohltman was eliminated 6-2, 6-4, by a crosstown rival, St. Anthony's Frank Jansen, who went on to win the singles competition and advance to State.

The Hearts' Parth Maheshwari defeated Newton's Lane Simpson, 6-0, 6-3, but then lost to Robinson's Brennan Buchanan, 6-1, 6-0, and was eliminated from the tournament.

In doubles, though, Effingham shined.

Isaac Foreman and Aaron Meyers won over Chris Pitcher and Kyle Vahling of Newton, 6-0, 6-2; defeated Curtis White and Tom Goodman of Robinson, 6-1, 6-0; won over Jay Niebrugge and Scott Rentfrow of St. Anthony, 6-4, 7-6; and then defeated their teammates, Jared Minor and Jason Wohltman, 6-0, 6-4 to win the doubles championship and advance to State.

Minor and Wohltman defeated Emmett Bartens and Brandon Perry of Newton, 6-0, 6-0; Mitch Reuter and Spencer Jones of Charleston, 6-2, 6-0; and Andy Mersman and Nick Pals of Teutopolis, 6-0, 6-1 before losing to Foreman and Meyers in the championship match, but Minor and Wohltman also advance to State with their second place finish.

Effingham Coach Greg Brumleve said, "I am extremely proud of these young men.  They are not only great athletes, but tremendous individuals, as well."

As for St. Anthony, after his win over Wyatt Wohltman, Frank Jansen knocked off Blake Eggleston of Mattoon, 6-2, 6-2; defeated Kyle Brumleve of Teutopolis, 6-2, 6-1; and won over Alex Gowin of Charleston, 6-3, 6-4 to win the singles championship and advance to State.

Gowin finished second and is headed to State, as is Brennan Buchanan of Robinson, who finished third.  The fourth singles player to reach State is Kyle Brumleve of Teutopolis, who won over Jacob Graham of Paris, 6-2, 6-4; and won over Dylan White of Robinson, 7-5, 6-2; before losing to Jansen and then losing to Buchanan, 1-6, 4-6.  

Jay Niebrugge and Scott Rentfrow of St. Anthony finished third in doubles to reach State.  They defeated Jay Funneman and Keith Weber of Teutopolis, 6-1, 6-0; and won over Blake Masse and Andy Vieth of Mattoon, 6-1, 6-2; before losing to Effingham's Foreman and Meyers; and then defeated Teutopolis' Mersman and Pals, 6-4, 6-1.

Mersman and Pals finished fourth and will advance to State.  They defeated Ian Harris and Alec Niebrugge of St. Anthony, 6-0, 6-1; and won over Craig Henness and Nathaniel Stoll of Mattoon, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3; before losing to Effingham's Minor and Wohltman, and then losing to St. Anthony's Niebrugge and Rentfrow.

Effingham won the sectional with 22 points, while St. Anthony was second with 19 points and Teutopolis tied with Mattoon for third place with 16 points apiece.  The rest of the rundown: Robinson 15, Charleston 14, Shelbyville 4, Casey-Westfield 2, Paris 2, and Newton 0.

The boys tennis state finals will be played Thursday through Saturday in the Chicagoland area.