PRINT ADS

Onalaska High School junior Brett Polito and Central junior Victor Mirasola, perhaps the top two boys tennis players in the area, will play today at 3:30 p.m. at the Gullikson Courts in what is guaranteed to be a close match.

The match is guaranteed to be close because it started Tuesday. The match was tied one set apiece, five games apiece and 30-30 in the 11th game when rain halted play. The duo played three times a year ago, with Mirasola winning the first two, before Polito bounced back with a sound victory in the sectional third-place match at No. 2 singles.

While the No. 1 singles match from Tuesday is tied, Onalaska owns the lead in the dual 3-1, including wins from Nick Stelloh at No. 3 singles, Dave LaGrange at No. 4 singles, and the No. 3 doubles team of Alex Aschenbrenner and Nick Klos. The Hilltoppers lone loss before the rains hit came from the No. 1 doubles team of Alec Bronston and Ben McClellan, who lost 2-6, 6-4, 6-1 to Chris Aberger and John O'Brien. Bronston and McClellan led 3-2 in the second set, before dropping 10 of the final 12 games of the match.

“We gave up too many high balls and didn't put balls away today,” OHS head coach Kurt Gutknecht said of the No. 1 doubles match. “When you put balls at your opponents feet in doubles matches, you win points.

“Normally Alec and Ben do well with that. They didn't get to the net quickly enough today either.”

The remaining two matches, like Polito and Mirasola, remain in doubt. Christian Handahl at No. 2 singles lost the first set, but leads 2-1 in the second set. Luke Thornton and Ben Harring at No. 2 doubles won a first-set tiebreak, but lost a second-set tiebreak, and have yet to begin the third set.

Today's matches will be key in determining seeds for Thursday's Mississippi Valley Conference meet, which begins at 9 a.m. at UW-La Crosse. With rainouts hampering the schedule, no Onalaska player had earned the three conference wins normally necessary to earn a seed in the tourney, though the Hilltoppers only lost two of their first 18 league matches.

“We've had more depth than we've had in the rccent past,” Gutknecht said. “We should do better than in the recent past in the lower flights.”

Another key match for OHS in relation to the league tourney takes place Monday at 4 p.m. at the Gullikson Courts against defending MVC champion Aquinas. The Blugolds were 19-2 in league matches entering Tuesday's dual with Holmen, which also was not completed due to rain.

Key matches according to Gutknecht include Polito and Bobby Steingraeber at No. 1 singles, Handahl and Joel Reinhart at No. 2 singles, Bronston/McClellan and Joey Kotnour/Mike Wallerich at No. 1 doubles, and Thornton/Harring and Brandon Boisvert/Gabe Wateski at No. 2 doubles.

Polito looked to have a challenge with Baraboo's Kris Kruse Monday, but Kruse will play as part of the Thunderbirds No. 1 doubles team the rest of the season. Onalaska won the match 7-0, including Aschenbrenner and Sam Helming at No. 3 doubles dropping just four games.