Published: October 01, 2008 01:15 am         

Boys tennis sectional starts up tonight

Logan, Cass bring strong squads to five-team sectional

The host Berries enter as the favorites at this week’s Logansport boys tennis sectional.

Not only are the Berries (15-4) two-time defending champions, they also were recently ranked No. 7 in the IHSAA District I by the Indiana boys tennis coaches. District I consists of the northwest part of the state.

“There’s some really good tennis being played in the northwest part of the state with Munster, Culver Military Academy, West Lafayette, Harrison, Valparaiso and so on,” Logan coach Matt Tuggle said. “There are some really good teams. It’s nice that Logansport is on that list. ... It’s nice to be recognized by the coaches. It’s the first time it’s happened for Logansport for the boys.”

The sectional gets underway tonight when Carroll takes on Twin Lakes. The winner of that match faces Cass on Thursday. Logansport goes up against Delphi in the other semifinal. The championship match is set for Friday.

Tuggle is telling his squad to not overlook the Oracles despite defeating them 5-0 a week ago.

“You don’t want to ever look past anybody,” Tuggle said. “You still have to respect your opponent no matter if the result was 5-0. You have to focus on the day at hand.”

Cass enters the sectional with a 13-5 record. The Kings split with the Berries this season, losing 4-1 in their season-opening match on Aug. 20 and winning 3-2 at the Logan Invitational on Aug. 30.

The Kings have defeated Carroll earlier this season but have not yet played Twin Lakes.

“We’ve played Carroll and Twin Lakes we’ve heard is pretty good,” Cass coach Stu Engle said. “We don’t know who we’ll play on Thursday. We’re hoping the guys aren’t looking past that match because we’re looking forward to a rematch with Logansport, who we’ve lost to two years in a row in sectional play by a 3-2 score. We had two really good teams and this group of seniors we have had 12 wins as freshmen, 12 as sophomores, 14 as juniors and 13 so far this season. It’s the most successful class ever to come through Cass as far as wins.”

The Kings are looking for their first boys tennis sectional title in school history. The program was started in 1990.

“We’ve had several teams that have come very close, and that goes back to the early ’90s,” Engle said. “We haven’t been able to pull it off. It’s been the boys’ goal; my goal is to compete. But the boys have worked hard since day one in practice to put themselves in a possible position to pull out their first sectional championship.”

Engle knows it will be a challenge for anyone to unseat the Berries.

“Logansport is very strong at all five positions,” he said. “It’ll be a challenge for every one of our guys at each position to play well to compete. It’s nice to have two really strong teams in Cass County playing tennis. For a long time you couldn’t say that.

“We’re a small school, but we have a strong program. And Logansport has really, with their junior high program and coaching the last few years, has developed into a powerful team that can compete in their conference. To finish second in the [North Central Conference] speaks highly for everyone involved.”

Beau Wicker can be contacted at (574) 732-5113 or via e-mail at beau.wicker@pharostribune.com