By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
Springfield Catholic (20-2) fought their way into Thursday afternoon’s championship match with John Burroughs during Class 1 state tournament action at the Cooper Tennis Complex Thursday afternoon.
But, after a record year for the Fightin Irish, Catholic fell prey to John Burroughs 5-0 to finish as the state’s runner up. It was the first time Springfield Catholic has ever appeared in a state final.
It was a disappointing way for the Irish to have finished out the 2018 season, after winning 20 of 22 matches this year, but head Catholic coach Justin Fravel says his kids have had an amazing year and lots for which to be proud.
“We got off to a great start this morning with a 5-1 victory over Clayton and I hoped that the momentum we had gathered would carry on over into our match with John Burroughs this afternoon,” said the Fightin Irish coach. “But that didn’t happen. Burroughs is a great team and they played very well today. Hopefully we can learn from our experience and do better next year.”
Springfield Catholic opened play in this year’s state tournament last Saturday (May 19) with a 5-0 sectional victory over Thomas Jefferson. Following the win over Jefferson the Irish moved on to defeat Warrensburg 5-1 in the quarter-finals en route to their 5-1 semifinal win over Clayton and 5-0 loss to John Burroughs in the finals on Thursday.
Southwest Missouri tennis teams have registered just one state title in the past fifteen years. Thomas Jefferson recorded that feat in 2007 when they defeated, who else but John Burroughs, 5-1.
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Jefferson went back to the state final in 2008 but this time they lost 5-2 to MICDS. Since that loss no other team in southwest Missouri has made it to a state final until the Fightin’ Irish pulled it off this year.
Jason Nayar was the only senior on Catholic’s roster this year. But he held down the No. 1 spot for the Fightin Irish. Despite the loss he says he has a lot to be happy about.
“Our entire team played really well this year. We had only two losses so I’d say we’ve had an extremely good year,” said Nayar. “It’s kind of sad though that we couldn’t finish at the end with John Burroughs but this has been the best season ever for Catholic. That makes me happy.”
Catholic’s No. 2 man, Luke Steiner a sophomore, also feels that the season the Fightin’ Irish have had greatly outweighs their loss to John Burroughs.
“We’ve had a great season we just sort of fell apart in the final,” Steiner said. “But I’ve learned a lot this year, especially about being a leader, by playing doubles with Jason. I’m already looking forward to next year.”
Coach Fravel credits the Fightin’ Irish’s work ethic for getting them to this year’s state final. With the same work ethic in 2019 he feels his team has a chance to put together another great season.
“I’m really proud of all these kids for what they’ve been able to accomplish this year,” said Fravel. “They’ve enjoyed a lot of success this season but they’ve worked very hard for it. They especially worked hard during the off season last year getting ready for the 2018 season. I think that if they continue to keep up the hard work we’ll continue to be successful.”
Varsity roster 2018: Jason Nayar- Sr, Luke Steiner- So, Gideon Kroutil- So, Cooper Croley- Jr, Adam Chanliongco- Jr and Michael Mullins- So.
