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By Don Eskins (For OzarksSportsZone.com)
The Central Ozark Conference held it’s 2019 tennis tournament at the Cooper Tennis Complex on Wednesday.
This year the conference’s athletes competed in singles and doubles play only. No team awards were passed out for the tournament itself.
“We basically had two divisions this year,” said Branson head tennis coach and COC tournament director Sean Kembell. “Those divisions were simply singles and doubles.”
“Teams were eligible to enter a No. 1 and 2 player in singles and a No. 1 and 2 team in doubles. So essentially we had four tournaments going at the same time, two in singles and two in doubles. The top three finishers in each area received medals,” said Kembell.
Joplin’s Garrett Lewis, who will play tennis at Rockhurst University next year, topped all contestants in No. 1 singles play. The talented Eagle senior downed runner-up Joe Jafari of Branson 8-0 in the tournament final to pick up this year’s top singles award.
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“I came in a little sick today but I tried to fight through that. I tried to have fun and just take one match at a time,” said Lewis. “Winning felt good today. Now we have to start focusing on district. Our team is really looking forward to it.”
Branson’s Trey Carlin outlasted Ozark’s Gavin Reese to grab a gold medal in No. 2 singles play. After playing to a stalemate, 8-8, in regulation play Carlin downed his Pirate foe 7-4 in a tie breaker to register a 9-8 victory.
“Finishing on top in the final was tough. Reese played really hard and it got pretty hot inside,” said Carlin. “But I really wanted to win this one today. I’ve won a gold medal in every COC tournament I’ve played in, at some level, since my sophomore year and as a senior I wanted to go out with another one.”
Both Joplin Eagles doubles teams posted championship victories. Asa Borup and Kaden Seward downed Ozark’s Luke Mulder and Justin Battalglia 8-6 to take the top spot in No. 1 doubles play while Bennett Satterlee and Nick Mailes thumped Republic’s Kyle Thornhill and Jack Cook 8-0 to capture the tournament’s number two doubles team title.
“We’ve been working real hard all year,” said Mailes. “We posted some good scores today and I think winning a COC title this year will give us an extra boost of confidence as we head into district play.”
While no team trophies were awarded for the COC tournament Joplin High did receive a plaque for their league leading performance during the 2019 season, a season in which the Eagles went undefeated among COC teams.
COC tournament results
No. 1 Singles: 1. Joplin’s Garrett Lewis defeated 2. Joe Jafari of Branson 8-0; 3. Ozark’s Jacob Dralle defeated 4. Julian Henderson of Neosho 8-2.
No. 2 Singles: 1. Branson’s Trey Carlin defeated 2. Gavin Reese of Ozark 9-8 (7-5) 3. Joplin’s Nolan Hance defeated 4. Jarrod Zane of Republic 9-8 (7-4).
No. 1 Doubles: 1. Joplin’s Asa Borup and Kaden Seward defeated 2. Luke Mulder and Justin Battalglia of Ozark 8-6. 3. Carl Junction’s Colin King and Philipp Leithzeuser defeated 4. Garrett Robertson and Garrett Jarvis of Nixa 8-6.
No. 2 Doubles: 1. Joplin’s Bennett Satterlee and Nick Mailes defeated 2. Kile Thornhill and Jack Cook of Republic 8-0; 3. Ozark’s Logan Hylton and Roman Campa defeated Tanner Barnes and Jaylen Onnen of Nixa 6-4.
