For the Antigo Times

In a rain-shortened match, Antigo boys tennis met Appleton Xavier half way, playing at Clintonville. This was the first time the two teams met in a dual meet. This non-conference meet was especially important as Xavier is in the same subsectional with the Great Northern Conference teams and it affects the seeding of the players.

Though only three matches were completed before the rain came, there was sufficient play to determine who would have probably won. Unfortunately, Antigo came up short, losing 2-5. But in the one match that mattered most, Antigo came out the victors.

Antigo’s undefeated top duo of Drew Schwarz and Ben Bartletti needed a win against a talented Xavier team to secure the top seed at subsectional and give them the inside to the state tournament. Xavier’s Horak and Barth were a challenge, as they played smart doubles tennis with aggressive net and continual pressure. But Antigo was simply too much. Bartletti and Schwarz played perhaps their best match of the year, getting the lead at the very beginning and never looking back.

The rain started to fall on match point, but that didn’t stop Antigo from grabbing the last point to seal the win.

Andy Turunen did an excellent job winning at No. 2 singles, playing an opponent who had strong ground strokes. But Turunen’s hustle proved superior to Patrick Barhouse’s power.

At No. 3 doubles, Brody Bunnell and Jake Waters had gained momentum, leading in the second set, but the rain came in
preventing their comeback.