Last Friday and Saturday the boys varsity tennis state tournament took place. It was held in Kalamazoo at Western Michigan University and the finals were at Kalamazoo College. FHC got 4th overall out of 26 teams, but senior Connor Genschaw won the state championship at 1 singles. He battled hard against Groves. Connor was happy to win against someone who he had lost to earlier in the season.

“I absolutely love losing then winning,” said Connor. “Because now I came out of the season with a win, I could have a had a perfect season but ending the season of my high school career with a win felt amazing to someone I lost to earlier in the year”

The score of Connor’s last high school match was 6-0, 4-6, 6-1. He hopes on attending Emory University in Atlanta Georgia playing tennis.

Seniors Jack Ziegler and Payton Herbert lost in the finals. They won again Portage Central 7-5 6-4, U of D Jesuit 6-3 6-2, Midland Dow 6-0 7-6, but Lost to Okamas 6-4 0-6 4-6. The boys said it was bittersweet leaving the court with the loss, but Jack keeps a positive attitude.

“Sad we couldn’t have won as a team, sad we couldn’t have won individually.” said Jack.”We all went out there and left it all on the court and you know we couldn’t have done anything differently.”

Seniors Aidan Rynbrandt and Jacob Wiltjer play 1 doubles and lost in the semi finals. On Friday they played and won both matches, advancing them to the semifinals on Saturday. The boys won their first set 6-3, but lost the second and third sets 6-7, 6-0.

“The match was frustrating, that’s the word I would use. We had it in our grasp. We had two opportunities to put away,” Aidan said. “They’re a good team and fought back. They had all the momentum and ran away with it. We couldn’t really get back on our feet after that.”

Aidan and Jacob fought through a tough match together and had a great season.

“Aidan and I were dreaming about playing with each other since junior year and we got our opportunity this year,” said Jacob. “I would not want to play with anyone else to end my season.”

Overall the boys varsity tennis team had a great season. Although they may not have won, they placed very well.