Black Hawks dominate finals round to win back-to-back D1 tennis … – Oakland Press
MIDLAND — Back to Black.
The top-ranked Bloomfield Hills Black Hawks placed competitors in the finals of six of the eight flights at the MHSAA Division 1 boys tennis championships at the Greater Midland Tennis Center on Saturday, and won all six, pulling away to repeat as state champs.
“Yeah, it’s great. I was in the same situation last year, but it’s bittersweet because it’s my last year and it’s just the best feeling in the world,” said Bloomfield Hills senior Aaron Rose, who was a runner-up at No. 3 singles a year ago, after winning a title at No. 4 singles in 2021, but this year teamed with Merrick Chernett to win at No. 1 doubles.
“And you know, before everything started, I just took a chance to realize how grateful and thankful I am to be able to play the sport. With so much fighting and hatred in the world right now, it’s just … it really spoke to me that it really struck me emotionally just realizing how thankful I am to be able to play this morning.”
It’s the second straight title for the Black Hawks, and the fifth since 2015. They went back-to-back in 2017 and 2018, and finished as runner-ups in 2016 and 2021.
OAA rival Troy came into the finals round just a point behind the Black Hawks, but finished in a second-place tie with Northville (27 points), nine points off the final lead. Rochester was led by the Anderson brothers — Clayton and Chad, both flight runner-ups — to its highest-ever finish (fourth, 15 points), while Birmingham Brother Rice was fifth (13), Novi sixth (12), and Troy Athens and Rochester Adams in a three-way tie for eighth (10), giving Oakland County seven teams in the top 10. Detroit Catholic Central was 13th (7) and Stoney Creek 14th (6).
The Black Hawks were led by their senior class that helped them sweep all four doubles flights — where six of eight Black Hawks competitors were seniors — making for a busy time for coach Greg Burks to keep track of six different finals matches, all at once.
“I’ve had them (the seniors) on the team for years and years. And it’s just, it was very cool to kind of see them all in a row,” said Burks, who credited assistants Nick Tolomei and Jorey Chernette for being able to spread the coaching attention around to all six courts.
“Their senior night, because we have a bunch of seniors on the team and then a few other upperclassmen that they have been with, and they all gel and just click so well that you know, it’s like you know, these are the times that you’re going to remember together. The senior class that we have, I haven’t had a senior class like that since probably mid 2000s. Yeah, it’s something very special to have. There’s here’s no cliqueyness, there’s they all gel well together and all best friends — guys that grew up together, I guess, and in the end, stay really good friends throughout.”
Two of those seniors, Rose and Merrick Chernett, beat Ann Arbor Huron’s Hassan Hejazi and Warren Gunnar, 6-3, 3-6, 6-0, to win the No. 1 doubles flight, while two other seniors, Ryan Rose and Michael Dillon, beat Troy’s Josh Samuelson and Eric Kim, 6-0, 6-2, to win the No. 2 doubles title.
“I think we all want to focus on our own matches, but we all love each other. We’re like a family. So, there’s this energy in the air where we all we all are with each other and we feel like we’re all on the same court even though we’re next to each other,” Rose said. “I wasn’t surprised that we had all four (doubles) flights. Yeah, you know, we all put in the work and we all deserve to be here. And when we were walking out with there’s just this energy in the air that we knew what we’re here to do, and we got the job done.”
Senior Ethan Endelman teamed up with junior Asher Langwell to beat Troy’s Jack Pawlowski and Jesse Hao, 7-6, 6-4, for the No. 4 doubles title.
Two-time individual champions, senior Kierth Lingam teamed up with junior Dominic Pascarella to beat Troy’s Anthony Wwu and Varun Shetty, 6-1, 6-2, for the title at No. 3 doubles.
“My sophomore year actually, you know, was my first-ever year playing states, due to 2020 being about COVID, and we actually lost in the very first round. And it was, you know, gut wrenching, heartbreaking, whatever you want to call it. You know, the next year, we’re able to come back, you won states against the same team that we lost to the year prior,” said Lingam, who won at No. 4 doubles with Pascarella a year ago. “And you know, to win it again, it just really puts the cherry on top and it’s great to have my name and my school and be able to represent my school is just an amazing thing for me.”
After winning an individual title at No. 3 singles as a freshman, Pierce Shaya teamed up with Merrick Chernett to win at No. 1 doubles last year, but returned to singles play this season and won the No. 2 singles title with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Rochester sophomore Chad Anderson.
Shaya’s younger brother, sophomore Connor, won the No. 3 singles title, beating Northville’s Josh Kim, 6-4, 6-0, in the finals.
All that experience paid off.
“A ton. A ton. I mean, as coaches, we’re all saying, there’s a few really tough matches and states and one of the toughest is your first-round match. And then semis, the finals, yeah, those are tough and you but you’re kind riding that momentum going into them. But it’s just it’s such a kind of a tough, tough thing to get through,” Burks said. “But you know, that experience that they have … Like I said, you’re gonna ride some ups and downs. Just how how do you ride them? And they did extremely well. And, I think last year, you know, doing it and then coming into this year, just like ‘Alright, well, we’ve been through this before, let’s just do it again.’”
Photo gallery from the Division 1 boys tennis state finals in Midland
Northville’s Amogh Mavatoor beat Troy’s Haresh Anand, 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, for the No. 4 singles title, while Mavatoor’s teammate, senior Sachiv Kumar, beat Rochester’s Clayton Anderson in the No. 1 singles finals for the third straight season, this time, 6-2, 6-4.
The only two flights where the Black Hawks didn’t have finalists — No. 1 and No. 4 singles — they had semifinalists, with sophomore Jonah Chernett losing 6-3, 6-3 to Clayton Anderson in the No. 1 singles semis, and freshman Zev Spiegel falling to Mavatoor, 6-2, 6-3, in the No. 4 singles semis.
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