Wauwatosa tennis to be represented in singles, doubles at state

West's Price, East's Lockhart/Crump off to Madison

Wauwatosa West’s Nick Price qualified for state tennis this week in singles. He will play Neel Raut of Oshkosh West (22-5) at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, June 2.

Wauwatosa West’s Nick Price qualified for state tennis this week in singles. He will play Neel Raut of Oshkosh West (22-5) at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, June 2. Photo By Peter Zuzga

June 1, 2016

There will be one singles player wearing green and one doubles team playing red when the 2016 WIAA Boys Tennis State Individual Championships begins, Thursday to Saturday, June 2-4, at the Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

Nick Price, Wauwatosa West's top singles player, finished second at the Wauwatosa West sectional on May 25 and qualified for state.

In addition, Wauwatosa East's doubles team of Michael Lockhart and Jordan Crump earned a trip to Madison as special qualifiers.

"Nick had a very good sectional," West coach Kosta Zervas said of Price, who has a 19-6 record. "I thought he played smart, strong tennis. As always, it's tough being the No. 1 seed going into sectional play. You're playing against a player who has nothing to lose. They come in relaxed. All the pressure was on Nick during his first match.

"I thought he handled it well and played a nice match against Brookfield Central. Punching his ticket for the state tournament is a great achievement, and he should be proud of his play. He played a strong match against Menomonee Falls in his second match. He's had a lot of success against him (previous seasons), and I think that played a lot into how the match was played. I was happy with how he played that day."

The 14th seed, sophomore Neel Raut of Oshkosh West (22-5), plays Price at 11:45 a.m. Thursday, June 2.

Lockhart/Crump played a good Menomonee Falls team and lost in the first round in sectionals.

"We were in all the games against Menomonee Falls, but they did a better job of closing out games," Tosa East coach Glen Slonac said. "I had a good feeling they would get in as a special qualifier due to their good wins they had throughout the season. They have a match in the first round against a good Menomonie team and feel if they play smart, they have a good chance of winning."

Senior special qualifiers of Menomonie Kolten Nelsen/PJ Bundy-Wurtz will battle the Tosa East duo at 2 p.m. Thursday, June 2.

Sectional

Tosa East's Junior Josh Erdtman lost his Flight 1 match to the top player in the state, David Horneffer from Brookfield East.

"I was really pleased to see Josh qualify for sectionals and play well in his match to qualify to sectionals," Slonac said.

In Flight 2, senior Evan Christopherson took third place, beating Menomonee Falls (7-6, 1-6, 6-0).

"This match exemplifies the type of player Evan has been all year," Slonac said. "He doesn't gives up and continues to give his best effort until the last point. The player he beat qualified to the state tournament as a special qualifier."

In Flight 4, junior Alex Hayek took third place, beating a New Berlin Eisenhower player he lost to earlier this year. He won in straight sets (6-3, 6-1).

"Alex has been playing much better within the last week and playing much smarter," Slonac said, "and doing a better job of setting up points instead of trying finish points off too fast.

"I was very pleased with my overall team's performance at sectionals."

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