A cold front that blasted its way into Allen County Thursday also made for some treacherous conditions on the tennis court for the Iola Invitational.
Iola hosted Independence and Neodesha for matches postponed already once from mid-March because of the weather.
And while the players didn’t have to contend with any rain Thursday, temps in the low 50s and wind gusts up to 30 mph out of the north made every serve and volley an adventure.
Iola sophomore Payton Kern went 1-1 in No. 1 singles play. He opened with an 8-1 loss to Kevin Mah of Independence before rebounding to defeat Neodesha’s J’Vonte White, 8-1.
In No. 1 doubles action, Iola’s Ethan Riebel, a junior, and Brody Thompson, sophomore, didn’t let the disappointment of a tough 8-5 loss to Tyson Martinez and Logan Holmes linger. Instead, they returned to the court and vanquished Lauklon Roebuck and Alex Marroquin of Neodesha, 8-0.
Iola sophomore Trapper Boren also played a tough first match before bowing out to Josh Watts of Independence, 8-5. Boren dropped his second match to Kenny Kelly of Neodesha, 8-0.
Iola’s Konner Larney and Donovan Nee, both juniors, fell in a tough opener, 8-5, to Logan Peschka and JD Woodburn of Independence. Because Neodesha does not have a second doubles team, Larney and Nee took to the court to face the Indy No. 1 duo, Martinez and Holmes. The Iola duo dropped an 8-3 decision in that match, which did not count toward the team standings.
The Mustangs were back in action Friday, with considerably better weather conditions, although results were unavailable by press time.
The Mustang junior varsity tennis players will travel to Independence April 29 to wrap up the regular season.
Iola will be in Chanute May 2 for the Class 4A Regional, with a bid for the state tennis tournament May 10-11 in Topeka.
