TOPEKA — An ankle injury nearly derailed the state tennis dreams for Iola High’s Ethan Riebel and Brody Thompson before they started Friday.
Riebel tweaked his ankle in practice on Thursday, Mustang head coach Chris Belknap said.
Riebel “gutted it out,” Belknap said, as the Mustang doubles team dropped both of their state matches.
Riebel and Thompson fell to Jackson Palmer and Matthew North of Winfield, 6-1, 6-0, in the opening round.
That put the Mustang pair up against Charles Krug and Owen Neighbors of McPherson, who cruised to an 8-0 victory.
Belknap counted the experience as a beneficial one for Riebel and Thompson, simply because it exposed the teammates to the atmosphere surrounding a tournament featuring the best high-schoolers in Kansas.
“The guys played well and got to experience State,” he said. “We will be back next year.”
