PITTSBURG — The Iola High tennis team matched up in Pittsburg last Thursday.
Iola took fourth place as a team while Pittsburg, Fort Scott and Labette County placed in the top three as teams. Columbus rounded out the pack at fifth place.
Payton Kern and Trapper Boren played singles while Ethan Riebel teamed up with Brody Thompson and Zach Pfaff was with Luke Wicoff in doubles action. The Mustangs have been picking up their play each meet the deeper they get into the season.
Kern, a freshman, took the court in No. 1 singles play, winning one of four matches. The freshman first lost to Labette County’s Kendall Green, 8-6, before taking down Columbus. Kern then lost to Fort Scott’s Dakota Hunt, 8-2, and fell to Pittsburg’s Andy Goris, 8-1.
Boren secured third place in No. 2 singles action. He opened by beating Labette County, 8-0, and lost to Fort Scott’s Kory Johnson, 8-4. Boren then won his final match of the day against Pittsburg’s John Lee, 8-6.
Riebel and Thompson played No. 1 doubles and split their matchups, going 2-2. The duo began by beating Labette County’s Gabe Lunsford and Caleb McKee, 8-7. Then the pair of Mustangs defeated Columbus’ Cody Edinger and Jaiden Gamaway, 8-4.
The duo finished their afternoon by dropping a pair of matchups to Fort Scott’s David Jones and Jaxen DeMott, 8-4, and coming up short to Pittsburg’s Isaiah and Judah Powers, 8-1.
“These two are going to be an excellent doubles team,” said Iola head coach Chris Belknap. “They both are found at the courts working hard even after a long week of tennis.”
Pfaff and Wicoff matched up in No. 2 doubles play and defeated Labette County, 8-6. The duo dropped their final three matches of the day but showed flashes of good play. The pair took down Labette County’s Jack Kinzie and Caleb McKee in the first match, 8-6.
Pfaff and Wicoff then lost to Fort Scott’s Malachi Larsen and Mykael Lewis, 8-6, and fell to Pittsburg’s Trey Streeter and Marland Sawej, 8-1. In the final match, Pfaff and Wicoff lost to Pittsburg’s Trey Streeter and Marland Sawej, 8-0.
The Mustangs matched up in Pittsburg again on Tuesday afternoon. Results were not available at the time of publication.
