Iola High tennis coach Chris Belknap was only half joking Friday when he suggested Independence has earned a new nickname.
“We will be forever calling Indy “windy,” due to never having a lack of wind while playing tennis there,” he explained.
On Friday, the Mustang tennis team capped a busy end to the week with the Independence Invitational. That came one day after Iola was in Pittsburg for a full slate of matches.
Friday’s matches, buffeted by a blustery south wind, came four days after Iola opened the week in Independence, with equally strong winds blasting out of the north.
Friday’s highlights included Iola’s No. 1 doubles team of Ethan Riebel and Brody Thompson taking second place.
Riebel and Thompson defeated Labette County’s Layton Vail and Caleb Johnson, 8-3 and Independence’s Logan Holmes and Tyson Martinez. The Mustang duo fell to Independence’s Zach Scott and Josh Lawrie, 8-2.
In other action, Iola’s Payton Kern defeated Labette County’s Gabe Lunsfort, 8-3, before falling to Fort Scott’s Jaxen DeMott, 8-4 and Independence’s Alan Mah, 8-1.
Trapper Boren defeated Independence’s JD Woodburn and fell to Kaiden Clary of Fort Scott, 8-4, and to Independence’s Heston Smith, 8-0.
In No. 2 doubles action, Iola’s Konner Larney and Donovan Nee fell, 8-2, to Landon McDaniel and Raj Gugnani of Fort Scott, 8-2, and to Taven Littau and Logan Peschka of Independence, 8-1.
THE SAME pairings of Mustangs were at Pittsburg on Thursday.
Kern defeated Tristan Blanken of Pittsburg, 8-3, and fell to Chanute’s Blaine Smoot, 8-6. He also lost against Pittsburg’s Andy Goris, 8-2.
Trapper Boren opened with an 8-2 win over Pittsburg’s Andrew Cho, but fell to Pittsburg’s John Lee, 8-3, and Chanute’s Van Trester, 8-3.
Riebel and Thompson defeated Pittsburg’s Josh Ozbun and Kory Johnson, 8-6, but fell to Pittsburg’s Isaiah Powers and Dakota Hunt, 8-1. Chanute’s Luke Becknell and Anthony Wendt defeated Riebel and Thompson, 8-4.
In No. 2 doubles action, Iola’s Larney and Nee defeated Pittsburg’s Jonathan Winzer and Wesley Hays, 8-4, but fell to Pittsburg’s Joaquin Miranda and Trey Streeter, 8-2, and 8-4 to Chanute’s Logan Bilby and Harrison Vaughn.
