PITTSBURG — Iola High’s Mustangs did not lose a match in singles’ competition Thursday at Pittsburg High’s five-team invitational tennis tournament.
Seniors Kent Toland and Michael Middleton captured first-place medals in the No. 1 and No. 2 singles competition. They led the Mustangs to third place at the tournament.
Toland swept through the No. 1 singles division. He posted 8-0 wins over Blake MacKenson, Columbus, Joe Garrett, Labette County and Mike Giffin, Pittsburg. Toland beat Ben Bristley of Fort Scott 8-2.
Middleton controlled things in No. 2 singles. He defeated Yo Lee of Colubmus 8-1 then beat Conner Traxson, Labette County, 8-3. He netted an 8-4 decision over Kai Simmons-Mims of Fort Scott and beat Jacob Cloninger of Pittsburg 8-3.
“Kent seems to be back at 100 percent after his back injury. Michael is getting a lot smarter on the court,” said Lyle Kern, IHS tennis coach.
“Michael is making decisions on his own that are helping him beat his opponents.”
Iola seniors Chase Vaughn and Alec Peterson earned third-place medals in the No. 1 doubles division. The Iola duo went 2-2.
They beat Cody Spainhower and Braydon Peterson of Columbus 8-3. Vaughn and Peterson used a 7-3 tiebreaker set to win 8-7 over Ryan Robinson and Tyler Julich of Labette County.
They lost 8-3 to Colton Grillot and Charlie Sercer of Fort Scott and 8-2 to Clay Southern and Josh Reed of Pittsburg.
In the No. 2 doubles competition, Iola freshmen Garret Catron and Jordan Strickler went 0-4. They lost 8-4 to Nick Holman and Thomas Niegisch of Columbus, 8-6 to Jaiden Winter and Eric Swanwick of Labette County, 8-0 to Kyle Altic and Bryce Daly of Fort Scott and 8-1 to Ryan Hall and Jack Wimmel of Pittsburg.
The Mustangs go to Coffeyville Tuesday.
Mustang singles take first place
