PITTSBURG — A shorthanded Iola High tennis team acquitted itself quite well Thursday as the Mustangs ventured to the Pittsburg Invitational.
Iola was without its No. 1 singles team of Ethan Riebel and Brody Thompson due to illness.
The No. 2 doubles team of Konner Larney and Donovan Nee picked up the slack, winning two of their three matches, and narrowly missing out on a perfect day.
Larney and Nee opened the proceedings with an 8-3 win over Pittsburg’s Josh Ozbun and Kory Johnson and ended things with an 8-5 win over Labette County’s Caleb Jarman and Chris Hare. Alas, an 8-7 loss to Fort Scott’s Mykael Lewis and Malachi Larsen in a six-point tiebreaker marked their only blemish.
“They played well,” Iola head coach Chris Belknap said. “The weather was finally optimal for play.”
Iola’s Payton Kern went 1-2 on the day in No. 1 singles. He defeated Layton Vail of Labette County, 8-2, while falling, 8-2, to Isaiah Powers of Pittsburg and 8-4 to Fort Scott’s Jaxon DeMott.
Trapper Boren went 0-3 in No. 3 singles. He fell, 8-2 to John Lee of Pittsburg and 8-1 to Andy Goris of Labette County. Boren narrowly missed out on a victory against Fort Scott’s Jacob Berger, who won, 8-7, in a tiebreaker.
