CHANUTE — Iola High’s Mustangs competed in the Chanute High tennis tournament Friday. They finished seventh in three divisions.
Brad Bazo and Stephen McDonald each went 1-2 in the singles divisions. Zeph Larney and Jordan Strickler also were 1-2 in the No. 1 doubles division. Iola didn’t have a No. 2 doubles team.
Bazo, Iola’s No. 1 singles player, lost 8-2 to Ian Cheshier of Chanute, then dropped an 8-3 decision to Austin Sather of Fort Scott. Bazo finished the day with an 8-2 victory over Kyle Thompson of Neodesha.
Playing in the No. 2 singles division, McDonald was beaten 8-3 by Keaton Kaufman of Neodesha. He lost 8-4 to Labette County’s Aidan Carter, then bounced back to net an 8-6 win over Ross Westervelt of Columbus.
“Stephen played singles for the first time. I didn’t get to see his first two matches since he was in a different location but did see his third. His serve and backhand keep improving,” said Lyle Kern, Iola tennis coach.
“Brad is getting a lot better at placing the ball where he wants, which is improving his game considerably.”
Larney and Strickler dropped back-to-back 8-1 decisions to Fort Scott’s Kyle Altic and Bryce Daly and Chanute’s Tyler Dillow and Jefferson Holmes. The Iola duo came back to rack up their own 8-1 win over Chase Barrett and Logan Troxell of El Dorado.
“Jordan and Zeph can play some excellent doubles tennis when they both are playing well at the same time,” Kern said.
The Mustangs are preparing for their final Southeast Kansas League tournament, Thursday at Pittsburg.
