Singles players lead Mustangs in opener

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Sports

March 24, 2010 - 12:00 AM

INDEPENDENCE — Iola High senior Kent Toland cruised through his competition in the No. 1 singles division. Senior Michael Middleton went 3-1 in No. 2 singles for the Mustangs.
Iola finished third in its first tennis competition of the 2010 season. Independence, the host, was first with 14 points followed by Chanute with nine points and Iola with seven.
“Everyone improved as the day progressed,” said Lyle Kern, IHS boys’ tennis coach. “Three of our players had never played in a tennis meet before so once the nervousness left they played much better.”
Toland defeated Michael Griffin, Pittsburg, 8-0 and beat Ben Bristley of Fort Scott 8-1. He handled Jian Abbuehl of Chanute, 8-0, and beat Nick Romans of Independence 8-3.
In No. 2 singles, Middleton outlasted Jake Cloninger, Pittsburg, 8-7, and Kholton Dwyer, Fort Scott, 8-6. Playing in his first singles competition in a while, Middleton de-feated Jefferson Holmes of Chanute 8-3. His only loss was an 8-0 decision to Gavin Webster of Independence.
Iola seniors Chase Vaughn and Alec Peterson teamed up for No. 1 doubles. They went 0-4 as did the Mustangs’ No. 2 doubles team of freshmen Garrett Catron and Andrew Lowell.
Vaughn and Peterson played  together  in competition for the first time Thursday. They dropped an 8-3 decision to Josh Reed and Clay Southern of Pittsburg and lost 8-1 to Dustin Willard and Kyle Altic of Fort Scott.
Peterson and Vaughn had back-to-back 8-0 losses to Chanute’s Matt Stutt and Ian Cheshier and Independence’s Wes Goodrich and Anthony Davis.
Catron and Lowell lost 8-0 to Ryan Hall and Jack Wimmer of Pittsburg, to Chanute’s Jacob Guiot and Mason Johnson and to Independence’s Austin Schroeder and Isaac Hilger. Fort Scott’s Bryce Daly and Kyle Kelly defeated the Iola pair 8-1.
“Both doubles teams got a lot better during the day,” Kern said.
Iola hosts Columbus, Parsons and Independence Thursday. Matches start at 3 p.m.

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