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Jason Schmitt is the editor of MIPrepZone.com, the high school sports website for The Oakland Press. He has served as the sports editor for a number of newspapers, including the Daily Tribune in Royal Oak and the Macomb Daily in Mount Clemens. In his time in the industry, he has covered every high school sport and has served a a beat writer for boys and girls soccer, boys and girls tennis, hockey, wrestling, bowling and cross country.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Here are my 2012 boys tennis finals predictions

A year ago, I predicted the boys state finals. I'm back to try it again. Everyone likes predictions, right? So I'm gonna give it a shot, here, now.

CLICK HERE TO SEE MY STATE FINALS ADVANCE

Division 1
Novi 30, Birmingham Brother Rice 28, Ann Arbor Huron 27, Northville 18, Troy 17, Novi Detroit Catholic Central 14, Traverse City Central 13, Port Huron Northern 13, Rochester Adams 11, Ann Arbor Pioneer 10, Utica Eisenhower 9, Holland West-Ottawa 8, Troy Athens 6, Ann Arbor Skyline 6, Midland 5, Grosse Pointe South 3, Romeo 2, Grandville 2, Grand Blanc 1, Kalamazoo Central 1, Stoney Creek 1, Livonia Stevenson 0, Livonia Churchill 0

Thoughts: Novi beat everyone in Division 1 this year - save for a 4-4 tie with Brother Rice - and it really showed in the respect the Wildcats received in their seeds. Novi received four top seeds, and I see them taking home three state titles, and finishing runner-up in two more flights. Brother Rice has had its mini ups and downs the last month of the season, but if the Warriors' depth can really come through for the team, I see them sweeping 2-3-4 doubles. It's unfortunate that No. 1 Gunnar Peery has the worst draw in the entire tournament - a second-round matchup with Eisenhower's Ed Covalschi, who I think will win this tournament without dropping a set.
I could very easily see Huron and Rice swapping positions, but I don't see either of them catching Novi at the top. The only way this happens is if Huron's doubles catch fire and outplay their seeds at three or four flights. OR, if Rochester Adams' Justin Hyman brings his A-game and pulls off an upset of No. 3 seeded Tim Wang in the second round. Hyman is a star on the rise and could just do it.
My pleasant surprise is Catholic Central, which, if it rides the momentum it gained at the regional tournament, could finish in the top-six. Michael Trupiano played great at the regional, as did Gabe Apaza. And the Shamrocks' doubles teams have some decent draws, giving the team some opportunities to scores additional points.

Division 2
Midland Dow 38, Portage Central 26, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Northern 19, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Central 17, Detroit U-D Jesuit 16, Okemos 13, Birmingham Seaholm 12, Battle Creek Lakeview 12, Bloomfield Hills Andover 11, Birmingham Groves 8, North Farmington 6, Berkley 6, Bloomfield Hills Lahser 5, Grosse Pointe North 5, Kalamazoo Loy-Norrix 4, Holly 2, Ortonville-Brandon 2, Gibralter Carlson 0, Wyandotte Roosevelt 0, Southgate Anderson 0, Dearborn Divine Child 0, Dexter 0.

Thoughts: This was a no brainer as far as who will win it. And it was tough for me to pick against Midland Dow at any of the seven flights it is seeded No. 1 at. So I didn't. The Chargers will roll to their fourth-straight Division 2 title. Locally, eight of the 18 teams at Holly/Fenton this weekend are from Oakland County.
Though I don't see any of them contending for a title, I do see six finishing among the top 13. I like Seaholm's No. 2 doubles team of Zach Tayler and Griffen Neal reaching the finals at their flight.
It was also nice to see Berkley get a few breaks in the draw. The Bears have three flights (2-singles, 1-doubles and 4-doubles) where I like their second-round matchups. Win all three and the team might just finish Top-11.

Division 3
Birmingham Detroit Country Day 39, St. Joseph 31, Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook Kingswood 26, East Grand Rapids 20, Grand Rapids Christian 16, Petoskey 15, Grand Rapids Forest Hills Eastern 14, Holland Christian 10, Haslett 9, Richmond 8, Sturgis 7, DeWitt 6, Spring Lake 4, Cadillac 4, Hamilton 4, St. Clair 4, Otsego 3, Parma Western 2, Plainwell 2, Grosse Ile 1, Chelsea 1, Trenton 1, Charlotte 1, Riverview 0

Thoughts: I know, I know, Country Day's Max Shanbrom beat Cranbrook's Nithin Davuluri in the regional final to earn the No. 1 seed at 4-singles. But if the two do make it to the championship match, it'll be their third meeting, the tiebreaker.Though I'd like to see Country Day sweep the finals, I think Davuluri might prove to be the spoiler. Other than that, it's smooth sailing for the Yellowjackets. Too talented top (Max Fliegner and Sven Kranz) to bottom (Matt Stebbins-D.J. Bailey).
And St. Joseph, in any other year, might have a team worthy of winning a state championship. But this year it'll have to settle for second. The seeds and draws favor Cranbrook to sneak past East Grand Rapids. But the Cranes will have to play up to those seeds. I anticipate Cranbrook reaching the finals in all eight flights, with Davuluri's run at No. 4 capping things off.

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