This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Sports

WIAA State Tennis: Larsen Falls Short; Hwang Claims D2 Title

Whitefish Bay senior Jack Larsen's state run ends with a bout of cramps and Dan Niquet for the second straight year. University School's Andrew Hwang claims gold in Division 2.

It's hard to fault Jack Larsen for thinking 2011 was finally the year that he was going win the WIAA state tennis tournament.

After two straight trips to the semifinals, Larsen had lost just five games in his three-match march through Friday’s competition.  But Larsen’s run came to an end Saturday morning, falling for the second straight year to Milwaukee Marquette sophomore Damon Niquet at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

“I was feeling really confident and had the momentum on my side,” Larsen said.  “I was thinking today was my lucky day, but I guess not.”

Find out what's happening in Whitefish Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Last year Larsen was leading 6-4, 5-4 in his second set against Niquet, but was forced to injury default due to cramps. Playing a year later in even warmer conditions, Larsen got down early to Niquet, losing the first set 6-3. Things went from bad to worse for Larsen when Niquet took a 4-3 lead in the second set.

In danger of losing the fifth game, Larsen rallied to tie the set at four, then broke Niquet to take a 5-4 lead. The senior took the set in a tiebreak to force a decisive third. But cramps took over for a second time in the third set, allowing Niquet to coast 6-1.

Find out what's happening in Whitefish Baywith free, real-time updates from Patch.

“At one point in the third set I hit a drop shot on break point, and I could feel (the cramps) coming on,” Larsen said. “I took a medical timeout and drank some pickle juice which helped a little, but not enough.”

Larsen’s high school career effectively ended in that match as the University of Wisconsin recruit forfeited the third place match with Kenosha Tremper’s John Carswell.

“I hydrated and did everything I could to keep from cramping, but like last year it just ended up happening,” Larsen said.

Niquet would go on to claim his first state championship in three sets over defending champion Alex Jesse of Homestead, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2.

Brookfield Central’s doubles team of Andrew Denu and Kevin Schmidt fared better than Larsen on Saturday, taking out Nicolet junior David Winston and Jon Lopez in straight sets.

Denu and Schmidt got off to a fast start with a 6-2 win the first set, but needed a tiebreaker 7-6 (3) to oust Winston and Lopez in the second set.

However, the Centrals's pair run came to an end in the finals, falling 6-3, 6-2 to Connor Hildebrandt and Jake Humphreys of Kenosha Tremper.

Winston and Lopez took fourth place after dropping a 6-3, 6-3 decision to Marquette’s Jack Porritt and C. J. Ambrust.  Their Knights’ teammates, Richard Kim and Trevor Katzban, swept through Saturday’s play to claim fifth.

In Division 2, University School senior Andrew Hwang claimed the singles title, defeating teammate Sam Walker in the finals 6-3, 6-4.  But Hwang and Walker’s Wildcat teammates Ty Parks and Brent Mackman fell in the doubles finals to newly minted state champions Cameron Fiebig and Justin Kaiser, the top-seed team from Appleton Xavier.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?

More from Whitefish Bay