WIAA State Tennis: Larsen Returns to Semifinals

Not even 90-degree heat could slow down Whitefish Bay senior Jack Larsen.

Facing three singles matches on a marathon Friday, Larsen hardly broke a sweat, losing just five games on his way to a berth in the semifinals at the WIAA Division 1 state individual tennis tournament at Nielsen Tennis Stadium in Madison.

“(Jack’s) playing at a very high level right now,” Blue Dukes coach Phil Kelbe said.  “He’s keeping his emotions pretty close to the vest, but he plays his best tennis indoors.”

Larson started things off with his toughest match of the day, taking a 6-1, 6-2, decision over Homestead freshman Will Kammerait.  In his afternoon match Larsen took his game to another level, sweeping Green Bay Southwest freshman Nick Allen 6-0, 6-0.

“We didn’t expect it to be a zero and zero match because we scouted Allen in the morning and we thought he was pretty good,” Kelbe said.  “But when Jack is on he can be pretty overpowering.”

Well rested for his night contest, Larsen made short work of Brookfield East sophomore Tim Corwin 6-1, 6-1, to complete a near perfect day.

“Jack’s just a tough competitor and he’s playing really well,” Spartans coach Linda Lied said.  “(Larsen)’s going to Wisconsin next year and he’s got nothing to lose.”

Larsen will continue his march toward his first state title Saturday morning when the Blue Duke faces second-seeded Damon Niquet of Milwaukee Marquette.  The showdown will be a rematch of last year’s semifinals when Niquet advanced after Larsen injury defaulted.

Despite fighting through brutal cramps, Larsen was ahead in the match 6-4, 5-4 when officials pulled the plug and awarded Niquet the victory.

“Jack was playing really well last year until he cramped up,” Kelbe said.  “It was more of a conditioning thing, but his cramps came up out of nowhere.  We’re keeping our fingers crossed that it won’t happen again.”

Larsen’s teammate, junior Ben Foran, started his Friday run in fine fashion, disposing of Stevens Point freshman Bradley Luetschwager 6-1, 6-0. However, Foran’s first ever state tournament appearance came to close in round three against Kenosha Tremper sophomore John Carswell, 6-2, 6-1.

“It was brutally hot out there, but I tried not to feel sorry for myself,” Foran said.  “I just tried to play my heart out today and stay in rallies as long as I could.”

The other Blue Duke in the field, freshman Wentong Zhang, saw his trip to Madison cut short in round two.  In his first match of the state tournament, Niquet showed no signs of rust with a 6-0, 6-2 decision.

Whitefish Bay’s lone doubles team in the field, Pat Harrington and Andy Krulger, dropped a 4-6, 6-3, (8) decision to Sam Naden and Andrew Frank of Middleton in Thursday’s opening round.