HOLLAN CHRISTIAN – On Thursday, October 11th, three D4 Muskegon area teams competed in the regional 23 tournament. In a field of 11 schools, only three could advance to the state tournament. For Whitehall, the hard work throughout the season paid off on Thursday.
LIST OF TEAMS
- Comstock Park
- Grand Rapids Catholic Central
- Grand Rapids Northpointe Christian
- Grand Rapids West Catholic
- Grandville Calvin Christian
- Grant
- Holland Christian
- Muskegon Western Michigan Christian
- North Muskegon
- Whitehall
- Wyoming Kelloggsville
With the city tournament and the regular season concluded, North Muskegon, Western Michigan Christian, and Whitehall competed for a chance to secure their spots in Midland.
As the regional tournament progressed throughout the day, the Vikings’ chances of advancing slowly diminished. With some of their top flights eliminated earlier than expected, the lower flights felt significant pressure heading into the semifinals and finals.
For Whitehall, Evan Schuitema, playing at number three singles, was seen by some as the key player for his team. With just four matches remaining for Whitehall, they trailed both North Muskegon and WMC, 9 points to 12.
In the three doubles semifinal match, Evan Thomas and Elijah Roberge, along with Schuitema, were the team’s last hope, trailing by 3 points.
Thomas and Roberge defeated Caleb Kooistra and Arend Clark of Grand Rapids Northpointe Christian in the semifinals with scores of 6-4, 6-4.
Photo Courtesy of Kristy Roberge
At this point, Whitehall was still not favored to clinch the third spot at regionals, with the first two already secured by Holland Christian in first place and West Catholic in second.
With both his semifinal match and potentially his final match ahead of him, Schuitema, along with the rest of the Whitehall squad and North Muskegon, anxiously awaited the outcome to see if they could secure their spots.
In the semifinals, Schuitema achieved a victory over Toby Minnema from Northpointe Christian, winning 7-5, 6-1.
After trailing by just one point, Schuitema delivered another crucial win for his team against Holland Christian’s number three singles player, Evan Disselkoen, winning 6-4, 6-2.
The Vikings held the tiebreaker over the Norse and the Crusaders and are headed to the state tournament on Monday, October 21st.
Photo Courtesy of Kristy Roberge
OTHER WINS:
1 Singles
- William Burger (Whitehall) defeated Caleb Velting (GR Northpointe Christian) 6-3, 6-3.
- William Liggett (WMC) defeated Thomas Tamae (GRCC) 6-3, 6-3.
- Luke Hall (North Muskegon) defeated Reid Dykstra (Grandville Calvin Christian) 6-3, 6-0.
2 Singles
- Brady Tate (Whitehall) defeated Evan McKnight (Grant) 6-0, 6-1.
- Derek VanderWall (WMC) defeated Jett Hogan (Grandville Calvin Christian) 6-4, 6-2.
- Kaden Bartolameolli (North Muskegon) defeated John Kaufman (GRCC) 6-3, 6-2.
3 Singles
- Luke VanderWall (WMC) defeated Ewan Robinson (Comstock Park) 6-1, 5-7, 6-4.
- Gavin Miller (North Muskegon) defeated Cody Liang (Wyoming Kellogsville) 6-1, 6-3.
- Evan Schuitema (Whitehall) defeated Kyle Carpenter (West Catholic) 6-1, 2-6, 7-5.
- Evan Schuitema (Whitehall) defeated Toby Minnema (GR Northpointe Christian) 7-5, 6-1.
- Evan Schuitema (Whitehall) defeated Evan Disselkoen (Holland Christian) 6-4, 6-2.
4 Singles
- Luke Toebe (North Muskegon) defeated Reid Staal (WMC) 6-3, 6-2.
1 Doubles
- Daniel Moorhead and Levi Dutton (WMC) defeated Ian Sampson and Patrick Cole (Whitehall) 6-4, 7-5.
- Logan Stack and Carter Mieler (North Muskegon) defeated Hayden Schwartz and Thomas Devos (Grant) 7-6, 6-4.
- Logan Stack and Carter Mieler (North Muskegon) defeated Adam Pullen and Dylan Walters (GR Northpointe Christian) 6-4, 6-3.
2 Doubles
- Myles Welch and Jonathan Hall (Whitehall) defeated Connor Sonke and Minh Lee (Wyoming Kellogsville) 6-0, 6-0.
- Nathan Clausing and Zach Weare (WMC) defeated JT Stammis and Levi Adema (Grandville Calvin Christian) 6-2, 6-1.
- Kylan Nielsen and Zach Rumley (North Muskegon) defeated Myles Welch and Jonathan Hall (Whitehall) 6-1, 6-3.
3 Doubles
- Sean McManus and Bobby Gaston (North Muskegon) defeated Nolan Walcott and Landon Hekkman (Grandville Calvin Christian) 6-3, 7-5.
- Josue Sandoval and Levi Leffring (WMC) defeated John Bryant and Brayden Foley (Comstock Park) 6-3, 6-3.
- Elijah Roberge and Evan Thomas (Whitehall) defeated Nick Moll and Teddy Zeimer (GRCC) 6-4, 7-5.
- Elijah Roberge and Evan Thomas (Whitehall) defeated Caleb Kooistra and Arend Clark (GR Northpointe Christian) 6-4, 6-4.
4 Doubles
- Remington Whelpley and Adam Sikkenga (Whitehall) defeated Dallas Klein and Diego Romero (Comstock Park) 6-0, 6-0.
- Cole Huizinga and Noah Vanwoerkum (WMC) defeated Emery Price and Chase Yeager (North Muskegon) 6-2, 6-3.
REGIONAL CHAMPIONS
- 1 Singles: Oliver Caldwell, GR West Catholic
- 2 Singles: Jack Holt, GR West Catholic
- 3 Singles: Evan Schuitema, Whitehall
- 4 Singles: Nico Grosso, Holland Christian
- 1 Doubles: Henry Langejans and Lucas VanWieren, Holland Christian
- 2 Doubles: Tyler Hemmeke and Gavin Swiftney, Holland Christian
- 3 Doubles: Graham Tanis and Michael Gorno, Holland Christian
- 4 Doubles: Levi King and Jack DeYoung, Holland Christian
