Cardinal boys’ tennis team comes up short against North

Newton High’s Cardinal boys were locked in a 3-3 tie with visiting Des Moines North Polar Bears after the singles matches in Monday’s tennis dual at Aurora Heights Park.

The teams battled on the courts in the doubles matches as four of the five went to third-set tiebreakers.

The Polar Bears pulled out three victories on third-set tiebreakers to win the dual 6-5.

“Des Moines North came up with some good plays when it counted,” Newton coach John Bieber said.

Newton’s Jonah Keeton claimed the No. 2 singles match, 6-3, 7-5 over Thomas Gomez. In the No. 5 singles match, Nick Geerlings netted a 6-4, 6-1 win over North’s Alejandro Contreras. Newton’s Jacob Bennett tallied a 6-2, 6-2 win over North’s Ryan Thammathay at No. 6 singles.

North’s Caleb Ostermann got past Newton’s Seamus Vandermore, 7-5, 6-3, in the No. 1 singles match. Cesar Marfal defeated Newton’s Michael McKinney 6-3, 6-2 at No. 3 and North’s Akai Thiphavong beat Newton’s Reid Miller 6-3, 7-5 at No. 4 singles.

Newton’s Vandermore and Miller combined to claim a 5-7, 6-4, 10-5 victory over Ostermann and Thammathay at No. 1 doubles. The other doubles win for Newton came at No. 5 as Collin Hemann and Brady Eberline won 6-1, 6-1.

Keeton and McKinney rallied at No. 2 doubles after losing the first set but lost in a third-set tiebreaker — 3-6, 7-5, 10-8 — to Gomez and Contreras. Thiphavong and Marfal beat Newton’s Geerlings and Bennett 3-6, 6-1, 10-6 at No. 3 doubles.

North’s No. 4 doubles team got past Newton’s Nick VerSteeg and Bryan McMahon, 6-1, 3-6, 10-7. No full names were available for North’s No. 4 doubles and No. 5 doubles teams.

Newton plays in a 4:15 p.m. Little Hawkeye Conference dual Tuesday at Norwalk.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com