March 28, 2024

Newton boys pull out a win

Grant Hamand and Nick VerSteeg had different outcomes to their singles matches for Newton High’s Cardinals in Monday’s home tennis dual. The two combined to give the Cardinal boys their first dual win this season.

“Coming out of singles we knew we had to pick up two doubles matches for us to win the meet and everyone put up a fight,” Newton head coach John Bieber said. “It came down to Nick and Grant in the last match of the night to clinch it in a third-set tiebreak. They handled the pressure very well and I’m proud of how they stayed focused on every point.”

Newton was up 4-2 heading into the doubles matches against visiting Des Moines East in a rescheduled non-conference meet. At No. 3 doubles, Hamand and VerSteeg won the first set against East’s Jordan Jack and Pham Thai, but the Scarlets’ duo evened the match up with winning the second set.

Hamand and VerSteeg pulled out a match victory and gave the Cardinals the dual win. They beat Jack and Thai, 6-4, 6-7 (10-7). Brady Eberline and Collin Hemann notched a 6-2, 6-0 win over East’s Logan Robinson and Ryan Tron at No. 2 doubles.

“I’m very proud of the way my players responded to the challenge tonight,” Bieber said.

Hamand had his own third-set tiebreaker win at No. 5 singles for the Cardinals. He beat Alex Liu, 2-6, 6-4, (10-5). VerSteeg lost 6-1, 6-3 at No. 6 singles to Robinson.

Eberline netted a 7-5, 6-4 win over Jerry Jones at No. 3 singles and Hemann recorded a 6-0, 7-5 win against Victor Burns at No. 4 singles. Newton’s Reid Miller had a third-set tiebreaker victory at No. 2 singles, rallying to win 3-6, 6-3 (10-8) over Tron.

Des Moines East’s Wesley Weichman got past Newton’s Seamus Vandemore, 7-6, 6-1 in the No. 1 singles match. Weichman and Jones combined to beat Vandemore and Miller, 6-4, 6-0, at No. 1 doubles.

The Scarlets claimed a 6-5, 6-4 win at No. 4 doubles with Liu and Joey Rangle against Newton’s Devon Van Brogen and Grant Freese. At No. 5 doubles, East’s Burns and Caleb Thompson beat Newton’s Rhandyn Oldfield and Alex Miller, 6-0, 6-2.

Newton (1-2) goes on the road for the first time Tuesday. The Cardinal boys play at 4:15 p.m. against host Grinnell in Little Hawkeye Conference dual action.

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