April 30, 2024

NHS boys finish sixth at LHC tennis meet

By Jocelyn Sheets

Newton High junior Grant Hamand hits an overhead return shot during a home match earlier this season. The Cardinals competed in Tuesday’s Little Hawkeye Conference tennis meet at Norwalk. (Jocelyn Sheets)

NORWALK — Newton High senior Nick VerSteeg went 1-1 in his final Little Hawkeye Conference tennis action in Tuesday’s conference tournament. VerSteeg played No. 2 singles for the Cardinals at the LHC meet hosted by Norwalk.

VerSteeg dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision to Indianola’s Jeremiah Taylor in the first round. He claimed fifth place in No. 2 singles on a third-set tiebreaker over Oskaloosa’s Brad Klucas, 6-0, 4-6 (10-4).

Newton’s boys finished sixth in the tournament after taking fifth in the LHC dual regular-season action.

Senior Seamus Vandemore also had his final LHC action for the Cardinals. He and sophomore Collin Hemann teamed up as Newton’s No. 1 doubles team Tuesday.

Vandemore and Hemann lost their opening-round match, 6-2, 6-3, to Norwalk’s Andrew ClarkWilt and A.J. ClarkWilt. In the fifth-place match, the Cardinal duo lost a third-set tiebreaker as Oskaloosa’s Cade Snakenberg and Colton Stout won 3-6, 7-5 (10-4).

Sophomore Brady Eberline played as Newton’s No. 1 singles player at the conference tournament. He lost 6-2, 6-0 to Grinnell’s Nick Jacobsen then lost the fifth-place match to Nick Harrington. Harrington rallied to win 1-6, 7-6 (10-3).

Also taking sixth was Newton’s No. 2 doubles team of juniors Grant Hamand and Devon VanBrogen. They lost 6-0, 6-1 to Grinnell’s Alex Farmer and Kevin Werner to open the tournament then dropped a 6-4, 6-4 decision to Oskaloosa’s Nick Reiter and Sam Carmichael in the fifth-place match.

Newton competes in a Class 2A district meet starting at 8:30 a.m. Thursday at Des Moines Roosevelt.

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