North Polk eliminates short-handed Cardinals in substate semifinals

Garett Crandall was summoned to the varsity singles lineup a few times this spring. And only once did he know for sure he was playing before showing up at the courts.

The unknown didn’t seem to bother him on Saturday but his straight-set win at No. 6 singles was the lone victory for the Newton boys tennis team during its Class 1A Substate 5 matchup against North Polk.

The Comets jumped out to a 4-0 lead before eliminating the Cardinals, 5-1, at Aurora Heights Park.

“One of our team goals coming into the year was to make it past the first two rounds of team substate and have a chance to play for team state,” Newton head boys tennis coach Jared Gerber said. “It’s pretty disappointing not to make it, especially since we’ve crossed off so many other goals. To do that, you have to come ready to play and we just didn’t play our best tennis today.”

The Cardinals (4-8) also played without No. 1 singles player Ethan Valtman, who missed the meet due to an injury he sustained during the district tournament on Wednesday.

Valtman is expected to be ready for the state singles tournament later this month but missing Saturday’s meet forced the rest of the Cardinals to play up a level.

North Polk’s Easton Moon, who is ranked No. 1 in the state, dropped the first game of his match with Evan Marshall but won the match in straight sets.

Ezra Bartell and Damien Smith also lost in straight sets, while Kaden Marshall and Ethan Freese fell in third-set tiebreakers.

Crandall won his match at No. 6 singles 6-4, 6-3. Kaden Marshall and Freese both won their first sets but lost their tiebreakers 10-7 and 10-3, respectively.

“The win feels great, especially since I was pushed into the lineup because of an injury,” said Crandall, who is one of the team’s nine seniors. “To be able to do that at my last meet and win it was a great feeling.”

Crandall said he was playing singles for only the third time this season. He was about 80 percent sure he would be playing because of the Valtman injury.

“I try to be in the mindset just in case, but it can be difficult,” Crandall said. “With doubles you get some time to get ready. To get thrown in right away, you have to get your stuff together and be ready to go.”

While the Cardinals took a few huge steps forward this spring, their 2025 season also included a bunch of injuries and illness.

Evan Marshall missed the start of the season due to a wrist injury, Freese missed a meet with an injury and Bartell was out for about a week due to an illness.

“It’s my fifth-year coaching and I’ve never had a player miss a meet because of an injury before this year,” Gerber said. “And this year it’s just been a lot of that.

“Injuries played a huge part in our season, unfortunately. I think you can see how much better of a team we are when Evan was playing. And when you lose your No. 1, it makes it tough. Garett played really well and really smart. He played the wind really well today.”

North Polk (5-6) advanced to play 1A No. 5 Waverly-Shell Rock (10-2) in the substate final at 3:30 p.m. on Wednesday in Waverly.

The season is over for the Cardinals, but Valtman will play in the state singles tournament, which starts on May 28 in Waterloo.