After an up-and-down day of results and emotions, Manitowoc Lincoln’s Ayden Knuth and Cohen Newberg remain alive to medal at The WIAA Boys State Individual tennis tournament in Madison.
Newberg and Knuth, the third seed in the draw, began their day Friday, defeating Will Muraski and Colin McGee of Kenosha Indian Trail 6-2,6-2.
Their third-round match was a “whirlwind” as they won the first set against Justin Hutchcoft and Ty Tennison of Verona 6-0, dropped the second set 3-6, and then rallied to win the third set tiebreaker 12-10 to advance to the quarterfinals.
There, they ran into Aaditka Tiwari and Jacob Smith from Brookfield Central and lost 1-6, 2-6. This sends them into the consolation bracket Saturday morning with a 31 and 2 record, where their opponent will be Melvin and Edwin Wu of Homestead.
Ships Head Coach Bob Feller says it was a rollercoaster kind of day.
“Their goal was to play Saturday, and that’s where they are. We should have re-evaluated that goal once they discovered they were the three seed. Nonetheless, they still have a shot at the podium.”
Feller tells Seehafer Sports that their third-round match with Hutchcoft and Tennison of Verona left Ayden and Cohen “totally drained.”
“They came off the court, and their hands were shaking. It was that intense for them. They also needed nutrition in their body as they had to play again in a half-hour.” Feller adds—
“That was tough, but I must give credit to Brookfield Central. They came out ready and played near-flawless tennis to win.”
A scouting report on the Wu’s shows them to be very similar to the Verona duo of Hutchcoft and Tennison. The Ships Head Coach says Cohen and Ayden must be “mentally sharp” to prevail.
“They just have to play their tennis. They just have to believe what got them here. They’ll be in trouble if they start doubting and second-guessing that.”
“There’s no reason for them to be that way. They’ll be fine if they just play smart and stick to the game plan.”
A victory assures Ayden and Cohen of no worse than sixth place and a spot on the podium. A loss would eliminate them. The match begins at 8:30 a.m.
