• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Ankeny Fanatic

Your Ankeny Sports Resource

  • Home
  • About
    • Support Us
  • News
    • Podcast
  • Hawks
    • Boys’ Soccer
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Girls’ Soccer
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Girls’ Tennis
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Baseball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Softball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
  • Jaguars
    • Boys’ Soccer
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Girls’ Soccer
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Girls’ Tennis
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Baseball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
    • Softball
      • Roster
      • Schedule
You are here: Home / Jaguars / Spring / Boys' Tennis / Centennial’s Blevins earns 4th-place finish in Class 2A singles tournament

Centennial’s Blevins earns 4th-place finish in Class 2A singles tournament

May 26, 2019 by Dan Holm

Ankeny Centennial’s Will Blevins, shown here during a match against Urbandale earlier this season, earned a fourth-place finish in the Class 2A singles tournament on Saturday in Cedar Rapids. (Photo by Dan Holm)

Ankeny Centennial’s Will Blevins finally ran out of gas on Saturday at the boys’ state tennis tournament in Cedar Rapids.

After playing two consecutive grueling three-set matches, Blevins dropped a 6-3, 7-5 decision to Luke VanDonslear of Linn-Mar (Marion) in the third-place match of the Class 2A singles tournament. By placing fourth, the sophomore finished one spot higher than he did a year ago.

“The last match my foot started to blister, and I had to wrap,” Blevins said. “I knew I couldn’t play longer points so I tried to finish the point early. And, it was tough knowing that I was one set away from the state championship.”

VanDonslear, a junior, and Blevins will be the top returning players from this year’s tournament. Rami Scheetz of Cedar Rapids Washington defeated fellow senior Justin Sehlin of Pleasant Valley, 6-2, 6-0, to win the title.

“Will had a fantastic tournament and should be very proud of how he competed,” said Centennial coach Tami Lewton. “He is such a pleasure to coach. He always listens and isn’t afraid to try new strategies. He solidified his position as one of the top kids in the state.”

On Friday, Blevins advanced to the semifinals with a three-set victory over third-seeded Sam Shin of Iowa City West. After dropping the first set, he rallied for a 5-7, 7-5, 6-2 victory.

“I think the key to winning against Sam was playing consistent and playing to his backhand,” Blevins said. “He was starting to cramp, and I knew I had more stamina than he did in that match.”

Lewton said the unseeded Blevins was determined to defeat a seeded player after being overlooked for one of the top four seeds.

“It was frustrating that he wasn’t seeded, but he took it upon himself to knock off a seed,” Lewton said. “After losing the first set to Sam, he believed in himself, adjusted his strategy and came back to win.”

That set up a showdown against the second-seeded Sehlin in the semifinals on Saturday morning. Sehlin, who lost to Shin in last year’s third-place match, dropped only one game in his two matches on Friday.

Blevins came out on fire, easily winning the first set. But Sehlin then regrouped and came from behind for a 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 triumph.

“Sehlin began to push and lob the ball and play long points,” Blevins said. “I don’t think the match from Friday did anything to affect my game, but him playing the lob game really affected my game.”

Lewton said it was a fantastic match, but added that fatigue started to set in for Blevins.

“It was very close, and unfortunately wore him out,” she said. “The other semi wasn’t as close so the match for third was tough. Luke was well-rested, and Will was spent. After getting down 3-6, 1-4, Will didn’t give up and fought to get back to 5-4 but just couldn’t get past the finish line.”

Sehlin was likely affected as well in the title match. He didn’t put up much resistance against Scheetz, the Connecticut recruit who became Washington’s first state champion since Johnny Watson in 1996.

Ankeny Centennial’s Will Blevins was a top-five finisher in the Class 2A singles tournament for the second straight year. After placing fifth a year ago as a freshman, Blevins took fourth on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of Tami Lewton)

The Centennial duo of Samson Densmore and Ryan Lofgren was also hoping to place in the Class 2A doubles tournament, but they were eliminated after going 1-2 on Friday. They dropped a 6-3, 6-4 decision to Bettendorf’s Josef Porubcin and Yash Singh in a second-round consolation match.

The Bettendorf team was seeded second, but was upset in the opening round. They then reeled off four straight wins to earn a fifth-place finish.

“We definitely feel we could’ve beat them,” Lofgren said. “It was a disappointing result, but knowing we can compete at that high of a level is great going into next season.”

Lewton said the two juniors just need to play some more matches together.

“They played (Bettendorf) very close, but just didn’t have enough experience to beat a team that has played together for two years and I believe has a record of 46-4,” Lewton said. “Ryan and Samson are a great team, and they just need to play a bit more together.”

Densmore and Lofgren opened the tournament with a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Valley’s Kyle Elmore and Grant Songer. They then lost to fourth-seeded Timmy Ellis and Nate Withers of Ames, 6-1, 6-1, in the quarterfinals.

“Ames was probably a bit more than we could handle, especially with Ellis being the defending state singles champ,” Lofgren said.

The Jaguars will be back in action on Tuesday in the Class 2A state team tournament at Ankeny. They will play top-seeded Iowa City West, last year’s runner-up, in the semifinals at 8:30 a.m.

Pleasant Valley and Waukee will collide in the other semifinal.

“I’m just looking forward to the opportunity of playing at that level because Iowa City West is a great team–more of a dynasty at this point,” Lofgren said.

Filed Under: Boys' Tennis, Jaguars Tagged With: Featured, Ryan Lofgren, Samson Densmore, Tami Lewton, Will Blevins

Primary Sidebar

Support Ankeny Fanatic

Recent Posts

  • ONE OF A KIND: Smith becomes city of Ankeny’s first-ever state tennis champion
  • ‘We just can’t take anything for granted’: Jaguars rout Roosevelt, advance to state
  • Smith tops Holland, will play Clinton’s Haan for Class 2A singles championship
  • ‘We just needed a little luck’: Hawkettes earn another trip to state on Macke’s goal
  • Wahlberg’s golden goal sends Hawks back to state tourney in dramatic fashion

Find Us on Facebook

Ankeny Fanatic

Archives

  • May 2025
  • April 2025
  • March 2025
  • February 2025
  • January 2025
  • December 2024
  • November 2024
  • October 2024
  • September 2024
  • August 2024
  • July 2024
  • June 2024
  • May 2024
  • April 2024
  • March 2024
  • February 2024
  • January 2024
  • December 2023
  • November 2023
  • October 2023
  • September 2023
  • August 2023
  • July 2023
  • June 2023
  • May 2023
  • April 2023
  • March 2023
  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017

Categories

  • Hawks
    • Fall
      • Boys’ Cross Country
      • Boys’ Golf
      • Football
      • Girls’ Cross Country
      • Girls’ Swimming
      • Volleyball
    • Spring
      • Boys’ Soccer
      • Boys’ Tennis
      • Boys’ Track
      • Girls’ Golf
      • Girls’ Soccer
      • Girls’ Tennis
      • Girls’ Track
    • Summer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
        • Roster
    • Winter
      • Boys’ Basketball
      • Boys’ Bowling
      • Boys’ Swimming
      • Girls’ Basketball
      • Girls’ Bowling
      • Boys’ Wrestling
  • Jaguars
    • Fall
      • Boys’ Cross Country
      • Boys’ Golf
      • Football
      • Girls’ Cross Country
      • Girls’ Swimming
      • Volleyball
    • Spring
      • Boys’ Soccer
      • Boys’ Tennis
      • Boys’ Track
      • Girls’ Golf
      • Girls’ Soccer
      • Girls’ Tennis
      • Girls’ Track
    • Summer
      • Baseball
      • Softball
    • Winter
      • Boys’ Basketball
      • Girls’ Basketball
      • Wrestling
  • Top Sports Stories
    • Football
    • Volleyball
  • Baseball
  • Softball

© 2025 Ankeny Fanatic. All rights reserved.