Ankeny Centennial’s Will Blevins has qualified for the boys’ state tennis tournament for the third time in his high school career.
He’ll be joined by teammates Caleb Peterson and Nic Mackaman.
Blevins placed second in singles in a Class 2A district tournament on Wednesday at Ames, while Peterson and Mackaman teamed up to win the doubles title. The Jaguars also captured the team crown, allowing them to advance to the substate team tournament.
“It was a long, but great day!” said Centennial coach Tami Lewton. “We were put into the most difficult district in the state, but we prevailed. I am so very proud of our entire team.”
Blevins advanced to the final before losing to Daniel Lu of Dowling Catholic, 6-4, 6-1. It was his second loss to Lu in the last week.
“The matches were very similar,” Blevins said on the Ankeny Fanatic weekly podcast. “We had a lot of deuce games. There were a lot of long games that I couldn’t finish.”
Lu, a junior, placed fifth in Class 2A at the 2019 state tournament as a freshman. Blevins took fourth at that meet after finishing fifth in 2018.
“I think he’s just been more consistent,” Blevins said. “I’m trying too hard to end the point when I should be waiting a little longer.”
By placing second, Blevins won’t be able to earn a seed at the state tournament. But he’s used to being an unseeded player.
“The past two times I’ve been unseeded,” he said. “But Lu will be on the opposite side of the bracket, so I won’t have to play him until the final if I get that far.”
Peterson and Mackaman cruised to the doubles crown. The duo defeated one Ames team in the semifinals, then rolled past another Ames squad in the final.
“Nic and Caleb dominated in doubles, dropping only five games (on the day),” Lewton said. “We are excited to have these guys represent us at state and to move forward as a team to substate.”
Wesley Clark placed fourth in singles for the Jaguars. The doubles team of Logan Keenan and Kiran Bhat lost to a Sioux City North squad in the opening round.
“Wesley competed against the top singles players from other schools, and Kiran and Logan played in their first district meet,” Lewton said. “I was proud of them and of all the players that came out to support their teammates.”
The win by Peterson and Mackaman in the final allowed Centennial to edge Ames and Dowling for the team title on a gorgeous day.
“The conditions were almost perfect. There was no wind, and the temperature was really nice,” Blevins said. “I knew going in it was going to be close between us, Dowling and Ames. Since (our doubles team) won it, that gave our team enough points to win the district.”
