Columbus North’s Teddy Littrell serves in a semistate No. 3 singles in a match against Cathedral Oct. 12, 2024 at Center Grove.
The Republic file photo
Columbus North will be inexperienced, Columbus East will be young and Hauser will be road warriors this boys tennis season.
East and Hauser were scheduled to meet in a season opener Saturday at Hauser, but because the Jets’ courts are being replaced, both teams will travel to Greenwood. North opens its season Monday at Plainfield.
Here is a look at those and other area teams heading into the 2025 season:
Columbus North
The perennial powerhouse Bull Dogs lost four players from its state qualifying team that finished 20-2, including state singles champion Hank Lin, and will be starting a freshman at No. 1 singles. But coach Kendal Hammel isn’t ready to call it a rebuilding year.
“I don’t know if I want to use the word rebuilding, but it will be interesting as far as how things go, not only in positions of whose playing what, but also getting better in our spots,” Hammel said. “I don’t feel like we’re coming in completely rebuilding because we still have some good players who can hit the ball. But as far as experience in varsity matches, that’s where we’re going to be lacking.”
Freshman Alek Devidze steps in at No. 1 singles. Sophomore Max Wei and senior Chase Branham have the inside track on the No. 2 and No. 3 at singles spots.
Senior Teddy Littrell, who played No. 3 singles, and senior Vince Sasse, who played No. 2 doubles, are the only two varsity returners and likely will team together at No. 1 doubles. Sophomore Luca Devidze likely will be at No. 2 doubles with one of four players — seniors Harsil Gandhi or Jaishal Padmanabhan, junior Ricardo Prata or sophomore Niranjan Pillai.
North was hoping to have a couple other players, but senior Sashu Sabapathy, who played No. 2 doubles last year, now is at the Indiana Academy at Ball State; and Charlie Fisher, who played No. 1 singles for Waldron, transferred back to that school after playing with the Bull Dogs for a couple of days.
“We have the bases,” Hammel said. “We have the players that have been on the team, but just don’t have a lot of varsity experience. It will be interesting to see how we start at the beginning of the year and how we look at the end of the year.”
Columbus East
The Olympians have no seniors as they look to improve on a 3-18 record.
“We have a lot of guys who have put in a lot of work over the offseason,” East coach Adam Ulrich said. “A lot of them played at Tipton Lakes over the winter. We’ve had some growth maturity-wise with some of the boys, and they’ve looked really good this early in the season.”
Columbus East’s Trevor Ernst returns a shot in a sectional No. 1 doubles match against Hauser Oct. 2, 2024 at Columbus North.
The Republic file photo
Junior Trevor Ernst, who played No. 1 doubles last year, will begin the season at 1 singles. Freshmen Landon Redelman and Kai Bergmann will start at No. 2 and No. 3 singles.
Junior Micah Wettschurack, who played No. 3 singles and No. 1 doubles, likely will be at No. 1 doubles with junior Michael Reed, who played No. 2 and No. 3 singles last year. Sophomores Carson Hartsook and Cooper Harry return at No. 2 doubles.
Hadley McQueary and Leo Valladares also will push for varsity spots.
“We’re really excited about the growth these guys are going to be able to show over the next couple of years,” Ulrich said. “I think we’re going to surprise some people. A lot of it will depend on how the two freshman deal with playing against some older competition. Skill-wise, they’re there. They’ll be competitive.”
Hauser
The Jets will play all of their matches on the road this season while they await their new courts. They have been practicing at Donner Park.
“Our courts needed redone, and this was the time they could do it,” Hauser coach Andy Kilps said. “The major drawback to that is, we’re not going to have any home matches this year.”
The Jets, who went 11-8 last year, will have a big team with 18 players, led by seniors Kam Blair and RJ Foster at No. 1 doubles. Senior James Oliver, a transfer from Southwestern (Shelby), likely will begin the season at at No. 1 singles.
Hauser’s Joel Bechtel returns a shot in a sectional No. 1 doubles match against Columbus East Oct. 2, 2024 at Columbus North.
The Republic file photo
Junior Joel Bechtel moves from No. 1 doubles to No. 2 singles. Junior Brady Miller, sophomore Curtis Kilps and freshman Dane Richards are battling for the No. 3 singles spot.
Senior newcomers Jackson York and Adron Lawson and juniors Jacob Bell and Graydon Kilps are vying for the No. 2 doubles spots.
“The camaraderie is really great,” Andy Kilps said. “Our main goal is try to beat Waldron for the first time in a few years and win conference.”
Jennings County
Five of the seven varsity players return from a Panther team that went 7-15.
Senior Parker Bales is back at No. 1 singles. Senior Ty Zohrlaut moves from No. 2 singles to No. 1 doubles with sophomore Luke Napier, who returns at that spot.
Sophomore Asher Morin moves from No. 2 doubles to No. 2 singles. Senior Lucius Stidham returns at No. 2 doubles, where he will team with senior Nolan Sochacki or sophomore Luke Clapp.
Freshman Colten Short steps in at No. 3 singles.
“Our top four are solid,” Jennings coach Deron Brown said. “Parker definitely will be strong. If we keep Ty and Luke at 1 doubles, that will be a strong point.”
Brown County
The Eagles also will be young and inexperienced with no seniors on the team.
Jax Burt, the lone junior, could play No. 1 singles or No. 1 doubles. Sophomores returners Audric Dunn, Jack Keener, Jax Anderson and Logan Peck and sophomore newcomer Diesel McMillion figure to play key roles.
Freshman Bryan Teague, Nolan McFall, Nichlaus Arndt, Tyler Webb and Bennett Still also will push for varsity spots.
“This group is bringing a great deal of success from their middle school days, and coach (Kevin) Roush will rely heavily on that experience as this team begins to find its personality and gain valuable experience as the season progresses,” Roush said. “There is one thing for certain — that this group of 11 young men will be expected to uphold the ideals that have been the hallmark of Brown County Tennis — competitiveness, sportsmanship and integrity.”
Edinburgh
The Lancers will have one of their biggest teams ever with 16 players.
Senior Bailey Totten returns at No. 1 singles. Sophomore Raiden Stanley steps in at No. 2 singles. Junior Braden Cox, who played No. 3 singles, or sophomore Brinnyn Moss, who played No. 2 doubles, will be at No. 3 singles.
Moss, senior Jayson Music, freshman Charlie Roberts and sophomore newcomer Bryce Sipe are battling for the doubles spots for Edinburgh, which went 3-12 last season.
“I told the kids everything is starting over,” Edinburgh coach Pete Khensouri said. “It’s a process. It takes time. We had a lot of freshmen last year who are sophomores now. Some of them are coming on slowly. The good thing is that I have numbers to pick and choose a little bit now.”
Trinity Lutheran
The Cougars will try to build on a 9-8 season.
Senior Jack Stuckwisch returns at No. 1 singles. Senior Jonathan Niewedde could from No. 1 doubles to No. 2 singles, and freshman Daniel Niewedde may step in at No. 3 singles, although the Nieweddes also could team together at No. 1 doubles.
Junior Luke Schepman, who played No. 2 singles; sophomore Reid Roeder, who played No. 2 doubles; sophomore Ross Bevers, who played No. 3 singles; and freshman Zach Lister are battling for the doubles spots. Freshman Adam Alberring also could figure in to the lineup.
“If we load up heavy on singles, we could be competitive with a lot of people,” Trinity coach Brad Emerson said. “Our main goal is to win sectional. I think we can be pretty competitive.”
