Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

CEDAR RAPIDS – Before play began on the final day of the Class 2A state tennis tournament on Saturday West High junior Sam Shin hadn’t even considered ending his day in the consolation bracket.

Following an epic three-set, four-hour loss to Ames junior Tim Ellis in the semifinals Shin was even less interested in playing a third-place match.

By the time Shin walked off the court at Veterans Memorial Tennis Center in Cedar Rapids more than seven hours after his first match began a third-place finish didn’t seem so bad to Shin.

Shin bounced back from his grueling semifinal loss to Ellis to with a 6-4, 6-2 win over third-seeded Pleasant Valley junior Justin Sehlin.

“After the semifinals I really did not want to be here, I was thinking to myself ‘should I default?’ Shin said. “I knew that wasn’t what I should do and I just had to get ready to play because third place isn’t too bad.”

The win over Sehlin capped an impressive weekend for Shin who placed third in his first ever appearance at the individual state tournament.

Shin (19-3) lost only two sets all tournament, the final two against Ellis in what turned out to be the match of the tournament.

“I don’t think he could have played better,” West High coach Mitch Gross said. “He played really, really lights out tennis the first and second set against Ellis. Athletics there are missed opportunities, a point here or a point there and if you add those up the outcome could have been different.”

The matchup between Shin and top-seeded Ellis was back and forth from the beginning.

Shin won an opening set tiebreaker 7-5 and had three match points in the second set but the Ames junior fought off each one, eventually evening the match with an 8-6 win in a tiebreaker.

Ellis won the third set 6-2 to advance to the state title match for the first time in his career where he cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 win over second-seeded Rami Hemaiden of Cedar Rapids Kennedy.

“It was a really well-played match and it’s one of those matches you hate for someone to lose,” Gross said. “Having said that I think Ellis earned that victory the way he came out in the second and third set. He never withered at all and there were many, many opportunities that he could have and I hope that not just Sam but I hope our entire team learns from that because that was a really impressive showing in my opinion.”

The four-hour semifinal match in 90 degree heat made returning for a consolation match a physical chore for Shin.

Though the biggest hurdle in finishing off the weekend with a win was mental.

“These are matches of character not matches of ability,” Gross said. “Nobody wants to play the third-place match in any sport and someone has to do it and usually the person that win demonstrates really deep character and that’s what we are trying to develop here.”

Shin was in control from the beginning against Sehlin while closing the weekend with a win and a third-place medal.

“Obviously I would have liked to have made it to the finals but I think I played well today,” Shin said. “Overall I’m happy with how I played.”

West High junior Sasha Chackalackal finished seventh in the 2A singles bracket while the West High doubles team of Brad DiLeo and Eli Young also finished seventh with a 6-0, 6-1 win over the Ankeny Centennial team of Sam Marold and Ryan Lofgren.

The Cedar Rapids Washington duo of juniors Rami Scheetz and Ty Sherman won the doubles crown with a  6-1, 6-1 win over the Linn-Mar tandem of Ben Hediger and Luke VanDonslear.