Ryan Murken

Your Prep Sports

MARION – The Class 2A state title match between Linn-Mar and West High last May wasn’t decided until the Lions won a three-set thriller at number one doubles.

West High took the drama out of the rematch between the two perennial powers early on Monday.

Class 2A top-ranked West High swept the singles matches in straight sets and rolled to a 9-0 win over defending champion Linn-Mar in a Mississippi Valley Conference Valley Division match in Marion.

“It meant a lot to us,” said West High senior Sasha Chackalackal who was on the losing end of the state-clinching Linn-Mar doubles win last season. “It was a great final last year, it was some great tennis but to come back today I think we were all kind of looking forward to this meet. It was a great experience.”

The two premier programs in the state over the past half a decade West High and Linn-Mar have accounted for the last five 2A titles while meeting in the title match four times during that span.

Both meetings between the two powers last season, a West High win in the regular season and a Linn-Mar victory in the state title match were decided in doubles and ended 5-4.

West High had already secured its 50th consecutive regular season win by the time doubles play began on Monday.

“No one likes to lose state championships, it’s fun to win but you don’t learn a lot about yourself when you win and when you lose you learn a lot about yourself,” West High coach Mitch Gross said. “I try to be the consummate teacher and we had some things that we had to work on. We’ve spent a lot of time this year and in the offseason working on things we needed to work on and I think early this season it has shown.”

West High improved to 5-0 on the season and 5-0 in MVC play with the win while Linn-Mar dropped to 6-2 with its second consecutive loss.

You have to go all the way back to May 17 of 2015 to find the last regular season loss for West High, a 5-4 setback to Linn-Mar.

The 5-4 state title loss to the Lions last year was the only other loss for West High during that stretch that featured 2A titles in 2016 and 2017.  

“I think it’s the culture that we have built as a program,” Gross said. “We’ve been in eight straight state finals and we have good players but those guys graduate. It’s just a testament to all the great players that have come through here.”

Senior Sam Shin completed the singles sweep for West High when he finished off a 6-4, 6-2 win over junior Luke VanDonslear at number one singles.

Jack Wenzel won a second-set tiebreaker to complete a two-set win over Jackson Eells at number two singles and Chackalackal won a tiebreak in the opening set en route to a 7-6, 6-1 win over Kartik Tharwani at number three singles.

“We were looking forward to it but we had to look at it as another match,” Wenzel said. “If you really look forward to a match it can throw off your gameplan so you want to stay focused on it as a normal match.”

West High flashed its trademark depth with impressive wins at four, five and six singles.

Sophomores Eli Young and Mukundan Kasturirangan and freshman Luca Chackalackal dropped a combined three games in dominating straight set wins.

“We’ve been really playing as a team lately not individuals and that is really helping us right now,” Young said. “We are playing at a high level.”

West High put the finishing touches on the sweep with a trio of doubles wins.

Shasha Chackalackal and Young swept Tharwani and Thomas Digman at number two doubles while Luca Chackalackal and Kasturirangan downed Sudeep Gadde and Michael McGrew 6-2, 6-0 at number three doubles.

“I think this just shows how much determination we have as a team,” Sasha Chackalackal said. “We saw what wasn’t working last year and we worked, we improved it and we are where we are now.”

Shin and Wenzel rebounded from a second-set loss to down VanDonslear and Eells at number one singles in the final match of the night.

“That was so fun,” Wenzel said. “The sun is going down, it’s the last match, everyone is watching and every point there is cheering back and forth it’s just so much fun.”

West High 9, Linn-Mar 0

Singles

1. Sam Shin (ICW) def. Luke VanDonslear 6-4, 6-2

2. Jack Wenzel (ICW) def. Jackson Eells 6-2, 7-6 (2)

3. Sasha Chackalackal (ICW) Kartik Tharwani 7-6 (3), 6-1

4. Eli Young (ICW) def. Sudeep Gadde 6-0, 6-0

5. Mukundan Kasturirangan (ICW) def. Michael McGrew 6-2, 6-0

6. Luca Chackalackal (ICW) def. Thomas Digman 6-1, 6-0

Doubles

1. Shin/Wenzel (ICW) def. VanDonslear/Eells 6-2, 2-6, 1-0 (8)

2. S. Chackalackal/Young (ICW) def. Tharwani/Digman 6-3, 6-0

3. Kasturirangan/L. Chackalackal (ICW) def. Gadde/McGrew 6-2, 6-0

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