Douglas Miles

Your Prep Sports

IOWA CITY – A morning disappointment sparked some lunchtime reflection.

After having their state championship dreams dashed by the defending champions in a Class 2A boys’ tennis state tournament semifinal, the Iowa City West doubles tandem of seniors Samir Singh and Patrick Selby needed to quickly regroup before the third-place match.

A combination of film study and a frank discussion with coaches about harnessing aggression proved fruitful.

“We had around an hour and a half after our semifinal before this third-place match,” Singh said after he and Selby ousted Waukee Northwest’s Gavin Leuck and Sean Sonoiki, 6-2, 6-3 to claim third place at the state championships Wednesday at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex. “We took some time to reflect. And honestly, we were pretty proud of the way we played. (Kellan Croatt and Jake Nelson of) Waukee Northwest, they played a really good match, but we did some things right and we just carried that with us into the third-place match. We were disciplined and aggressive and it worked out for us.”

Singh and Selby were sent to the third-place match following a 6-1, 6-0 loss in the state semifinal to Croatt and Nelson, which went on to defeat Linn-Mar in the final to repeat as 2A state doubles champions.

“They were able to come in on pretty much every single serve we hit, regardless of it being a first or second” Selby said. “That really put a lot of pressure on us. We weren’t necessarily hitting bad groundstrokes. It was just they got to the net before us and they were able to finish the point before us.”

Two years ago, Singh was part of a doubles state championship with 2023 West graduate Jayden Shin.

This season, Singh was paired with Selby, a friend dating back to the twosome’s middle school years.

“He’s always motivating me during the match,” Singh said. “If I’m down, if I’m not playing as well, he’s always lifting me up and I can always count on him.”

“We’ve known each other for so long,” Selby added. “It goes beyond the court. Doing each other’s homework, hanging out with each other outside of class. More than a doubles partner, he’s more of a best friend.”

Singh and Selby quickly cast aside the disappointment of the semifinal loss and made the most of the brief intermission by re-watching the first few points on video and discussing relevant changes that needed to be made to win third place. The thunderous response was impressive.

“For a lot of players, that can be a difficult thing,” third-year West Coach Marshal Moellers said. “Everybody wants to go for that No. 1 spot. We want to win the championship. To miss it in the semis and then go into that next round, that can be very difficult for players to do and I thought our players did a great job of keeping their heads held high. Yes, that is a match that we didn’t win, but when we reflect on that and learn from that and grow from that, that’s really what will win at the end of the day. So I am really proud of them for that.”

With the individual state tournament now concluded, the Trojans will now shift to the team state tournament, which runs May 30-31 at Waukee Northwest High School.

This is the 13th berth in a row for West High at the team state tournament.

The Trojans – the two-time defending 2A champion and state leader with 11 team titles overall – should learn their seeding on Thursday.

“For the team competition, it is a whole different ballgame,” Moellers said. “It’s the same singles and doubles, but from the team aspect there is so much more that is there. You get small glimpses, small images of where we’re at individually at this state tournament, which I think is great. You also get a sense of that pressure that you feel when you start to get closer to that championship round. Seeing how our players can adapt to that level of pressure – again, we want to be reflective of that and recognize what can we do going into next week because there is going to be just as much pressure, if not more.”

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