Fremont Tennis Association

The 2009 First State Bank Fremont Junior Open tennis tournament was played June 9-11 at the Fremont Senior High Tennis Complex. We had several Fremont area players who participated. Here are their results.

Boys 14 Singles: Luke Prescott was defeated by Trent Gardner of Omaha, 0-6, 1-6 in the first round. In the consolation bracket, Luke lost to Michael Mellen of Omaha, 0-6, 1-6.

Boys 16 Singles: Luke Samuelson and Brayden Zouch were entered. Samuelson lost to Vince Van Dyke of Omaha in his first match, 2-6, 1-6. Zoucha defeated Ethan Gart who withdrew because of an injury. Zoucha then lost to Decature Banker, the # 1 seed from Omaha, 2-6, 1-6.

Boys 18 Singles: Joseph Hoffman played the Boys 18 Singles event. He lost to Matthew Hrdlicka of Omaha in the first round 4-6, 2-6. In the consolation bracket Hoffman lost to Scott Slezak of Omaha, 1-6, 4-6.

Boys 18 Doubles: Luke Samuelson and Brayden Zoucha came up against the No. 1 seeded team of Decature Banker and Eric McKnight, both of Omaha, in their first round. Samuelson and Zoucha were defeated 1-6, 2-6.

The Omaha players just seemed too tough for our Fremont players in this tournament. But it was good to see them participating. Keep working at your games, continue to build up your confidence, and soon we’ll see some matches in the win column! Thank you for representing the Fremont Tennis Association in this Jr. Tournament.

Tags: Tournament Results by Dana Mark
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It was a Mark Family event at the Nebraska City Summer Open held June 6-7. Brian, Dana, and Renate Mark were the only Fremont area participants. Here are the results.

Renate Mark played in the Women’s 4.0 Singles Division. In the first round she was defeated by Amanda Crook of Peru, NE, 5-7, 2-6. In the consolation round, Renate had a victory over Sara Crook, also of Peru, 6-3, 6-3. In the post-match interview, Renate was very excited to have a win in the 4.0 division in her first tournament back on the circuit. It seems she has re-caught the tournament fever. The 4.0 division was won by Callista Pass of Omaha 6-2, 6-0 over Amanda Crook.

Men’s 3.5 Singles Division: Brian Mark and Dana Mark played in the Men’s 3.5 Singles Division. In the first round, Brian lost 6-4, 2-6 to Paul Beutler of Omaha. Brian later posted on Essential Tennis Forum, “(My opponent) went to a serve and drop volley game that totally befuddled me. I could get to a lot of them, but he was standing right there to put it away. It didn’t matter too much what I did against him at net, he was quick enough to get to lobs and had a huge wingspan, making it really tough to pass him… He chopped at a lot of stuff and never really knew where his shot was going… and when he didn’t know, I had no way of reading it.” Brian now has his sights set on the Columbus Summer Open tournament scheduled for June 13-14.

Dana Mark also played in the Men’s 3.5 singles division. Dana won his first round match, 6-2, 7-6 (2), over Francis Cuba of Omaha. He then lost in the semifinals 2-6, 7-6 (7), 3-6 to Brian Richmeier of Omaha. Richmeier was the winner in the Final, 6-4, 6-4, over Jeff Holland of Omaha.

On a somewhat sad note, at 3-5 in the last set, up 30-5, Dana pulled a groin muscle. He played the game out, but lost the game, which was the end of the match. However, that was not the end – there was still a doubles match to play. Read on.

Men’s 3.5 Doubles Division: Brian and Dana still had a doubles match to play. It was the finals, and Dana didn’t want to let Brian down, so he played with a pulled groin. (not the smartest thing he ever did.) With Brian having to cover most of the court due to Dana’s injury, they lost the match 6-4, 5-7, 5-7 to Larry and Eric Marrow, another father-son team from Lincoln.

Dana later posted on the Essential Tennis Forum, “Brian played an excellent doubles match which was more like him playing singles against the other two with me in the way. I had no business being out there playing with an injury, but I didn’t want to let Brian down and I thought we had a good chance to win even with my injury (which was almost true). I basically stood in one place and hit anything I could reach without moving more than a step or two, and Brian covered about 95% of the court. As you can tell from the score, he did a great job covering my back.”

Dana will be out of tennis for a while to recover from his injury. So Renate and Brian will have to carry the Mark Family tennis banner.

By the way, you can see a photo of a Tennis IronMan at Essential Tennis Forum!

Tags: Tournament Results by Dana Mark
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The USTA Tennislink to the Omaha Adult Open incorrectly reported that Shane and Mike were defeated in the Final of the Men’s 4.0 doubles division. They in fact were the winners, bringing home the gold! Tennislink now reports the correct outcome.

The original post here, Omaha Adult Open Tournament results for Fremont area players, has also been updated with the correction. So if you saw the original post stating Shane and Mike were the runners-up, please note this correction and when you see them, congratulate them for their great championship win!

Tags: Tournament Results by Dana Mark
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Three people from the Fremont Tennis Association participated in the Omaha Adult Open held May 22-25. Jim Jorgensen of Blair played in the Men’s 55 singles division, and Shane Placek and Mike Willman played in the Men’s 4.0 doubles division.

55 Singles: Jim Jorgensen was the champion in the 55 singles division. The event had three entries, so it was played as a round robin. The scouting report must have gotten out indicating how good Jim is, because his first opponent didn’t show up (he must have been scared!). So Jim won his first match over Raymond Montejano of La Vista by default. In the 2nd round, Jim defeated Rick Huetson of Omaha 6-1, 6-4 to win the championship. Congratulations Jim!

4.0 Doubles Shane Placek and Mike Willman had a great run in the Men’s 4.0 Doubles division, ending up winning the Final 6-2, 6-2.

In the 1st round, they took out the No. 2 seeded team of Mike Deal of Council Bluffs, and James Lopez of Omaha, 6-3, 7-5. In round two, the Quarterfinals, they trounced Pascal Renault and William Stephens, both of Omaha, 6-1, 6-2. They continued to show no mercy in the Semifinals against Michael Magnuson of Papillion and Jared Rathe of Lincoln, with a 2-set victory, 6-4, 6-4.

In the Finals, they were pitted against the No. 1 seeded team of John Crook and Thomas Huffman, both of Omaha. Even with the home-court advantage, Crook and Huffman were no match for our tough Fremont team. Shane and Mike took them down 6-2, 6-2. That gave Shane and Mike the championship honors. Congratulations, and great job guys!

Thanks Jim, Shane, and Mike for doing a great job of representing the Fremont Tennis Association at the Omaha Adult Open.

Calling all FTA players – be sure to enter the next nearby tournaments coming up in June, the Nebraska City Open, June 5-7, and the Columbus Summer Open, June 12-14. We’ll see you there!

Tags: Tournament Results by Dana Mark
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The 2009 Body Basics Get in Shape Tournament was held May 2-3 in Lincoln, NE.

Brian Mark and Dana Mark entered the 3.5 Men’s doubles event. There were only three teams entered, so the event was played as a round robin. Brian and Dana won their first match against Craig Matulka of Bee, NE, and Steven Page of Lincoln, NE, 6-3, 6-0. In the 2nd round, Brian and Dana were defeated by Bernal Quesada and Bob Branchaud, both of Lincoln, NE, 6-3, 6-3. Branchaud and Quesada won their 2nd round over Matulka and Page 6-1, 6-1, giving Brian and Dana the runner-up status.

Brian and Dana also played singles. Brian lost his first-round match to Myron Sikora of Omaha, NE, 6-4, 6-1. Brian is picking up where he left off last year, getting a tough first match opponent. Sikora made it to the finals where he lost a 3rd-set tie-break to Dan Hrivnak of Bennington, NE. Brian then lost a consolation 8-game pro-set 8-2.

In singles, Dana was defeated by Bernal Quesada of Lincoln, NE, 7-5, 6-0. He then beat Jim Shanklin of Maryville, MO, in a consolation 8-game pro-set 9-7.

The weather was excellent, and the tennis was good. You should have been there! Be watching for the sign-up deadline reminder for the next tournament coming the end of this month.

Tags: Tournament Results by Dana Mark
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Jim Johnson of Fremont, NE, teamed up with Kenneth Tharp of Lincoln, NE, in the USTA National Men’s 70 Indoor Championships in Houston, Texas, March 23-27 to win the Consolation Championship.

After losing their first match in the Main Draw (6-4, 6-1) to Alfred Hagan and John Wilkerson, both of Houston, TX (with an obvious unfair home court advantage!), they moved to the consolation bracket. In the round of 16, they defeated John Martin and Larry Plasek 6-3, 6-0. Martin and Plasek were also both from Houston, so Johnson and Tharp were able to overcome the home court advantage this time and post the win.

In the Quarterfinals, Johnson and Tharp played Bob Bobbitt of Encinitas, CA and Johnny Sanchez of San Diego, CA. After dropping the first set 3-6, they rallied and won the second set 6-4, and then a match tie-break 1-0(2).

After that, it was smooth sailing for the tough team of Johnson and Tharp. In the Semfinals, they ran over a New Jersey team of Mark Forrester of Moorestown, NJ, and James Rauch of Annadale, NJ, 6-1, 6-4. By the Final match, they were smoking, and captured the championship 6-2, 6-2 over Keith Hostetler of Gainesville, FL and William Vogt of Maunaloa, HI.

Johnson and Tharp also played in the Men’s 70 Singles draw. The singles didn’t go quite as well for them. Johnson lost the first round 6-4, 6-1 to Richard Andersen of Houston, TX (again the home court advantage!). In the first round of the consolation bracket, Johnson lost to William Vogt of Maunaloa, HI in a close match, 7-6(3), 6-3. Vogt ended up losing in the Semifinals in the singles. It was probably sweet revenge for Johnson and Tharp to then defeat Vogt and Hostetler in the doubles consolation Final.

Tharp made it to the Quarterfinals of the Singles main draw. In round one, he defeated Doyle Leslie of Austin, TX, who withdrew because of an injury. He then beat Leonard Lindborg of Laguana Beach, CA, 6-3, 6-2. Tharp gained another victory over William Wolff of Forth Worth, TX, 4-6, 5-2, when Wolff retired due to an injury. (Tharp is apparently rough on his oppontents!) Tharp then lost in the Quarterfinals 6-3, 6-4 to the 4th seed, Robert Quall of Meroed, CA. Quall ended up winning the championship match, so Tharp made a good showing.

Congratulations to Jim Johnson and Kenneth Tharp on some good wins, a consolation championship, and for making a name for Nebraska Tennis!

Tags: Tournament Results by Dana Mark
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