Marshalltown Bobcats

The Bobcats were trying to take a step closer to a fourth-consecutive team state appearance, but Cedar Falls proved too strong a foe, eliminating MHS with a 5-2 win in a Class 2A Substate 7 semifinal at the Marshalltown Court Complex.

MHS ends team competition with an 8-7 record, with the Tigers ending a three-year streak of Bobcat state team berths. Cedar Falls advances to play Dowling in the substate final on Wednesday in Des Moines.

“They were a very good team as advertised,” MHS head coach James Christensen said. “One through four (singles) for them are just absolute dogs that really get after it.”

After Cedar Falls cruised to a 5-0 victory over Des Moines North on Saturday morning in a match that lasted less than an hour, it appeared early on that the Tigers would continue to slash through Marshalltown.

MHS did get a boost from Jacob Christen and Adam Boone at No. 5 and No. 6 singles. Even with the Bobcats down 4-0 and one match away from the end, Christen and Boone stood tall and put in the effort to get Marshalltown on the scoreboard.

Christen defeated Miko Patterson, 7-6 (7-2), 7-5, and Boone defeated Edward Lin, 7-5, 6-3.

“They were phenomenal and both came through with very tough victories that I thought kept the energy up,” Christensen said. “Our one through four were struggling at times and when they could take a peek over and see the [Marshalltown] numbers increasing on those two courts, I think it kept us going — that’s huge in a team format like this.”

Param Sampat defeated Isaac Benscoter at No. 1 singles, 6-0, 6-0.

“That’s the best tennis I’ve seen from Param at one all season,” Christensen said. “Isaac wasn’t playing well today, but you can’t take anything away from Param, he was phenomenal.”

Ben Smalley, an individual state qualifier for Cedar Falls, beat Jacob Thiessen at No. 2 singles, 6-3, 6-2.

“JT played a great match,” Christensen said. “Smalley showed he was a state qualifier by being able to handle some of the pace JT threw at him that others haven’t been able to this season.”

Sai Pranav Kota won at No. 3 singles against Dale Greene, 6-0, 6-1.

“Pranav has played two for them most of the season, so him dropping down was a tough draw for Dale,” Christensen said. “That’s a really, really consistent player for Dale to have to deal with and [Kota] was just one or two shots better than him each game.”

Shawn Wegmann Jr. fought off Carson Snyder at No. 4 singles, 6-2, 6-3.

“Carson played a smart match, recognizing early on that if he played Shawn with baseline normal tennis, we were going to lose,” Christensen said. “Carson made it a dirty fight a bit, had some weird lobs, weird spins to try and just make it a mudfight and we won a lot of games there. Shawn was able to figure out that puzzle a bit, but Carson put up a great fight.”

Christensen felt getting the doubles matches on the courts was a good way for many Bobcats to bounce back from a tough start to the day, including the state-bound doubles team of Jacob Thiessen and Isaac Benscoter.

“We didn’t want those singles matches to be the last thing they tasted before going into practice next week getting ready for the state tournament,” Christensen added. “Getting out there for doubles to play for the team and get a little practice in was huge.”

Wegmann and Smalley defeated Christen and Greene, 6-1, 6-0, to end the match early.

While Thiessen has tennis left to play, Saturday was the final matches for seniors Greene and Snyder.

“They’re absolute warriors,” Christensen said. “Neither of them really played any singles last year and came in at three and four for us this year — it shows the growth they’ve made and the resiliency they’ve had against some tough players on our schedule. That prepared us for a day like today, even if it ultimately wasn’t quite enough.

“Those guys are true Bobcats — multi-sport guys, leaders in and out of the classroom and on the courts here. I’ll take guys like Dale and Carson on our team every year.”