BOYS TENNIS

ALTON - Marquette Catholic's Stetson Isringhausen remains unbeaten in dual singles with a 15-0 mark after a 5-4 Explorers win Thursday afternoon over Alton High School at the Gordon Moore Park tennis courts.

Get The Latest News!

Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.

The doubles teams of Parker Mayhew and James McKeever and Victor Humphrey and Nate Bartlett won their matches, while Bartlett and Alex Tuetken won in singles for Alton, but Marquette took four of the six singles matches to come away with the Alton city championship 5-4 over the Redbirds.

Kathy Claywell, who coaches Marquette's boys with her husband, Jim, said she thought Alton came out ready to play.

"They played hard," she said. "I thought our kids also played well. The kids look forward to Alton vs. Marquette every year, they love playing each other. Many of the kids and parents know each other. It is always a match that is fun with good camaraderie. A lot of the boys even played soccer together as kids. We have a good group of young men. They have played their very best all season. I am very proud of them.”

For Marquette, Stetson Isringhausen won at No. 1 singles to lead the Explorers 6-3, 6-1. Thomas Wendle won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 singles, Joe Brangenberg won 6-3, 5-7, 10-3 in tiebreaker at No. 3 singles, and Bradley Bower also won 6-1, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.

The win for the Explorers at No. 2 doubles was Isringhausen and Wendle by an 8-1 margin.

Article continues after sponsor message

Isringhausen, a senior, is 15-0 in dual singles matchups.

"He is just determined to win and if he gets down he finds a way to pull out a win and keeps doing it over and over," Claywell said. "He has the will to win."

"We played really well at some spots and OK at others," said Alton head coach Jesse Macias, "Luke Boyd lost a three-set match, which would have been the difference for us, but we needed one more singles match and we could not get it. Marquette is having a great season and it's always fun to play against each other. It was a nice effort, but we have work to do. We need to keep getting better and focus on the conference and Belleville West on Monday."

Alton is now 8-13 in dual meets this season and will compete in the Normal University High Eugene Hill Invitational tournament this weekend in Bloomington-Normal.

The Redbirds were up 2-1 after doubles but Marquette won four out of six singles matches for the win. Parker Mayhew and James McKeever won at number one doubles, and Nate Bartlett and Victor Humphrey won at three doubles for Alton. Bartlett and Alex Tuetken got singles wins for Alton.
Alton is 8-12 and plays in the University High Eugene Hill Invite in Bloomington on Friday and Saturday. Marquette plays Saturday in the Titans Invite, Monday at Greenville, and Thursday at CM. Match time for Saturday is 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. for Monday and Thursday.

Claywell also praised her boys for their performances in a top-notch field of the Belleville East Tournament last weekend.

“It was a long couple days last weekend, but I think it forced our boys to raise their level of play with that much competition,” she said. “Our boys played hard against some very athletic competition. It will help us improve as a team playing that kind of competition.”

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

More like this:

Mar 20, 2024 - Edwardsville and Alton Battle In Boys Tennis, Both Teams Show Great Promise For 2024 Season

Oct 16, 2023 - Explorers' Doubles Combo Of Moehn-Hough Set For Bright Future, Are Tucker's Automotive Repair & Tire Female Athletes Of Month

Jan 23, 2024 - SIUE's Lambrechts, Schifano Honored by OVC

May 14, 2023 - 16 Straight: Marquette Catholic Boys Tennis Team Captures Another Dual Win Over CM

May 20, 2023 - Explorers' Isringhausen Advances, Triad Has Huge Day With Many State Qualifiers In 1A Sectional Tennis