Coupeville Sports

The last thing Friday Harbor wanted to see getting off of a ferry … Stange’s marauders!! (Photo by Wendy McCormick)

They came. They saw. They beat the ever-lovin’ snot out of their hosts.

And then they were polite about having done so.

Facing a Friday Harbor team severely lacking in numbers and experience, the Coupeville High School boys’ tennis team did exactly as expected Friday afternoon, crushing their perennial league rivals 5-0. And while Wolf coach Ken Stange was thrilled to see his men play with precision and focus, and not need to dive head-first onto a cement court, he was also pleased with the way the victors handled their triumphs.

“There wasn’t really a standout performance today in the sense of someone stepping up huge and making big shots in crucial moments,” Stange said. “Each match-up was set for us to win from the get go. All the boys had to go out and do was execute the basics — consistency, depth and placement. They all did what they were supposed to do.

“I was especially proud that my boys didn’t take the easy opportunity to brag or show off,” he added. “They were businesslike and were gracious winners.”

Until this season, when South Whidbey dropped from 2A to 1A, Friday Harbor was Coupeville’s only foe in District 1. The two teams face off three times a year, with some players meeting up to five times after the district tournament is tossed in. While Stange, who has his biggest roster in years at 24 players, enjoys seeing his team thump on their primary rival, he also understands the challenges Friday Harbor coach Dick Barnes faces.

“The Wolverines only had two players today with experience from last year. They are fortunate that their coach was able to find enough guys to keep the team together,” Stange said. “It would be sad to lose them, but I met someone who has been putting together some youth programs in the San Juans that could help create more players.

“I hope they can pull it off, because, while they are our rivals, they are also our friends,” he added. “We share a lot in common with that small school on an island. We play them so often that the players from the two school get to know each other and much respect is built over that time.”

Results:

Varsity

1st Singles — Nathan Lamb beat Sean Hills 6-1, 6-0

2nd Singles — Aaron Curtin beat Kerry Wang 6-3, 6-0

1st Doubles — Ben Wehrman/Jason Knoll beat Bruce Yao/Lucas Noeth 6-3, 6-0

2nd Doubles — Brian Norris/Brandon Kelley beat Kyle Jangard/Jake Lowe 6-2, 6-1

3rd Doubles — Ben Etzell/Sebastian Davis won by default

JV

4th Doubles — Etzell/Davis beat Jangard/Lowe 6-0

5th Doubles — Kyle Bodamer/Jake McCormick lost to Wang/Yao 6-2

6th Doubles — Konrad Borden/Stephen Edwards lost to Noeth/Hills 6-1

7th Doubles — Shane Squire/Jared Helmstadter beat Noeth/Lowe 6-1

8th Doubles — Cameron Boyd-Eck/Loren Nelson lost to Noeth/Hills 6-2

9th Doubles — Zane Bundy/Connor McCormick lost to Wang/Yao 6-1

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Ben Etzell, back when he still had all of his original skin. (Wendy McCormick photo)

Ben Etzell gave his body to tennis.

In a move that caught bystanders, fellow players, fans and even his seen-it-all coach, Ken Stange, by surprise, the first-year Coupeville High School netter threw caution to the wind while in pursuit of the ball in a recent match against South Whidbey. Actually, he took caution, crumpled it up, lit it on fire and told it to never come back to town.

Few tennis players dive for a ball on a GRASS court. Etzell went hard to the court twice, and still made his shot, on a CEMENT court.

“I saw something happen that I’ve never seen in a high school tennis match,” Stange said. “It was truly something to behold. Everyone who was watching went berserk, including me!”

Etzell paid a price for his heroics, but it seems to be one he is at peace with.

“Well, if there is a ball within reach, chances are I’m going to make an effort to get to it whether that means diving or not,” Etzell said. “I’m a baseball player, so my first reaction is to get it. So really it’s just a reflex; I don’t go out there saying, okay, I’m going to dive next time they hit it over.”

He’ll remember his tussle with the hard stuff for a bit. Like pretty much every time he moves his arms and legs for the next few days.

“Oh man, I have a pretty bad cement burn about the size of a piece of bread on my right hip and thigh and my right elbow is torn up as well,” Etzell said. “At school today I had a gauze pad on both.”

His actions, which came during a highly competitive doubles match in which Etzell and partner Sebastian Davis put up a solid fight against a tough Falcon duo, seemed to inspire his other teammates. A few matches later, fellow baseball player Kyle Bodamer put flesh to cement as well.

“I love the kid. He’s another baseball player who’ll lay it all out there, literally!,” Etzell said. “He (Kyle) does what he needs to do to win, and if diving is included then that’s what he’ll do.”

While Etzell is new to tennis, he is a baseball lifer.

“Baseball is my passion, it’s what I want to do in life,” Etzell said. “I have played baseball for 13 years and plan to do it for another 13+ years.”

And, even missing some of his skin, he’s glad he picked up a racket to fill in the time between baseball seasons. A good relationship with his coach, even when he freaks out that coach a bit with his wild play, doesn’t hurt.

“This is my first year playing tennis and I’m absolutely loving it! Coach Stange has been great at helping me to progress but it really helps to have that natural raw talent in me,” Etzell said. “I’d say my favorite class is probably yearbook with coach Stange, just because he’s a great guy to have a class with and a bonus to have as a coach!”

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In this photo by Wendy McCormick, Wolf coach Ken Stange (in sunglasses) and daredevil netter Ben Etzell (far right) are seen during a quiet moment. Little did anyone know Etzell would soon be going airborne.

It takes a rare mix of guts and/or stupidity to dive for a tennis ball on a cement court.

And yet there went the devil-may-care Coupeville High School netters Wednesday, delighting and/or freaking out coach Ken Stange by wantonly throwing their bodies to the court in pursuit of balls against Island arch-rival South Whidbey. The Wolves may have lost the match, falling 4-1 to the Falcons, but they proved one thing — there won’t be any easy losses this season.

“I saw something happen that I’ve never seen in a high school tennis match … and I saw it twice,” Stange said. “Two of my players dove for balls. I don’t even dive on the grass court! The CHS tennis team is top shelf all the way.”

Leading the brave and the (possibly) bleeding were Ben Etzell and Kyle Bodamer, who threw caution to the wind and sent an electric shock through anyone who thought they might get in an afternoon nap during the match.

“Ben dove for balls on the court, twice, and he made shots when he dove,” Stange said. “It was as if he were stopping a screamer on the baseball field. It was truly something to behold.

“Everyone who was watching went berserk, including me!,” he added. “It was one of the most impressive displays of effort I’ve ever seen in a high school tennis match, almost up there with the rare three-hour marathon match.”

But Stange had barely had a chance to stop hyperventilating when yet another of his players went airborne in mad pursuit of an elusive ball. Bodamer, playing in his second match of the afternoon and possibly a bit loopy by that time, went kamikaze and lived to tell about it.

“He (Kyle) is just as fierce and dedicated as Ben,” Stange said. “These baseball guys are psycho — in a good way — totally willing to leave it all on the court, literally leave bloody skin and DNA on the court. Ben and Kyle are representative of so many members of the team, willing to do it all on the court.”

Thankfully for Stange’s blood pressure (and the school’s supply of band-aids), the rest of the Wolves stayed upright throughout their matches, with Aaron Curtin doling out a sweet bit of revenge at second singles. Playing with a gritty, determined (but not knee-skinning) style, Curtin pulled out a win in a tiebreaker to avenge a loss to the same South Whidbey player who had nipped him in a match last week.

“Aaron is demonstrating how to win matches, even when he does not have his game running on all cylinders,” said a relatively calm Stange, as his eyes darted around, fearful that another of his players might decide to kiss the cement.

The netters, if they don’t kill themselves off first, return to action with back-to-back matches this weekend, traveling to Friday Harbor on Friday, then hosting University Prep Saturday.

Complete Wednesday results:

Varsity:

1st Singles — Nathan Lamb lost to Guy Sparkman 6-4, 6-3

2nd Singles — Aaron Curtin beat Charley Stelling 6-3, 3-6, 1-0(10-8)

1st Doubles — Ben Wehrman/Jason Knoll lost to Taylor Simmons/Jonathan Petersen 6-3, 6-1

2nd Doubles — Brian Norris/Brandon Kelley lost to Cameron Baldwin/Mitchell Hughes

3rd Doubles — Ben Etzell/Sebastian Davis lost to Jack Hood/Nathan Riley 6-3, 6-4

JV:

4th Doubles — Dawson d’Almeida/Shane Squire lost to Kyle Simchuk/Campbell Albertson 8-1

5th Doubles — Kyle Bodamer/Jake McCormick lost to Chase Collins/Sam Turpin 8-1

6th Doubles — Cameron Boyd-Eck/Loren Nelson lost to Connor McCauley/Stryder Elverum 8-3

7th Doubles — Zane Bundy/Connor McCormick beat Jacob Nelson/Austin Drake 8-6

8th Doubles — Konrad Borden/Stephen Edwards lost to Beau Blakey/Trent Fallon 8-3

9th Doubles — Jared Helmstadter/Lilan Sekigawa lost to Lucas Christensen/John Cary 8-1

10th Doubles — Geoff McClarin/Beauman Davis lost to Adam Baesler/ Josh Delaney 8-0

11th Doubles — Sam Wynn/Garrett Compton lost to Josh McIlhenny/Jake Papritz 8-3

12th Doubles — Squire/d’Almeida beat Loel Nichols/Jeff Meier 8-1

13th Doubles — Bodamer/Bundy lost to Austin Heston/Beau Blakey 8-5

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