Left to right, Aaron Curtin, Ken Stange and Ben Etzell.
Etzell gets intense. (John Fisken photos)
Curtin charges into action.
One door closed, but another is swinging wide open.
A day after ending their baseball season with a nail-biter loss to Rochester at the state tournament, Ben Etzell and Aaron Curtin will be back on the tennis court Sunday, getting ready for another crack at a title.
Etzell, a Coupeville High School senior, and Curtin, a junior, qualified for the boys’ tennis state tourney back in the fall.
They then put their rackets away for months, as tennis is staggered in Washington, with some schools playing in the fall and other in the spring.
But, just because they won’t be coming straight off a regular season run, don’t count out the Wolf duo.
“Only having the short week to prepare for state isn’t optimal, but I’m keeping a few things in mind: Aaron and Ben are both extremely talented athletes who gracefully transition from sport to sport, throughout the year,” said CHS coach Ken Stange.
“They had an up and down regular season but something happened at districts, though. They simply raised their games to a level neither of them had ever achieved. They amplified their strengths and they shored up their weaknesses,” he added. “It seemed like a flick of a switch. I was astounded by their display of dominance.”
Stange even went so far as to say the young guns might have taken out the seasoned pros who rule the Island courts. Heresy!
“On that day, I think they could have beaten Cliff Horr (my mega-talented doubles partner) and myself!”
Etzell and Curtin will hit the state tourney in Yakima May 30-31 as the #2 seed from their quad-district. They originally claimed third, but slid up a seed when the champs lost a player to a season-ending injury.
While the Wolf duo both sliced a finger while opening cans of tennis balls during quad-districts, they have both long ago healed.
Curtin injured his shoulder during the baseball season, but refrained from pitching during the second half and seems to be ready to go.
“Traditionally, the teams from our quad, which covers the entire I-5 corridor, have fared well at state,” Stange said. “I like our chances of making it to the semis, and hopefully the finals.
“The defending state champs, twins from Charles Wright, will likely be in the other half of the draw,” he added. “So we wouldn’t have to face them until the final.”
Basically, it’s super hero time.
“Aaron is Plastic Man and Ben is Superman!,” Stange said. “They are in great shape after an extended baseball season. They also have a certain X factor.
“There are no stats to show how a couple of guys can gut it out and will themselves to do some unnatural things on the court,” he added. “They will tune up their shots, play a few practice matches against some of the Island’s finest players, they will go to Yakima, and they will play their butts off.
“Hopefully, we come home with some hardware!”
While it will be Etzell and Curtin’s first trip to state as netters, their coach has twice taken Wolf girls on the trip. He, for one, is ready and rarin’ to go.
“I am stoked,” Stange said. “This is the best chance any of my players have had at earning a medal. It should be fun!”
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