KNOXVILLE – The Clarke boys tennis team placed third at the South Central Conference Tournament last Monday with 35 points, just 12 behind Albia who took first and four behind Knoxville in second; Chariton rounded out the teams in fourth place with 26.5 points.
In singles, No. 1 Blaze Schiltz lost his first match against Knoxville’s Josh Toledo 6-0 and 6-2 and won his second match against Albia’s Britton Smith 10-8. He fell in his third match to Keaton Gee of Albia 10-7. No. 2 singles Carson Jones fell in all three of his matches: he lost 6-4 and 6-2 to Jude Zuck (Knoxville), 10-6 to Gee and 10-4 to Smith.
In doubles, No. 1 Casey and Luke Wade placed second with two wins. Their first match against Landyn and Logan Gibson of Knoxville ended 6-1, 6-1 in their favor, as did the 6-1, 6-3 win in their second match over Albia’s Tavian La Rue and Ty Pickerell. They fell 6-4, 6-1 to Isaac Helm and Dakota Deevers of Albia in their third match.
The No. 2 doubles team of Easton Brokaw and Jonathan Galvez won their first match of the day 6-2, 6-2 over Everett Schmidt and McKale Clark of Knoxville before falling 6-2, 6-0 to Helm and Deevers in their second match and 11-9 to La Rue and Pickerell in their third match.
At home on Thursday, the Indians took a 7-2 win over Creston. In singles, No. 1 Casey, No. 2 Luke, No. 4 Galvez and No. 6 Jones all won their matches with all three doubles teams emerging victorious.