Viewmont coach Mark Burningham’s team is an enigma heading into this week’s 5A boys tennis state tournament.
On one hand, the defending state champion Vikings feature the two best players in 5A in Sam Tullis and Jake Tullis, virtual locks to win first and second singles titles. As for the other five Viewmont players who will compete this Thursday and Saturday at Liberty Park, however, they all lack state tournament experience.
Despite having not been there before, the quintet helped Viewmont sweep the Region 1 championships last week, and Burningham is optimistic about how they will perform at state.
“Even though they were JV players last year, they still felt like they were part of the team, and that’s really exciting for them to come in and say, ‘Now I want to do that. I saw it from outside the fence, and now I want to be inside the fence,’” said Burningham.
A year after snapping Brighton’s streak of seven consecutive state championships, Viewmont is the perceived underdog heading into this week’s tourney.
Brighton returns four contributors from last year’s second-place team, led by Chase Stoner. The sophomore was the third singles state champ a year ago, but this year he’s competing at first singles.
Like Viewmont, Brighton swept all five region titles, but interestingly enough the teams are on the same side of the 5A brackets just once — in second singles. Assuming Jake Tullis takes care of business in his potential semifinal match with Brighton junior Anthony Panuzio, the Vikings could deny Brighton valuable points at second singles.
Brighton, however, seems to have an edge at third singles and both doubles, which could create plenty of drama on Saturday.
Burningham is doing his best to keep his players from looking that far ahead.
“We narrow it down to goals. Everybody’s got to win the first round. As simple as that might look when you’re coming in at No. 1 seeds, it isn’t something you want to look past and it sets the right tone that players cannot rely on the top two,” said Burningham. “It’s still hard to predict how good another team is going to be.”
That uncertainty is particularly the case at third singles, where both favorites are counting on freshmen to perform. Viewmont is expecting great things from undefeated Jack Taylor, but so is Brighton with Jared Mansell.
Brighton coach Natalie Meyer said you never know how freshmen are going to handle the pressure.
“I’ve had a lot of tournament players through the years, and every one of them has said there’s nothing like the pressure of state, and these are kids who’ve played in national tournaments. The difference is now they’re playing for their schools — not just themselves,” said Meyer.
Class 5A
Thursday’s first round
At Liberty Park
First singles
Upper bracket
Thomas Mikulus, Alta, Jr. vs. Daniel Liu, West, Sr.
Brocton Andrus, Lone Peak, So. vs. Ben Graff, Northridge, So.
Sam Tullis, Viewmont, Sr. vs. Tyler Ross, Herriman, Sr.
Remi Prince, Taylorsville, Jr. vs. Nathan Balls, Bingham, Fr.
Lower Bracket
Sam Hafen, Davis, Fr. vs. Jake Harris, Pleasant Grove
John Ludlum, Hillcrest, Jr. vs. Jefferson Colt, Jordan, Sr.
Chase Stoner, Brighton, So. vs. Parker Wood, Hunter, Jr.
Ty Burke, Riverton, Sr. vs. Zane Peterson, Fremont, Jr.
Second singles
Upper bracket
Derek Schetselaar, Lone Peak, Sr. vs. Dylan Taylor, Cottonwood, So.
Jake Tullis, Viewmont, Jr. vs. Collin Greer, Jordan, Fr.
Anthony Panuzio, Brighton, Jr. vs. Bridger Coburn, Northridge, So.
Kolby Silim, Taylorsville, So. vs. Nick Olsen, Pleasant Grove, Sr.
Lower Bracket
Michael Moody, Davis, So. vs. Jordan Treglown, Bingham, Sr.
Tyler Rindlisbacher, Herriman, Sr. vs. A.J. Lolohea, West, Sr.
Eric LeMoine, Hunter, Sr. vs. Keaton Mathis, Lehi, Jr.
Chase Zageoric-Marx, Alta, So. vs. Krystof Brichta, Weber, Sr.
Third singles
Upper bracket
Parker Hansen, Bingham, Jr. vs. Josh Aughenbaugh, Herriman, So.
Jack Taylor, Viewmont, Fr. vs. Ryan James, West, So.
Bryan Dyer, Taylorsville, So. vs. Ryan Kohli, Fremont, Sr.
Sam Johnson, Lone Peak, So. vs. Tanner Hunt, Alta, Sr.
Lower Bracket
Easton Batt, Hunter, Jr. vs. Joscha Moeller, Northridge, So.
Spencer Wood, American Fork, So. vs. Rodney Walker, Copper Hills, Jr.
Jared Mansell, Brighton, Fr. vs. Gavin Harris, Lehi, So.
Robert Song, Davis, Fr. vs. Michael Nakamura, Cottonwood, So.
First doubles
Upper bracket
Jack Aubrey, Sr./Garrett Rich, Sr., Bingham vs. Hayden Turner, Sr./Tanner Foy, Sr., Hunter
Hayden de Hoyos, Sr./Ty Harris, Fr., Pleasant Grove vs. Riley Wilcox, Sr./Braxton Baugh, Sr., Syracuse
Jens Filmore, So./Henry Blackburn, Jr., Viewmont vs. Juan Jose Amaya, Sr./Kenton Harlte, So., Lehi
Brandon Baker, So./Jason Wright, Sr., Hillcrest vs. Connor Pulsipher, Sr./David West, Sr., Alta
Lower Bracket
C.J. Ercanbrack, Sr./Garrett Wilkes, Sr., Davis vs. Ben Bearse, Sr./Kyler Baumgartner, Jr., Lone Peak
Henry Metcalf, Jr./Jonah Roberts, Jr., Cottonwood vs. Tim Welke, Jr./Brandon Hirschi, Sr., Copper Hills
Cheyenne Perry, So./Mitchell Mansell, So., Brighton vs. Alex Smith, So./Jared Eccles, So., Granger
Brandon Roper, Sr./Lances Jones, Sr., American Fork vs. Dallin Fisher, Jr./Cameron Chugg, Jr., Fremont
Second doubles
Upper bracket
Mark Sheffield, Sr./Stephen Sheffield, So., Pleasant Grove vs. Ben Pearce, Fr./Leo Stillinger, So., West
Preston Hymas, Sr./Ethan Campbell, Fr., Viewmont vs. William Cassidy, Jr./Connor Bolingbroke, Sr., Jordan
Matt Tobler, Sr./Matt Sorensen, Sr., Bingham vs. Ben Houghton, Sr./Jace Kemp, Sr., Layton
Eric Forbush, Sr./Nick Summerhays, Sr., Hillcrest vs. Bryan Gricius, So./Aaron Story, Jr., Lone Peak
Lower Bracket
McKay Bruse, Jr./Braydon Barlow, So., Davis vs. Conner Renfro, Fr./Scott Carter, Jr., Alta
Jack Hartvigson, Jr./Nathan Chatwin, Jr., Lehi vs. Hayden Wilding, Jr./Cameron Larrabee, So., Taylorsville
Chris Giltner, Jr./Alex Nhan, Jr., Hunter vs. Jared Bradshaw, Jr./Moses Chang, Jr., American Fork
Colton Kasteler, Sr./McKay Dalgleish, Sr., Brighton vs. Mark Frame, Sr./Cameron Elm, Jr., Fremont