May 29, 2019 at 12:36 p.m.
Second life: Young and Oestreich prepare for WIAA state tennis tourney
Second life: Young and Oestreich prepare for WIAA state tennis tourney
On it was the draw for the WIAA Division 2 state doubles tournament - which included Young and Oestreich's names.
The two thought their season was over following a straight-set loss last Wednesday to Roncalli's Steffen Lipski and Alec Schermetzler, but the tables turned for the Hodag duo as the coaches from the Kohler sectional gave Young and Oestreich a special exemption into the state tournament.
"I almost didn't believe it at first," Young said of the moment when Heideman broke the news. "I had to go in and check. It's exciting.
Added Oestreich: "I was filled with some joy. Senior year, I thought I was done on Wednesday, so it's nice to see it."
Twenty of the 28 players in the bracket were determined at sectionals, with the top four finishers in the No. 1 flight and the champion at the No. 2 flight in each sectional earning an automatic berth into the field. The final eight spots are left for the coaches to fill. Each of the four sectionals gets to select a special qualifier, and up to four additional special qualifiers may be selected from the pool of remaining entries.
In Heideman's 3 1/2 decades of coaching the Hodags, this is only the third time Rhinelander has received a special invitation to state. The second occurrence was just last year when senior Markus Johnson received spot in the D2 singles draw.
"I think a little bit of that is Division 2 but, regardless, I think they look at the body of work," Heideman said. "Even, despite the weather, I think their record is 17-9. Twenty-six matches, so they had a full year."
That likely helped the Hodags' case, as did the fact that the team hung with Lipski and Schermetzler in a 6-3, 6-3 defeat. The Roncalli pairing went on to finish third in the sectional at No. 1 doubles.
"When they were playing Roncalli, it was a lot of deuce games and they were playing pretty well," Heideman said. "They played like they belonged at the sectional level. I say that to myself and here they end up at state. We'll see if they can take it to the next level."
After finding out the good news Friday afternoon, Young and Oestreich were right back on the tennis court Saturday morning prepping for their state tournament appearance. Heideman said the primary points of emphasis this week at practice have been serving and the mental game.
"We'll work on everything a doubles team should work on," he said. "Doubles is a game of positioning and placement, so we're always working on shot placement. But, I think two things leap out for me. No. 1, we're going to have (assistant) coach (Matt Nichols) serve to them so they are getting used to a little faster serve, more spin. Then we're going to work on their serves a lot. Their serves will be critical for them to stay in (the match).
"Year after year you go down and you just see players succumb to nerves down there. You see coaches shaking their heads (thinking), 'They haven't played this bad all year.' We're hoping to instill some confidence so when they go down there, they'll have that."
As a special qualifier, Young and Oestreich have their work cut out for themselves tonight in the first round of the state tournament. They will face the No. 6 seed in the doubles draw - Matthew Cooper and Addison Elliot of University School of Milwaukee (10-6). The way the Hodags see it, they are playing with house money.
"It's going to be very exciting to go down and play, probably play a good team right away, but we'll get a few games on them and hopefully get a big upset," Young said.
Added Heideman, "We're just going to play to way we play. We're just happy to be down there. We have nothing to lose. We'll see what happens. Sixth-seed, one-seed, we're going to welcome anyone they put against us."
Jeremy Mayo may be reached at [email protected].
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