Boys tennis: Versatility, athleticism lead Cloverleaf to MAC title

RAVENNA — What the Cloverleaf boys tennis team lacks in textbook backhands and private lessons, it makes up for with multisport athletes who know how to compete and handle pressure.Led by the undefeated first doubles team of Kellen Price, who also plays varsity football and basketball, and Ashton Gray, like his partner a two-way starter on the gridiron, the Colts won the Metro Athletic Conference Tournament on Thursday at Ravenna High School.Cloverleaf, which finished with 39 points to 37 for second-place Norton on a 10-8-7-6-5-4 tournament scoring system, already has clinched the regular-season MAC crown heading into a home dual today against Woodridge, giving the Colts their first overall league title since 2022.The 5-8, 165-pound Price, who can squat 420 pounds, and 5-8, 155-pound Gray, who squats 385 and runs the 40-yard dash in 4.65 seconds, improved their season record to 14-0 by downing Woodridge's Yusof Mahon and Blake Williams 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the first doubles final. Had they lost, the Colts would have tied Norton for the tournament title but still captured the overall crown.Cloverleaf, which is 11-1 overall and 9-0 in the MAC heading into today, got second-place finishes from third singles player Ian Shultz and the second doubles team of Drew Baltic, an offensive lineman for the football team, and Macaden Bohan, who played on the freshman basketball team.Varsity basketball member Owen Brownson finished third at second singles and first singles player Camden Tinter was fourth at first singles.Price and Gray had never picked up a tennis racket prior to going out for the team last season as sophomores. Neither knew how to keep score or understood the meaning of ad-in or ad-out, but they knew how to battle."I just wanted to have fun with my friends and try something different," Price said. "At first we were God-awful. Every practice we got a little bit better and worked our way up. Athleticism and being in different situations (in other sports) and going through tough times helps a lot.""It was pretty bad those first few times," Gray added. "Practice made us a lot better. In football you're nervous because there are a lot of things going on, but with this you just do what you have to do. It's just you and your partner against two other guys."Price and Gray won the first game against Mahon, who normally plays first singles for Woodridge, and the left-handed Williams, a varsity basketball player, but dropped the first set. The Cloverleaf duo came back strong, dropping just three games over the final two sets."We weren't playing our game and we made too many mistakes," Gray said. "We knew we could do it, so we told each other we had to step up and play our game."Throughout the final two sets, Price and Gray alternated hitting overhead winners at the net or passing shots from the baseline as Woodridge slowly faded and began making more and more errors. The match ended on a resounding overhead by Gray."We've been in that position before," Price said of dropping the first set. "We know how to come back and the mindset we have to have. We knew we could do it and we did it."The close friends got crew cuts and dyed their hair blond on Sunday, and they will soon have company. Brownson plans to do the same, and if veteran coach Mike McGee upholds his promise, he will follow suit."McGee is going to bleach his hair now," the 6-3 Brownson said. "He promised. That was the big thing for us."Second singles player Brownson, a junior who had only hit the ball around a few times prior to joining the team this season, dropped a tough 6-4, 2-6, 6-3 decision to Coventry's Jens Gjoystdel in the semifinals, but his 6-1, 6-4 victory over Ravenna's Trenton Turney in their third-place match guaranteed the Colts could do no worse than tie Norton for the tourrnament title.Cloverleaf got a bye into the semifinals at every spot but first singles in the six-team event, with Shultz falling 6-2, 6-1 to Woodridge's Lincoln Feisthamel in the third singles final and Baltic and Bohan losing 6-4, 6-4 to Field's Benny Frampton and Mason Gainer in the second doubles championship. Those doubles teams split two matches in the regular season."In the semis I was really off," Brownson said. "I wasn't moving my feet. I listened to Coach McGee (in the third-place match). He said to use more power and not to lob it."(Winning the MAC) is really nice because it's my first year. It's a good place to start."Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com.