Seconds after his match point, Western singles player Eli Mast was no longer alone on court.
A few heartbeats after finishing his 1-6, 6-4, 7-5 victory at No. 1 singles on Thursday, Mast’s teammates burst through the door in the fence at the Kokomo tennis courts and mobbed him.
With a tense Kokomo Boys Tennis Sectional championship match finally decided, the Panthers couldn’t wait to celebrate. Western emerged with a tough 3-2 victory over Kokomo that came down to the No. 1 court, where Mast outlasted Kokomo’s Caleb Taflinger in three sets to break a 2-2 deadlock after the other matches had wrapped up.
PHOTOS: Tennis sectional
“It was cool for those guys to celebrate that moment together,” Western coach Judson Quinn said. “That’s something that I’ve really tried to talk to them about this year is you win together, you lose together, but whatever the outcome is, you do it together. So for them to celebrate an accomplishment like this, together, was very special to watch.”
Western repeated as sectional champion in an air-tight match that took 2:30 to play. Western also got wins at No. 2 singles, where Evan Trauring beat Micah Taflinger 6-3, 6-2, and at No. 1 doubles, where Aidan Mawbey and Kaleb York beat Easton Douglas and Mitch McClelland 6-2, 6-4.
Quinn said the match was “probably one of the closest matches I’ve ever coached” and that having it in a sectional final made it all the more tense. “I really want to highlight — I know [Kokomo athletic director] Nick Sale said this when he presented the trophy — the sportsmanship that was displayed, with the intensity at the same time. A great job by both teams, especially Kokomo. It’s always hard to be in that situation and not come up a winner when you probably deserved to win with how you played.
“The emotions are insane. It’s been a really tough two weeks for us. We’ve been dealing with some injuries, some lineup changes, playing in a position they haven’t played all year long, and for them to dig deep and win three points as a team. It’s how you handle adversity, I guess.”
For Kokomo, No. 3 singles player Malte Klaus beat Charlie Gilbert 6-2, 6-3, and the No. 2 doubles team of Austin Moos and Josiyah Mayfield beat Alex Aaron and Brady Thompson 5-7, 6-3, 6-3. Kokomo’s victory at 2 doubles tied the team match at 2-2.
“It was a great match,” Kokomo coach Travis Taflinger said. “Sectionals aren’t won in October, they’re won in June and July, and Western’s got a bunch of players that work at it and they’re steady, they’re deep and it was a good gut check to show us what tournament teams look like. Judson did a great job of making adjustments. They fought ‘til the end.”
Once Kokomo’s No. 2 doubles team wrapped up its victory, that tied the team match at 2-2 and all the attention was concentrated on the No. 1 singles match, which was tied 5-5 in the third set. Caleb Taflinger had broken Mast to go up 5-4, then Mast had broken back to tie at 5-5. It took a dozen minutes for Mast to win the last two games and trigger Western’s celebration.
“To have a freshman playing 1 singles, and to be the clinching point, as a freshman, that’s a lot of pressure on your team because you’ve got upperclassmen that want to win it, and it all comes down to his racquet,” Quinn said. “I just want to say the mental fortitude he showed was incredible.”
A tense match was also tough physically. The trainer on hand was called into action on a pair of occasions on different courts, and on the No. 1 court, both players were suffering.
“In the third set, we were up a game on serve and couldn’t quite close it out,” Travis Taflinger said. “It’s no fault of Caleb’s, he’s the backbone of this program.
“Neither guy let up. I kind of go back to the second set. Caleb won [the first set] 6-1 and in that second set, every point’s important. It could have changed the narrative; it would have been awesome obviously.
“Man, those boys fought. Neither one deserves to lose, but somebody has to.”
Western takes a 17-1 record into regional action next Tuesday at the Kokomo Regional. Kokomo ends its season 15-6.
“Third sectional runner-up in a row, but win or lose, it’s a chance to build character,” Travis Taflinger said. “What I saw in my boys and how they rallied around each other and showed each other love — proud of them.”
He had praise up and down the lineup.
“Easton and Mitch, Easton wasn’t on our tournament team last year and he fought, got to be 1 doubles. Nip and tuck they fought,” Travis Taflinger said. “Micah him and Evan combined had two losses on the year I think. Both of them have lost just once. It was just a good, solid match of good tennis.
“Two dubs … freshman and sophomore, they fought and battled. And then Malte had the match of the night, the 3 singles player. He kind of goes up and down and [Thursday] he just stayed steady. I was just super proud of him. He ended the season on a great note.”
Quinn also had high praise for his squad all around. The Panthers got key victories that put Mast in position to clinch.
“Evan Trauring at 2 singles has been so steady,” Quinn said. “I’m just so proud of him. He puts in so much work and he’s got to be one of the better 2s in the state. And our 1 doubles team had a very tough sectional last year. They ended the season on a losing streak, so for them to set the tone [Thursday] and be our first point, very proud of them.
“October tennis is special.”
