Sep. 13—TRAVERSE CITY — Tanner Cooley never really left, but it’s safe to say he’s back.
The Traverse City Central senior tennis player returned to the Trojans for his final season after taking last fall off to play more United States Tennis Association tournaments.
The two-time state qualifier as a freshman and sophomore at No. 1 singles packed three more victories onto his resume in Wednesday’s Traverse City Central Trojan Invitational at the Trojan Tennis Center at Central High School.
The Trojans did the same, winning all three duals to take the team tournament title, with Glen Lake second, followed by Zeeland West and Vicksburg in an event played in mid-80s temperatures.
That team aspect is something that helped draw Cooley back.
“I’m back this year, and I’m hoping the team makes a deep run at regionals and states,” Cooley said. “I really love the team, and I really like the kids on the team. The whole atmosphere of it is a lot of fun.”
Cooley boasts a 58-21 prep record, all at No. 1 singles. He posted a 16-11 mark as a freshman in the top flight, then 22-9 as a sophomore.
“I could have gotten 100 wins, for sure, maybe 110,” Cooley said. “I guess we’ll never know, but I’ll try and get as many as possible this year.”
Cooley has only one loss this season, an early-season 6-1, 6-3 setback against Midland Dow’s Austin King.
King, who hasn’t lost a high school set in over a calendar year or a match in two seasons, is the favorite to repeat as Division 1 champion. But he’ll likely have to go through Cooley to get there.
Cooley is one of only three foes to take more than one game from King in any of his 18 matches this season.
“He makes you work for every single point,” Cooley said of King. “If he’s locked in, it feels almost impossible to beat him at times. I bet a lot of other people also say that in high school season. But anything can happen in tennis, and I know I’ve got what it takes if I’m bringing my A game. We’ll just see how it goes at states.”
Dow and King are ranked No. 1 in the state and reside in Central’s regional, so the odds are decent they’ll meet up again this season in regionals (which Dow hosts) and/or the state finals.
“He’s such a natural talent, and he’s got a lot of experience; so it’s good to see him having a lot of success this year,” TC Central third-year coach Casey Christensen said of Cooley. “He really has a chance to make a deep run at the state tournament. It’s just been awesome to see his hard work, and now it’s starting to pay off for him.”
Cooley not only moves well but has a great serve return with a forehand or backhand.
“When he’s really playing well, he’s connecting on both sides of the ball with his forehand and his backhand,” Christensen said. “But when he’s playing aggressive, he can dictate the point with his forehand pretty well. And he just gets to a lot of balls. It’s hard to hit winners on him.”
The Trojans beat Zeeland West, 6-2, got past Glen Lake, 5-3, and knocked off Vicksburg, 7-1.
Against Vicksburg, Central received singles wins from Cooley (6-1, 6-1), Alex Lamphier (6-2, 6-1) and Riley White (6-1, 6-1), sweeping the doubles matches with Max Betten/Helly Taylor (6-0, 6-0), Asher Peterson/Finn Fisher (6-0, 6-0), Nate Brewer/Chris Girrbach (6-3, 6-2) and Oliver Christensen/Holden Beery (6-0, 6-1).
Cooley won a 6-0, 6-1 match with Glen Lake’s Colebrook Sutherland at No. 1 singles, deeming that his toughest opponent of the day.
