(Red Oak) Grant Sturm and Ethan Sturm have punched their ticket to the boys state tennis tournament in Waterloo. The Atlantic pair earned a district title on Wednesday in Red Oak.
Advancing as the doubles runner-up are Reed Finnegan and Josh Schuster, of Shenandoah. Singles qualifiers include Clarinda’s Nathan Brown and Shenandoah’s Andrew Lawrence.
Shenandoah, Atlantic, and SW Valley stay in contention as teams.
The #1 doubles grouping from Atlantic breezed through the early rounds with wins 6-0, 6-0 wins against both Sant Dow/Cyrus Lawrence (Clarinda) and Corbin Wolfe/Jonah Wemhoff (Red Oak). The semifinal win that solidified their spot at state came via a 6-2, 6-2 score against Adam Timmerman and Evan Timmerman, of SW Valley. This set up a finals matchup against Reed Finnegan/Josh Schuster (Shenandoah). The Sturm’s won 6-2, 6-2.
Grant Sturm was a singles state qualifier as a sophomore in 2019. Ethan Sturm will be playing at state for the first time in his career. The Sturm duo is believed to be the first ever sibling tandem, male or female, to qualify for state doubles from Atlantic. They add to an impressive list of past boys doubles state qualifiers for the Trojans:
Doubles Qualifiers
1977, Mike Cooper and Randy Balch, 3rd place
1981, Scott Patterson and John Aunan, 4th place
1987, Curt Bouchard and David Eskew
1988, David Ramsey and Mike Brandt
1989, Travis Anderson and David Ramsey
1989, Frank Dea and David Figgins, State Champions
1991, Jason Spicer and Brian Wright
1992, Jason Spcer and Matt Anderson 4th place
1993, Matt Anderson and Jason Spicer
1994, Cory Carr and Colin Roberts
1996, Scott Tiffany and Mikade Meyer
1997, Scott Tiffany and Mikade Meyer 3rd place
1999, Dan Hansen and Eric Lewis (Took a 14-0 record into the state tournament)
1999, Brandon Hendrickson and Chris Williams, 8th place (13-7 record)
2000, Brandon Hendrickson and Chris Williams (H-10 Champs, 18-1 record)
2003, Ryan Sansgaard and Kyle Hansen, 5th place (14-0 record heading into state)
2004, Jason Anderson and Mitch Peerbolte (11-5 record)
2008, Chris Van Cleave and Taylor Petersen
2009, Derek Tjepkes and Taylor Petersen
2010, Derek Tjepkes and Jordan Holmes
2012, Mitch Leiferman and Tyler Fischer
2013, Tyler Fischer and Noah Welter
2013, Jake Arneson and Adam Wieser
2016, Cooper McDermott and Grant Podhajsky
2017, Cooper McDermott and Grant Podhajsky, 8th place
2018, Cooper McDermott and Grant Podhajsky, 6th place
