PETOSKEY — It’s not a bad time to be a Petoskey boys tennis player.
Northmen head coach Denny Green feels the same way.
“Life is good for Petoskey tennis right now,” Green said recently with a big smile, soaking in the sun next to a collection of brand new courts and his No. 7 ranked team in Division 3.
It’s hard not to agree with Green. There’s a whole lot to feel good about within the program.
Late last week, the Northmen earned yet another trophy when they got the chance to host for the first time this season.
They also got to show off their brand new courts and surrounding facility for the first time, something that was long overdue for improvements.
“We’ve had cracks on the original courts from 20 years ago and the cracks got so bad they became unsafe to play on,” Green said. “It’s now country club type fencing and post-tension concrete, the pavilions are awesome, seating and bleachers.
“We can host things now. We couldn’t do it before because the courts were in too bad of shape. The upper courts got re-surfaced as part of the project, which was just icing on the cake.”
The new courts, spearheaded by Petoskey Schools Superintendent Jeffery Leslie, were glistening for opening day, lit up under a sunny day and a whole lot of Petoskey wins, which they of course wanted to bring in for their first showing.
“So far, they love it,” Green said on his team. “They love the colors because it’s Petoskey colors and the P makes it feel like, ’This is us.’”
Along with four brand new lower courts, new seating areas and the re-surfacing of the upper courts, brand new pickle ball courts were also put in and in use at the time of the invite.
“We’re hosting a tournament next Sunday as a fundraiser, so we’re getting action out here right away,” Green said on pickle ball.
The first day on the courts came with Petoskey welcoming DeWitt, Frankel and St. Clair, with Northmen wins across the board.
Petoskey earned five flight titles to earn a first place 21 points, followed by DeWitt, 12; Frankel, 10; and St. Clair, 5.
The success early in the season – particularly having his team earn a top 10 ranking – has surprised even Green.
“Considering we graduated our top five guys, our No. 1-3 singles and our No. 1 doubles team, which all had amazing careers, to see these young guys get their chance to move up has been rewarding,” Green said. “We’re doing way better than I could have expected after losing that many kids.”
Sophomore Liam Washington went unbeaten at No. 1 singles, then senior Clark Tarachas and sophomore Jackson Wong of No. 3 and No. 4 singles, respectively, joined him as undefeated on the day.
In doubles, senior Martin Howard and junior Jack Dumas were unbeaten at the No. 2 flight, then seniors Zealan Abbitt and Danny Murphy went unbeaten at No. 3.
The runner-up finishers for Petoskey then included senior Brian Tang of No. 2 singles, the No. 1 doubles team of senior Cole Willison and sophomore Finn Clarke and the No. 4 doubles squad of junior Conner Bingaman and sophomore Ethan Shelton.
There’s plenty of season left ahead for Petoskey to add to what they’ve started in 2025. Regionals won’t begin until the second week of October at Forest Hills Eastern.
“We’re still not done,” Green said on the success. “We’ve got a lot of good tennis to play.”
Contact or send game stats/info to Sports Editor Drew Kochanny at dkochanny@petoskeynews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @DrewKochanny, and Instagram, @drewkochanny
This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Petoskey tennis grabs state ranking, shows off brand new courts
Reporting by Drew Kochanny, The Petoskey News-Review / The Petoskey News-Review
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
