They got better as the season continued.
And if that didn’t mean a deep postseason run, it still meant a successful season for the 2018 Cathedral High School boys tennis team.
“The bottom line is the young men are great young men – and they really improved as players and as people,” Irish tennis coach Mark Noe said.
Irish boys tennis, after a series of narrow losses to perennially strong programs early in the season,
finished the 2018 season with a 10-8 record and finished as the Sectional 48 runner-up to perennial
power and longtime rival North Central.
“The first part of the season was probably good for us,” Noe said. “We played hard against North Central and had a really good season.”
The Irish beat Arsenal Tech 5-0 in the sectional semifinal, then lost the sectional final to North Central by a score of 4-1. The Irish also won the City Championship for a 10 th consecutive season, and finished second in the annual Fort Wayne Carroll Invitational.
The Irish finished ranked 10 th in the state. The Irish’s eight losses were to teams that finished the season in the Top 10 in the Indiana High School Tennis Coaches Association final rankings: No. 1 Carmel, No. 2 Homestead, No. 3 North Central (twice), No. 4 Floyd Central, No. 6 Park Tudor, No. 7 Fishers and No. 9 Brebeuf Jesuit.
The Irish also finished the season with victories over No. 23 Avon, No. 17 Fort Wayne Carroll and No. 18 Hamilton Southeastern, once again playing one of the state’s toughest schedules.
“The bottom line is we didn’t lose to anybody below us,” Noe said. “We beat everybody we should have beaten, and we were really close. We’re really close. We have things to work on.
“The bottom line is desire is wonderful, but you have to go past desire and put your hours in -- and make sure they’re constructive. If you’re sick of losing, you’ve got to put the time in personally on your own.
“There are younger kids who are buying into it.”
Senior Abe Wojtalik played the No. 1 singles spot, a difficult task because the Irish play some of the top teams in the state with some of the top individuals in the state playing many of the No. 1 positions.
“That’s a buzz saw place to be,” Noe said of Wojtalik, who finished 16-6 in 2018 and who was named an Indiana Tennis All-Star and IHSTeCA All-State first team.
Sophomore Ethan Eckhart lost just one match in 2018 at the No. 2 spot. He was honorable mention All-State.
“He played a slew of amazing players,” Noe said of Eckhart. “The No. 2 spot was tough this year.”
Sophomore Levi Wojtalik played the No. 3 spot, with sophomores Andrew Davey and Alex Pohl playing No. 1 doubles and seniors Jack Waltman and Kyle Kluger playing No 2 doubles.
Abe Wojtalik won the city title at No. 1 singles, with Eckhart winning at No. 2 singles and Levi Wojtalik winning at No. 3 singles. Davey and Pohl won at No. 1 doubles and Waltman and Kluger were runners-up in the city tournament at No. 2 doubles.
The Irish were named IHSTeCA All-Academic as a team, and Jack Waltman was named All-Academic as an individual.
“We had a lot of senior leadership,” Noe said. “We’re proud of the boys and we have a bright future
ahead of us if they play in the offseason.”
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