Today's lead sentence for the recap was written by journalism student/tennis player Brandon Grubbs. Thanks for the help, Brando!


With hot dogs and burgers sizzling on the grill near the courts, the Eagles' boys' tennis team sizzled on the courts Saturday at the Kokomo Invitational.

Delta dominated the 43rd annual tournament by winning three matches: 4-1 over 14th-ranked West Lafayette, 5-0 over unranked Peru, and 5-0 over 18th-ranked Kokomo.

The Eagles, ranked 7th in the state, improved to 10-2 for the year.

Delta has played in the Kokomo Invitational for the past 30 years.  The Eagles won the tournament regularly in the late 1990s through 2017. But in the 5-year stretch from 2018 to 2022, they did not win a team title.  Now, they have won the title four straight years: 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026

Even with the other state-ranked teams in the field, this was Delta's most thorough victory during that stretch.  Delta simply had too much firepower and depth.

At No. 2 singles, sophomore Charlie Vannatter went 3-0 on the day and won 36 games while dropping just 7.

At No. 3 singles, junior Luke Atkinson went 3-0 and was 36-5 in games.  The last victory of the day gave Atkinson his milestone 50th career varsity victory.

At No. 1 doubles, senior Tyce Dishman and sophomore Brandon Grubbs were 3-0 and finished 36-8 in games.  Dishman also reached a milestone in the final match as he achieved his 60th career varsity victory. Grubbs and Vannatter each surpassed 30 career varsity wins during the day, also.

And at No. 2 doubles, freshman Easton Duckworth, junior Roman Ashcraft, sophomore Kiptyn Schwartz and junior Owen Zacek combined to go 3-0 on the day and were 36-6 in games.  This was the best sustained play of the No. 2 doubles teams so far this season.

No. 1 singles player sophomore Jackson Darby did well, also.  He dropped the morning match to undefeated Linden Xiang of West Lafayette, 5-7, 2-6.  Then he bounced back with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Riley Astrup of Peru and finished his day with a 6-1, 6-4 victory over Micah Taflinger of Kokomo.

Winning JV matches were Cooper Coutinho, Owen Zacek, Kiptyn Schwartz, Jacob Tokar, Denys Krushenytskyi and Roman Ashcraft.

Thank you to Kokomo tennis boosters for grilling and sharing burgers and dogs with our players.

Next up for Delta will be a home conference match vs. Yorktown at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday. The Eagles have beaten the Tigers 61 consecutive times in boys' tennis.

Delta then will play 16th-ranked Fort Wayne Carroll at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Norwell HS courts.

Complete Results

DELTA 4 WEST LAFAYETTE 1

Singles

1. Jackson Darby lost to Linden Xiang, 5-7, 2-6
2. Charlie Vannatter def. Ethan Nanouski, 6-1, 6-1
3. Luke Atkinson def. Abdullah Alucozai, 6-2, 6-0

Doubles

1. Tyce Dishman / Brandon Grubbs def. Jeik Park / Colin Maloney, 6-0, 6-4
2. Easton Duckworth / Roman Ashcraft def. Zach Barash / Alex Liu, 6-0, 6-0

DELTA 5  PERU 0

Singles

1. Jackson Darby def. Riley Astrup, 6-0, 6-0
2. Charlie Vannatter def. Logan Rogers, 6-1, 6-0
3. Luke Atkinson def. Landon Steele, 6-0, 6-0

Doubles

1. Tyce Dishman / Brandon Grubbs def. Rocket Schwartz / Lukas Rodriguez, 6-0, 6-1
2. Owen Zacek / Roman Ashcraft def. Kaden McGuire / Sawyer Collier, 6-1, 6-2

DELTA 5  KOKOMO 0

Singles

1. Jackson Darby def. Micah Taflinger, 6-1, 6-4
2. Charlie Vannatter def. Mateus Ruiz, 6-3, 6-1
3. Luke Atkinson def. Mitch McClelland, 6-1, 6-2

Doubles

1. Tyce Dishman / Brandon Grubbs def. Josiah Mayfield / Austin Moos, 6-1, 6-2
2. Easton Duckworth / Kiptyn Schwartz def. Oliver Taskey / Carter McClain, 6-0, 6-1
    

JV Results

1. Owen Zacek / Kiptyn Schwartz def. West Lafayette 6-2
2. Jacob Tokar / Denys Krushenytskyi def. Kokomo 6-1
3. Jacob Tokar / Denys Krushenytskyi def. Kokomo 6-0
4. Cooper Coutinho def. Peru 6-0
5. Denys Krushenytskyi def. Peru 6-2
6. Roman Ashcraft def. Kokomo 6-0