Published: October 08, 2009 10:20 am      

Minutemen are regional champs

Sophomore Jason Denton really had nothing left to prove to his teammates on the Concord High School boys tennis team.

He did it anyway.

The undefeated No. 3 singles player (25-0) notched the deciding point as the Minutemen trimmed East Noble, 3-2, in the regional championship team match Wednesday at Concord.

It’s the fifth regional title in program history. Others were in 1980, 1984, 1985 and 1989.

Denton topped East Noble senior Nick Ihrie 6-3, 2-6, 6-3 in the only match of the finale to go three sets.

Concord coach Todd Denton is Jason’s father.

“With him I’m watching more like a Dad,” the coach said. “The other guys I can watch, but with him I’m riding on every point. I’m so proud of him right now.”

The younger Denton is the only underclassman in the Concord varsity lineup.

“During the break between the split sets I talked to him about staying mentally focused,” Coach Denton said. “One of the things we have stressed this season is that when you are on the court there is no one out there better than you.

“He (Jason) was a little more patient in the third set. He was trying to do too much in the second set.”

Concord advances to Saturday’s semistate at Leeper Park in South Bend. The Minutemen meet the winner of the South Bend Clay regional at 10:30 a.m. That winner advances to the state finals on Oct. 16 and 17 at North Central High School in Indianapolis.

Jason Denton transferred to Concord this season from Elkhart Memorial where he won two matches at No. 2 singles last season.

“Over the summer he went to a lot of camps and was playing in tournaments every weekend,” Coach Denton said. “He took lessons and has really improved. I call him our ‘missing link,’ because he has been a prefect fit. He freed up our lineup.”

The younger Denton said, “Getting the first game in the third set helped. I wasn’t doing anything different in the third set. Things just started going my way.”

He was thinking about his senior teammates.

“It came to my mind that the seniors were depending on me. It pumped me up and I wanted to win more to extend their season. Having my dad as a coach has made me more comfortable.”

Concord’s other points came at doubles as Jared Queener and Matt Schoeffler were 6-0, 6-1 winners over East Noble juniors Jeremy Mertz and Grant Manon at No. 1; Mike Ciesielski and Cory Swaller won 7-6 (7-0 tie breaker) 6-2 over East Noble juniors Chris Doyle and Quinton Howell at No. 2.

According to Coach Denton, Queener and Schoeffler have two losses this season while Ciesielski and Swaller have three.

East Noble captured points at No. 1 singles as senior Derek Romer defeated Andre Ziebold 6-4, 6-0 and junior Kyle Johnson topped Andre Moore 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2.

Ziebold has an 18-6 record and Moore is 18-5.

“The seniors are special to me. They were freshmen when I started here as an assistant coach,” Denton said.

Due to rain on Tuesday the semifinals had to be played Wednesday before the finals. Concord was a 5-0 winner over Jimtown and East Noble nipped Warsaw 3-2.

“Jimtown is a very athletic team,” Denton said. “They pushed us to the limit at every position. That was good because our guys are not used to that.”

Nick Myers Advances