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Detroit Free Press from Detroit, Michigan • Page 140

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Detroit, Michigan
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Page:
140
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DETROIT FREE PRESSTHURSDAY. MARCH 11 19B6 WC-5A Love tennis? Amateurs get chance for glory Lori Elathoivs 2 By LORI MATHEWS Free Press Staff Writer Winning isa 4.5 family affair yv Veronica Feldkamp remembers the first time she realized her son Jim was extremely competitive. He was three years old and she had made the mistake of teaching him how to play a card game, Go Fish. For Jim, losing was not an option. r''X ber.

Then the four quarter-finalist teams from each regional will compete for the national title in Loreto, Mexico. The finals will be hosted by John McEnroe. DEAN SNYDER, pro at the Franklin Racquet Club In Southfield, was the Detroit representative at the Fairlane Club. Snyder said there will be several satellite clubs in the Detroit area also hosting the event, but all the club sites have not been determined yet. "The tournament should be very successful.

I think focusing on club level players is a key, because they don't get that much of an opportunity to compete elsewhere," Snyder said. "I've had a lot of feedback about it already and know several people who are ready to give the tournament their best shot. It should be a lot of fun." "We felt the exposure our club would receive was important, but we also liked the tournament concept itself," said Jeff Wilke, manager of the Fairlane Club. "I think they'll have a tremendous amount of participation nationwide because of the mixed doubles format. It was nice serving as the kick-off site as this should be a prestigious event." During the weekend, tournament organizers mixed work with play.

On Saturday and Sunday, the pros faced off in a $19,500 double elimination singles tournament. Brian Joelson of Mercer Island, won with a 7-5, 6-1 victory over Kevin Kerns of Brentwood, Tenn. In the semifinals, Joelson beat John Embree of New Orleans, 10-8, and Kerns defeated Mike Tammen of Lake Oswego, 10-7. "Winning has always been very serious So you think you're a pretty good mixed doubles tennis player, huh? Well, this summer Ford Motor Co. will give you a chance to prove it by allowing approximately 10,000 amateur tennis players to compete in the Ford-Sports Tennis Championships.

The tournament will be held in August in 50 cities across the country. It was kicked off last weekend at the Fairlane Club in Dearborn, when Ford Motor Co. brought in 50 tennis club pros who will host the first leg of the tournament in their home towns. After sponsoring a very successful 33-city tournament last year, Ford decided to expand to 50 cities. ON HAND at the Fairlane Club was tournament co-chairperson Tony Trabert, CBS television tennis analyst and a National Tennis Hall of Fame member.

Trabert will host the tournament with current U.S. Open champion Hana Mandlikova. "When you think about it, the backbone of tennis is the club player," Trabert said. "I was very excited at the opportunity to be involved with this tournament because events like this don't come along often enough. This tournament will give the club player a chance to compete on a national level.

I think it will be extremely successful." Mixed doubles winners from the 50 divisional tournaments will travel to East or West regional events, which will be held in Septem 1 1 business where Jim is concerned. I don have any idea where he got it from," said Mrs. Feldkamp. "Jim doesn't like to finish second." SO WHEN her son, now a Dexter High School sophomore, won the 1 26-pound Class wrestling championship March 1 at Charlotte High School, Mrs. Feldkamp wasn't surprised.

She knows Jim loves challenges, and what i tmm ft 4- )AI1 1 tsn MnaA iT challenging than 4 me state wres tling champion' snips, wnere an underclassman Free Press Photo bv AL KAMUDA should be hon ored to have Club pro Robert Fisher of Panama City, returns a serve in singles tourney. Two other matches are played in background. :1 rs Ct i made the initial draw let alone win. "It took a while for it to sink in exactly what Jim had done," Mrs. Feld Class A title is easy slide for Trenton icers Frx PressAL KAMUDA Jim Feldkamp By TOM BUYSSE Free Press Special Writer second period and were merciless in the third period, piling up seven more goals.

Junior goalie Allan Avery shut out Kearsley until Chris Carey took over in the nets with 6:39 left and Trenton ahead, 9-0. Kearsley avoided a shutout when Scott Lyewski scored for the Hornets at 10:56 of the final period. Howey said Avery was the big difference against Arthur Hill. Trenton was favored to win the state tourney this year, but it was last year also, when it was upset by Pioneer. So Howey was cautious about his team's chances during the tournament.

After beating Arthur Hill, however, Howey admitted, "We came here to win." missing several easy first period scoring chances. But the Trojans broke the ice when Dino Ferrante, who finished the weekend with two hat tricks, scored from close in at 12:53 of the first period off a pass from Mark Ottenbreit. Trenton scored twice more before the first period ended and then went on a scoring blitz that lasted until the final buzzer of the championship game. THE TROJANS scored four times in the second period against Arthur Hill and once more in the third period. Trenton's Mike Sanfilippo scored 19 seconds into the final game and the Trojans led, 4-0, after the first period.

Trenton scored three more times in the was in the stands, where a crowd of 4,500 was seated. The majority of fans were for Kearsley, but Trenton's supporters didn't back down in the war of chants. TRENTON LAST won a state title in 1981, under coach Jerry Shields. Under third-year coach Skip Howey, the Trojans lost in 1984 to Ann Arbor Pioneer in the semifinals and lost again to Pioneer last year, in the finals. As the favorite this year, however, no team was able to give Trenton a game.

The Trojans beat Redford Catholic Central, 7-1, in the quarterfinals. In another quarterfinal, Kearsley beat Livonia Churchill, 5-4. Trenton struggled early against Arthur Hill, FLINT The only team at the state hockey tournament that could have given Trenton a' game was Bloomfield Hills Cranbrook. Unfortunately for those who love competition, while Trenton coasted to the Class A title at the Flint IMA Arena last weekend, Cranbrook was coasting to the Class B-C-D title. Trenton beat Flint Kearsley, 14-1, in Saturday's finals after defeating Saginaw Arthur Hill, 8-1, in the semis.

The Trojans finished 25-1-2, with their only loss coming in the regular season against Grosse Pointe South. During the finals, most of the excitement Their promising volleyball season is abruptly spiked kamp said. "I think I finally realized it when I saw a story about him in the local paper. Then it hit me that he had really done something spectacular." It was the second time in Dexter High history that a student has won a state wrestling championship. The first was in 1975, when Mrs.

Feldkamp's brother, Mike Klap-; perich, won the 112-pound state championship. Mike is now Dexter's varsity wrestling coach. OF THE 10 Klapperich siblings, seven were wrestlers. The other three were girls. All but one of Jim's Klapperich aunts and uncles attended the state championships to cheer Jim on.

"We're a very emotional family. What I remember the most is everyone, and I mean everyone, crying their eyes out," Mrs. Feldkamp said of the moments immediately following Jim's state victory. "I also couldn't believe how many people from Dexter (population: 1,524) were there. They all rushed the mat with us and congratulated our family.

It meant so much to all of us." "I could hear everyone in my family screaming and yelling for me from the stands. It was great," said Jim, who has been wrestling since he was five. "I'd have to say that day was the happiest of my life. I remember standing there watching the last five seconds tick off the clock. Then the buzzer went off and everyone went crazy.

I'll never forget it." For Mike Klapperich, watching his nephew win brought back memories of his own championship. "Watching Jim win was like reliving it myself. It all came back to me like it was happening for the first time to me," Klapperich said. "Everybody had been watching from the balcony and they all came running down to the mat and everyone was crying. I just looked By LORI MATHEWS Free Press Staff Writer If Trenton had won that game, it would have played Portage Northern, the No.

1-ranked squad, or Flint Kearsley, the state's fifth-ranked Class A squad, in the state finals. "Things had been going so well for us, the last thing on my mind was that something like this would happen. We just couldn't do anything right today," Monroe said. "Garden City played extremely well and took advantage of all of our mistakes. In tournaments, you don't get another chance.

It's just too bad this had to happen when it did." Garden City, which finished out the year with a 44-6 record after losing in the regional finals to Redford Bishop Borgess 1 5-6, 15-4), looked impressive against Trenton. THE COUGARS took a 1 4-1 lead in the first game against the Trojans and didn't let up until the final point of the last game. "We were very loose our first match. Our kids just went out there and did the job," Garden City coach Tom Teeters said. "Our second match we seemed a little tighter and had a hard time putting together our attack.

We lost in the finals because of a combination of things, but I really can't be too disappointed. Our kids had a tremendous year." The Garden City squad was led by the outstanding offensive and defensive efforts of senior Missey Ward. Ward, considered one of the top players in the area, is a 5-foot-7 spiker with a vertical jump of 26 inches. "Missey is a very talented, all-around athlete. She's definitely one of the best players around, if not the best," Teeters said.

"She's small, but has a lot of muscle in her legs. Part of her jumping ability comes from natural talent, but most is because she works so hard at it." Somewhere between the Trenton High School parking lot and the Wayne Memorial gymnasium Saturday morning, Trenton coach Jim Monroe lost his team. Because the Trenton volleyball team playing against Garden City in the Class A regional semifinals at Memorial Saturday was certainly not the powerhouse squad that had easily put together a 51-2 record going into the regional tournament. Trenton's season unexpectedly ended in that semifinal matchup after the Trojans lost to Garden City, 15-3, 11-15, 15-10. MONROE DIDN'T know how to explain missed serves, mental errors and mass confusion on offense.

All he knew was that he was disappointed and understandably depressed. His squad had lost what seemed like a golden opportunity to advance to the state tournament. "We just threw out our game plan and forget how to do all those things we usually do well," Monroe said. "We started playing not to lose instead of to win. Our spirits got down and we just couldn't get back up again." Trenton had been the favorite at the regionals and stood a good chance of advancing to the state finals because of the other regional draws, which pitted the state's top teams against one another.

TRENTON HAD been ranked No. 6 In the state and would have met Warren Woods Tower, an honorable mention squad, in the state semifinals Saturday at East Kentwood High School in Grand Rapids. at Jim and said, 'Welcome to the crowd, AT THE AWARD ceremonies, Mike! awarded Jim the championship place while Mike's brother Scott, who is Jim's uncle and the team's assistant coach, gave Jim his first-place medal. To win the state championship, Jim defeated Russ Springstein of Durand, 9-1, in the finals. But he said his most memorable win of the day was an 18-2 victory over Todd Darling of Hartland in the semifinals.

"I kept thinking, just one more win and I'd be in the finals. I couldn't believe how close I Free Press Photo by AL KAMUDA Mary Hebert spikes the ball against Garden City' Trenton. replay Ann Arbor ward Diane Calllway led the way with 21 points, followed by Anita Provencher with 14. The UM-D icers split their final season series against the University of Alabama-Huntsville. The Wolves lost the opener, 7-5, but won the second game, 6-4.

first-place tie with an 8-1 record. In the final game of the season, the DPOA team defeated the Livonia Raiders, 6-1. Dawn Hugglns led the attack with two goals, with Christy Sims, Anne McGinty, Rachel Long and Leigh Bennett each adding goals. The team scored 38 goals and allowed only nine for the season. University of Michigan-Dearborn: The men's basketball team closed out its season with a 107-75 road loss against Northern Michigan University.

Donald Tuttle and Abrahlm Baydoun led the scorers with 13, while Artee Lewis contributed 12. The Lady Wolves ended their season on a positive note, defeating Nazareth College, 65-59. Junior power for fourth on the balance beam, 10th in the floor exercise and 12th all-around. At the Durbin Invitational Meet, held at Ferndale High School, Huntington placed first in the floor exercise and seventh on the balance beam. Dearborn Dearborn High: In their opening state playoff games, the boys basketball team beat Robichaud, 61-58, and Annapolis.

76-49, improving their record to 12-9. Steve Moore had 20 and 24 points, respectively. Dearborn Police Officers Association: The 19-and-under girls soccer team completed the season in a Pioneer High School graduate Rick Howrey, a junior at Kalamazoo College, has been named to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association's all-conference swimming team for the third year in a row. Allan Park The Stalders Gymnastics Club recently competed In the first of three Class II sectional meets hosted by the Great Lakes Gymnastics Club, Lansing. Kelly Huntington, a senior at Lincoln Park High School, placed Trenton Trenton resident Erin O'Brien, a Kalamazoo College sophomore, has been named to the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association's all-conference swimming team.

scoreboard hockey SCS 501 4-5-1, 9 Garden City 4-7-1, 9 Trenton 4-8-1, 9 PAL 4-9-0, 8 Lakeland 1-6-3, 5 was, but I knew it wouldn't be easy," Jim said. "I had beaten him (Darling) earlier in the year, 9-2, but it didn't make me feel any better. He had almost put me on my back a few times and I couldn't forget that. I was really worried it'd happen again." "We thought Jim had a chance to place at the state meet, but we never expected him to win it all," said Klapperich. "The kid Jim wrestled in the finals had a 48-1 record, but Jim handled him with no problem." Jim finished the year with a 47-1 record and won seven tournament championships.

Of the 47 season victories, 40 were pins. Only 17 points have been scored against Jim the entire season. THE ONLY person Jim lost to this season was Andy McNaughton of Ann Arbor Huron in the finals of the Ann Arbor News tournament in January. The score of that match was 4-0. "Jim has always been a champion.

I think his attitude sets him apart from a lot of kids," Mrs. Feldkamp said. "He gets himself so fired up before his matches. He runs around slapping himself and making himself mad. I think that intimidates some of his opponents." When asked if he thought it would be hard to set goals for Jim and get him motivated next year after all the honors this season, Scott Klapperich laughed.

"After the season, most kids look forward to a few weeks off. Not Jim," he said. "He been nagging on me to work out with him this weekend. Motivation has never been a problem with Jim. Winning is too important to him.

I don't think he'll ever settle for second best Clifton Brown's column will return next week. h- coming up ADRAY WATERFORD- LAKELAND HOCKEY LEAGUE Mite AA DIvlslon-Rsd Conference Southgate 11-1-1, 23 pts. Wyandotte Trenton 8-5-1, 17 Sytvanla 6-5-1, 13 Dearborn 3-8-3, 9 Lansina 2-11-1, 5 Taylor 6-6-1, 13 Trenton 2-12-2, 6 Bantam AA Conference Wayne 13-1-1, 27 Redford 11-3-2, 24 Lansing 11-1-1, 23 Livonia 11-3-0, 22 Ann Arbor 8-4-4, 20 Lakeland 4-7-1. 9 WATERFORD-UTTLE CAESARS AMATEUR HOCKEY LEAGUE Squirt House Watt Mic Mac 11-1-1. 23 Taylor 12-1-1, 25 Dearborn Heights 6-6-2, 14 Plymouth 5-6-1, 11 Livingston 48-1.

9 Allen Park 2-9-2. 6 Garden City Midget House 'B' Taylor 9-2-3. 21 USA 7-M. 18 Warren 6-3-4, 16 Southfield 6-4-2, 14 SCS 502 6-4-1. 13 Woodhaven 9-6-2, 20 Lincoln Park 8-8-1.

17 Wayne 4-11-3. 11 RFB Allen Park 2-13-2, 6 Pee Wee A Conference Ann Arbor 11-4-3, 25 Lansing 11-3-0, 22 Livonia 10-6-1, 21 Plymouth 4-11-3, 11 Dearborn 2-15-1, 5 Dearborn Heights 1-11-2, 4 Pm Wee AA Conference Taylor 14-3-0, 28 Lincoln Park 10-6-1. 21 Trenton 6-6-3, 15 Detroit P.A.L 1-12-1. 3 Bowling Green 0-13-1, 1 Pee Wee AA Conference Garden City 14-1-0, 28 Redford 10-3-2, 22 Jackson 11-5-0, 22 Livonia 5-7-1, 11 Wayne 3-10-0. 6 Ann Arbor 2-10-0, 4 Bantam AA Conference Sytvanla 8-6-2, 18 1-10-2, 4 Lakeland Michigan High School All-Star Hockey Game: Featuring 36 of the top seniors in hockey.

1 p.m. Midland Civic Arena, 515 E. Collins, Midland. Detroit Red Wing coach Bobby Kromm and former U-M Dearborn coach Adam Mitchell will act as head coaches for the two teams. Tickets $3.

761-1001. McDonald's Junior Olympic Swim Mt: 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Oakland Community College, Orchard Ridge Campus. Golf lessons: Morning and afternoon group lessons (4-6 persons) available March through September at Riverview Highlands, 15015 Sibley.

Riverview. Six lessons $45. Ken Moore, 479-0789. Pm wee hockey league tryouts: 7:30 p.m. 2 p.m.

Sun. Ice Box Arena. Telegraph Road, Brownstown Township. 942-0277. i Squirt AA Conference Garden City 9-3-0, 18 Jackson 5-7-2, 12 Ann Arbor Squirt AA Conference Sytvanfa 8-3-3, 19 Southgate 7-6-2.

16 Woodhaven 7-7-1. 15 Trenton Bowling Green 0-13-0. 0 Pee Wee A Conference Ecorse a 12-2-l25.

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