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Bulldogs Back With Five From Last Season’s State Quarterfinal Team

The last time Nick Shields was on the Trenton High School tennis courts in actual competition, it was in the state quarterfinals. The Bulldogs would fall to eventual state champion Pembroke Hill at that juncture, but earlier in the day, Shields’ 5-7, 6-1, 6-4 win over John Lierz gave Trenton a sectional victory over LeBlond by a 5-4 final score.
Shields’ win was the last of three straight to pull Trenton past the Golden Eagles and establish the Bulldogs as one of the final eight teams playing team tennis in the state.
Not quite a year later, Trenton’s boys tennis team returned to the THS tennis courts to begin preparations for a new season – one where hopes are high for repeating last year’s success.
And rightfully so.
Trenton returns Shields, Kade Ockenfels, Creed Houghton, Wyatt Neal and Gabe Swann from that state quarterfinal team. Only Jacob Davis, who is now playing tennis for William Jewell College, was graduated off that squad.
“For the first day of practice, it was probably the most crisp we have looked in a few years,” Coach Dave Sager said. “We have a lot of people coming back at the varsity level and even some of the top JV guys are back, too. When you only lose one guy off the team from last year, all that experience is going to carry over. As smooth as it was, there are still a lot of things we need to fix, but the thing is it’s only the first practice. We still have all season to get those little things cleaned up.”
Temperatures in the 60’s on Monday and 70’s on Tuesday allowed the Bulldogs to get out on the courts for the start of spring practice. The Bulldogs are making the most of the opportunity after starting the past handful of seasons indoors in a gym.
“The last few years we had to start practice indoors because of ice or snow or just the extreme winds that you get this time of year,” Sager said. “Being able to get on the courts, the guys really like that. They’re all excited, I was excited, we’re ready to get to work.”
With the five varsity players back, most of the drama of preseason tennis has been taken out of the equation. Trenton needs only to find a sixth player to round out its varsity team, one that should be very competitive this year.
“Right now we’ve got to try and find our sixth player,” Sager said. “Our top five is pretty much set, but that number six spot is pretty much wide open. I have a lot of guys who could take that spot – Isaac Harris, Colten Hamilton, Weston Otto – so I’m not worried about getting it filled, I’m just trying to find the right fit to round out the lineup with the other five guys that we have.”
The Bulldogs have a total of 15 players out for tennis this season, a slight increase from last year’s numbers.
Trenton will open its season as the defending Class 1, District 16 champions on Monday, March 26, taking on Savannah in a home dual at the THS tennis courts. The dual between the Bulldogs and Savages is scheduled for a 4 p.m. first serve.