EMPORIA — The Great Bend High School boys’ tennis team finished second at the Emporia tennis tournament on Saturday afternoon.
Salina Central claimed first place with 17 points with the Panthers trailing at 14.
“We didn’t play our very best tennis,” Great Bend head coach Shannon Schartz said. “Part of it was the wait. We had a three-hour drive to get there and then we had to wait two more hours for the courts to dry.”
Nick Moyers, competing for Great Bend in the No. 1 singles competition, took second place, going 3-1 at the meet.
Both doubles teams, including Austin Jacobs and Chase Buntain at No. 1 doubles and Adam Neeland and Grant Harris at No. 2 doubles, took second place with 3-1 records.
Both doubles teams lost to Salina Central.
“We came out a little sluggish,” Schartz said. “I think if we’d played Salina Central later in the meet, we would’ve beaten them.”
Patrick McCluskey, who usually plays No. 2 doubles with Neeland, saw action in the No. 2 singles competition in Emporia. He took fourth with a 1-3 record.
“He didn’t have a lot of singles experience,” Schartz said of McCluskey. “We wanted to try something a little different, so we played Grant Harris at doubles. We’ll be back to the normal look for the (Western Athletic Conference) tournament.”
The WAC meet is slated for Monday at Liberal, starting at 10 a.m.
“We’re hoping to sweep the WAC competition,” Schartz said. “We’ve been able to sweep WAC opponents all year in other competitions, so hopefully we’ll keep that up.”

— Kevin Price

HIGH SCHOOL TENNIS

At Emporia

Saturday

Team standings
1. Salina Central, 17; 2. Great Bend, 14; 3. Emporia, 12; 4. Andover, 10; 5. Liberal, 7.

Great Bend results
No. 1 singles — Nick Moyers def. Andover, 8-1; def. Salina Central, 8-2; def. Liberal, 8-0; lost to Emporia, 8-4
No. 2 singles — Patrick McCluckey def. Andover, 8-2; lost to Salina Central, 8-5; lost to Liberal, 8-6; lost to Emporia, 8-3
No. 1 doubles — Austin Jacobs & Chase Buntain def. Andover, 8-6; lost to Salina Central, 8-6; def. Liberal, 8-0; def. Emporia, 8-4
No. 2 doubles — Adam Neeland & Grant Harris def. Andover, 8-1; lost to Salina Central, 8-7 (7-4); def. Liberal, 8-0; def. Emporia, 8-1