Seniors Micah Nevarez and Talon Walz joined sophomore Turner Walz in sweeping their Prescott High School singles and doubles opponents Tuesday, April 29, as Mingus Union High School advanced to the state boys tennis quarterfinals with a 5-4 road upset of the Badgers.
It was the first victory over sixth-seeded Prescott in three tries this spring for No. 11 seed MUHS, which will travel to Gilbert on Tuesday, May 6, to face No. 3 seed Williams Field High School for the right to advance to the Paseo Racquet Center in Phoenix, where Talon Walz will play the top Division II singles seed at 2 p.m. Friday, May 2.
“[It] feels great to see the kids gut it out and work so hard,” said head boys tennis coach Tarrin Walz said. “They have [put] in a lot of dedication and hard work to get another chance, and they stepped up and served an ace against a very tough Prescott team.”
Son Talon, who handled Jack Bradley in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, will play Salpointe Catholic High School sophomore Yash Parikh — the top-ranked Division II player with one high school match loss in two seasons — for the right to advance to the state singles quarterfinals. Walz, the No. 1 singles player for the Marauders, teamed up with Nevarez to defeat Dylan Darr and Brandon Nguyen, 8-6, after two previous regular-season losses to Prescott’s No. 2 doubles team.
“Micah has really stepped up and is playing great,” Tarrin Walz said. “He and Talon are really gelling right now as a team and playing the best tennis I’ve seen them play.”
Nevarez, who has only been playing competitive tennis for a total of two months, and Talon Walz had to fight off brother Turner Walz and fellow sophomore Logan Connella at the end of last week just to stay No. 2, Tarrin Walz said.
For the full story, please see the Wednesday, April 30, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
