Trenton’s doubles team of Kade Ockenfels and Creed Houghton won 2 of five matches to finish in 8th place in the recently completed Class 1 state tennis tournament at the Cooper Complex in Springfield.
Ockenfels and Houghton, in the opening round, won back-to-back tiebreakers to defeat Eric Hahn and Nate Gargas of Dexter High School 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-2). Â
Moving into the state quarterfinals, the Trenton pair ran into a tough squad in William Van Hoornbeek and Chris Holt of Bolivar, falling 6-2, 7-5. Bounced into the consolation quarterfinals, Ockenfels and Houghton picked up their final win of the season, beating Andrew West and Isaac Hopkins of Notre Dame (Cape Girardeau) 6-2, 7-6 (7-4).
In the consolation semifinals, Andres Vidal and Tomasz Lawrence of Clayton beat Ockenfels and Houghton 6-3, 6-2, with Cooper Croley and Michael Mullins of Springfield Catholic defeating Ockenfels and Houghton in the seventh place match 6-love, 6-2.
In singles play, Trenton’s Gabe Swann and Nick Shields went 0-2 in their state tournament appearances. Swann lost in the opening round to Evan Erb of MICDS 6-1, 6-love, followed by a season-ending 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 loss to Warren Chinwuko of Sikeston. Shields, in the opening round, was a 6-love, 6-1 loser to Rory Sutter of John Burroughs. Garrett Kincaid of Pembroke Hill beat Shields in the first round of consolation round action, 6-love, 6-2.
