Mankato Handball Experience

October 30-31, 2009

Mankato YMCA

The 2009 Mankato Handball Experience featured a full schedule of matches on Friday and Saturday. With 50 entrants ranging in age from 13 to 71, there were plenty of matches to be seen. Although MSU’s purple dominated the scene, entrants from Iowa State and South Central College in Mankato rounded out the diverse entrants. The talk of the many of the fans and tournament participants was the impending visit of 8-time national champion, David Chapman, who will conduct two instructional clinics and play some local players 2 on 1 on December 2^nd. If you are interested in participating in the clinic and/or watching the matches, please contact Mike Wells at michael.wells@mnsu.edu. Players were treated to all-you-can-eat pizza at Jake’s Stadium Pizza on Friday night. We broke the record for most pizzas ordered this year. Saturday’s hospitality included a subway lunch. A special thanks should go to the YMCA and its Program Director, Laura Diaz, for all her hard work at the tournament desk. Also, to our corporate sponsors: Eide Bailley; Kato Moving & Storage; Blethen, Gage, and Krause; Alerus Financial; Maverick Software Consulting; and Jake’s Stadium Pizza.

See photos from the 2009 Mankato Handball Experience.

The 90+ doubles final pitted two father-son teams against one another. Andy and John Nett have just qualified for the combined age of 90 or more this year while Mike and Arne Wells have been eligible for a while. The crowd was treated to a very exciting match. Because Andy had just completed the singles final, it took him a little while to get on track. Team Wells won the first game 21-7 utilizing some hot shooting and very few hand errors. In the second game, Team Nett came out firing and both John and Andy were extremely effective with their serves down the right, winning easily 21-4. Throughout the match, Andy and Mike provided the majority of the offense, while both John and Arne played very steady error-free, defensive handball. At the beginning of the tie breaker, Andy continued his hot serving as team Nett took a 9-3 lead. Team Wells stormed back with some ace serves of their own to forge a 10-9 lead. Rallies intensified and team Wells had opportunities to win the match, but in the end Andy and John were just a little too tough. As usual, the Netts were great competitors and showed the highest level of sportsmanship on and off the court. It was a pleasure competing against them.

90+ Doubles

· Andy Nett/John Nett d. Mike Miller/Ed Miller 6, 3;

· John Ayers/Jerry Pietz d. Mike Gustafson/Curt Schlenner (11), 19, 9;

· John Stoffel/Rich Ryan d. Silas Danielson/Jim Turk 4, 13;

· Mike Wells/Arne Wells d. Paul Dorland/Don Krocak 15, 15

Semi-finals:

· Nett/Nett d. Ayers/Pietz 17, 15;

· Wells/Wells d. Stoffel/Ryan 8, 7

Finals:

· Nett/Nett d. Wells/Wells (7), 3, 10

Consolation:

· Dorland/Krocak d. Danielson/Turk 7, 17

The open singles bracket featured 8 strong players. There were some familiar faces such as Tom Nett, Andy Nett and Mike Gustafson along with some new entrants, Ryan Maloney and John Ayers from Iowa. The singles final pitted defending champion, Andy Nett, against perennial contender and 2005 Champ, Mike Gustafson. Both competitors were playing singles and doubles so conditioning may have been a factor. Andy mixed his power serves, v-passes, and kill shots to win in two easy games. Andy didn’t give up double digits in any game of the tournament. Mike tried to vary his shot selection, but on this day, Andy was too tough. Ryan Maloney tested his conditioning and was able to beat Silas Danielson in a tie-breaker for the consolation title.

Open Singles

· Andy Nett d. Mark Tobin 2, 5;

· John Ayers d. Silas Danielson 12, 9;

· Tom Nett d. Ryan Maloney 7, 7;

· Mike Gustafson d. Joe Meidl 12,18.

Semi-finals:

· Nett d. Ayers 9, 7;

· Gustafson d. T. Nett 7, 12.

Finals:

· Nett d. Gustafson 5, 9.

Consolation:

· Maloney d. Danielson 6, (20), 2.

The A bracket featured 16 competitors with a wide range of abilities and experience levels. In the final, Tim Fitchel used a strong two-handed attack to defeat Mankatoan, Billy Craig in two good games. Billy has been working diligently on his game for the past year or so and has really developed his off hand and court strategy. After the match, Tim did say that he was glad it didn’t go tie breaker. There is no substitute for youth when playing three matches on Saturday. Also impressive in the A bracket were 13 year old Tyler Stoffel and 16 year old Michael Miller. The consolation title match pitted MSU alumnus, Chris Yard, against current MSU Handball Club member, Matt Nordahl. This was a rematch of the Introduction to Handball course’s class tournament championship match from a year and a half ago. The time frame was different, but the outcome was the same. Matt won in an exciting tie breaker. Chris Yard has moved to the twin cities and is looking for a league team to play for and players to schedule some regular matches with. Contact him at christopheryard@gmail.com to help him out. He desperately wants to beat Matt next year and he needs your help!! Do your part to help develop this young player.

A Singles

· Tim Fichtel d. Marshall Clark 1, 2;

· Glenn Solin d. Chris Delaney 14, 13;

· Tyler Stoffel d. Chris Yard 15, 7;

· Paul Schilling d. bye;

· Mike Miller d. Brent Fredrichs 11, 10;

· Matt Novak d. Dan Schonhardt (18), 17, 7;

· Tom Pearson d. Matt Nordahl default;

· Billy Craig d. Steve Schmitz 6, 4;

Quarter-finals:

· Fichtel d. Solin 0, 10;

· Schilling d. Stoffel 12, 12;

· Novak d. Miller 20, 15;

· Craig d. Pearson 7, 7;

Semi-finals:

· Fichtel d. Schilling 9, 15;

· Craig d. Novak 5, 8;

Finals:

· Fichtel d. Craig 10, 18.

Consolation:

· Nordahl d. Yard 12, (20), 7.

The B bracket had 15 competitors including 6 students who are currently in the Introduction to Handball class and were entering their first tournament. Two competitors from Iowa State, Ryan Pesch and Chris Hazelton were the top seeds and would have been very competitive in the A bracket. They stormed through the B bracket, not giving up more than 7 points in any game until meeting in the final. With bragging rights for the ride home and the B title on the line, Ryan came out victorious in two close games. Having watched this match, there were few surprises since they have a limited number of opponents in Ames. The tournament committee is hopeful that they will come back next year and we’ll seed them into a more appropriate bracket. The consolation final pitted two students from MSU’s Introduction to Handball class. As usual, the new competitors learned what a good workout tournament matches are compared to playing for 45 minutes twice a week during class. Congrats to Bob Quinn who defeated Ryan Garbers. With the class tournament starting this week, Ryan may get his chance to return the favor.

B Singles

· Chris Hazelton bye;

· Dylan Mayasich d. Ryan Garbers (19), 15, 7;

· Rebecca Cole d. Kate Quiram 8, 9;

· Jon Nuytten d. Jon Miller 3, 3;

· Joe Nordahl d. Jacob Bohrod (8), 20, 6;

· Andrew Schneider d. Jared Van Dorpe (16), 18, 7;

· Aaron Grimmer d. Bob Quinn 5, 18;

· Ryan Pesch d. Tony Olson 1, 2;

Quarter-finals:

· Hazelton d. Mayasich 2, 7; Nuytten d. Cole 14, 7;

· Schneider d. Nordahl 14, 19; Pesch d. Grimmer 5, 1;

Semi-finals:

· Hazelton d. Nuytten 3, 7; Pesch d. Schneider 1, 3;

Finals:

· Pesch d. Hazelton 14, 20.

Consolation:

· Quinn d. Garbers 6, 12.

The youth tournament on Friday night featured several young players who have been participants in John Stoffel’s youth classes on Sunday at the YMCA. All the participants received youth sized MSU Handball shirts and gift certificates to the WOW Zone in Mankato donated by John. Adrian Anderson defeated Tyler Hatelstad in the championship match. Some of these competitors will be travelling with John to the youth national tournament in December. The MSU Handball Club anxiously awaits the arrival of some of these players once they reach college.