A New Century
Mid-Illini Conference Boys Tennis:  2000-2023
Conference Experiences Unprecedented Success

The last twenty-two years have been extraordinarily successful for the boys tennis teams in the Mid-Illini Conference.  The annual race for the conference championship has been remarkably tight year in and year out, while the the top teams have enjoyed post-season successes that had never before been achieved by Mid-Illini teams.

Prior to 2000, Mid-Illini boys tennis teams had captured exactly two post-season plaques in conference history, Morton’s 1970 district title and Dunlap’s 1999 sectional championship.  That all changed during the last twenty-three years, though, as Metamora, Morton, and Dunlap combined to capture an astonishing thirty-three sectional titles (Metamora – fourteen, Morton – ten, Dunlap – nine).  The conference highlight featured all three schools winning sectional crowns in 2009 at three different Central Illinois locations.

By the Numbers (2000-2023)

FIRST TEAM

Will Koehrsen – 4-time sectional champion (3 singles, 1 doubles), 4-time state qualifier, 4-time conference singles champion, first team all-state (doubles), second team all-state (singles) honorable mention all-state (singles), 4-time Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year.

Fletcher Koehrsen – 4-time state qualifier, 4-time conference doubles champion, first team all-state (doubles), third team all-state (doubles), honorable mention all-state (doubles).

Mitchell Nguyen – 2-time sectional champion (1 singles, 1 doubles), 4-time state qualifier, 4-time conference champion (twice at #1 doubles, twice at #2 singles).

Grant Reiman – 3-time sectional doubles champion, 4-time state qualifier, conference doubles champion, first team all-state (doubles), second team all-state (doubles).

Trent Reiman – 3-time sectional doubles champion, 4-time state qualifier, first team all-state (doubles), second team all-state (doubles).

Victor Spolidorio – 3-time sectional singles champion, 4-time state qualifier, 3-time conference singles champion, first team all-state (singles), second team all-state (singles), singles state champion (Class 1A), 3-time Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year.

Players of the Decade (2000-2010)

FIRST TEAM

Brock Reiman – 3-time sectional champion (2 singles, 1 doubles), 4-time state qualifier, 4-time conference singles champion, second team all-state (singles), 2-time Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year.

Stephan Rauh – 3-time sectional champion (1 singles, 2 doubles), 4-time state qualifier, 1-time conference singles champion, 1-time conference doubles champion, 2-time second team all-state (once each in singles and doubles) 1-time Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year.

Jordan Nestrud – 1-time sectional singles champion, 3-time state qualifier, 2-time conference singles champion, second team all-state (singles), 2-time Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year.

Kyle Shoff – 1-time sectional doubles champion, 4-time state qualifier, 2-time conference doubles champion, third team all-state (doubles).

David Stewart – 3-time sectional doubles champion, 4-time state qualifier, 2-time conference doubles champion, 2-time second team all-state (doubles).

Joe Withers – 2-time sectional doubles champion, 3-time state qualifier, second team all-state (doubles).

SEASON BY SEASON RECAP

Please enjoy a brief recap of each season below and marvel at the intense competition that transpired during the league’s all-time best tennis decade.

2000  (Conference Champion – MORTON)

After Dunlap had rolled through the league in its debut Mid-Illini season of 1999, Morton rebounded with a squad that went undefeated in dual matches and won the league tournament.  The Potters were led by foreign exchange student Orlando Simas and the doubles team of Pat Lowder and Drew Vicary.  Morton defeated Dunlap twice, both by the count of 5-4, on its way to the league title.  It would be the last time until 2009 that a team went unbeaten in Mid-Illini duals and also won the conference tournament.  It would also be the last time in the decade that at least one Mid-Illini team did not win a sectional plaque.

Conference Singles Champion – Orlando Simas (Morton)
Conference Doubles Champions – Pat Lowder and Drew Vicary (Morton)

2001  (Conference Champion – DUNLAP, Sectional Champion – DUNLAP)

Despite losing once each to Metamora and Morton, the 2001 Eagle tennis team captured the Mid-Illini title on the strength of its conference tournament showing.  Dunlap’s top of the line-up in 2001 consisted of stand-out juniors Jared Kunkle and Greg Davis, who won three rounds in the main draw of the state tournament.  The Morton doubles team of Nate Ogden and Pat Lowder won two rounds in the main draw before running into the state’s #1 seed in the third round.  Washington foreign exchange student Mario Panzic went undefeated in the regular season, capturing the Mid-Illini and sectional singles titles.

Conference Singles Champion – Mario Panzic (Washington)
Conference Doubles Champions – Jared Kunkle and Greg Davis (Dunlap)

2002  (Conference Champion – DUNLAP, Sectional Champion – DUNLAP)

The ’02 Mid-Illini race was as competitive as ever, with Metamora, Dunlap, and Morton each winning once and losing once against each other.  That made the conference tournament the deciding event, and Dunlap emerged as the champion in the only year the league played a six singles, three doubles format for the tournament.  The Eagles won their second consecutive sectional title, winning by a single point over Metamora.  Seniors Jared Kunkle and Greg Davis, despite finishing second at the conference tournament, earned the league’s first ever top eight finish at the state meet, finishing 7th / 8th in the doubles bracket.

Conference Singles Champion – Andrew Martin (Morton)
Conference Doubles Champion – Andrew Martin and Jeff Schmidgall (Morton)

2003  (Conference Champion – METAMORA, Sectional Champion – METAMORA)

Metamora and Morton both finished 9-1 in the Mid-Illini in ’03, with each winning on the other’s home courts.  Metamora swept all four flights of the league tournament, though, to capture the crown.  The ’03 Metamora team was the first Mid-Illini squad to sweep the conference tournament since the 2 singles, 2 doubles format began.  The Redbirds went on to capture the Peoria Sectional for the first time in school history, while Morton came within an eyelash of winning the Bloomington Sectional.

Conference Singles Champion – Ty Wyffels (Metamora)
Conference Doubles Champion – Kyle Shoff and Joe Harris (Metamora)

2004  (Conference Champion – MORTON, Sectional Champions – METAMORA and MORTON)

The ’04 season was a strange one in the Mid-Illini.  Dunlap beat Morton twice.  Morton beat Metamora twice.  Metamora beat Dunlap twice.  Morton’s come from behind win over Metamora (after trailing 4 matches to 1) allowed the race to be all tied heading into the conference tournament.  At the conference tournament, the Potters outscored the Redbirds, 20-17, to capture the title.  Post-season play brought tremendous results, as both Metamora and Morton captured sectional titles.  Morton’s win ended a 27-year streak of sectional domination by the Bloomington boys tennis team.  The conference also had great doubles success at the state meet.  Metamora’s Kyle Shoff and Nate Rauh won three matches in the main draw before losing to the eventual state champions in the round of 16; Dunlap’s Joe Withers and Jeff Bucher, who had lost three times to Shoff and Rauh, upset the #1 seed at the state tournament, advancing all the way to the quarterfinals before being eliminated.

Conference Singles Champion – Jordan Nestrud (Morton)
Conference Doubles Champion – Kyle Shoff and Nate Rauh (Metamora)

2005  (Conference Champion – MORTON, Sectional Champion – MORTON)

The 2005 season was one of the strangest in memory, as Dunlap had arguably the league’s best team but did not win the title.  The Eagles beat Morton in both dual matches but suffered their only loss of the season late in the year to Metamora.  That allowed the Potters to sneak past Dunlap by winning the conference tournament.  Remarkably, Morton was now 0-4 against Dunlap in the last two years but had won both conference championships.  Jordan Nestrud finished in the state’s top 16 singles players, and Dunlap’s Joe Withers and Jeff Bucher were seeded in the top eight but finished 13th – 16th.  The Mid-Illini had a record seven players alive on the second day of the state meet, as Metamora’s Nate Rauh, John Armstrong, and Mike Axelson joined the three players mentioned above plus Morton’s Brent Belser on day two.  The sectional titles really started piling up, as Nestrud (Morton), Rauh (Metamora), and Withers and Bucher (Dunlap) all won championships.

Conference Singles Champion – Jordan Nestrud (Morton)
Conference Doubles Champion – Paul O’Connor and Jeff Bucher (Dunlap)

2006  (Conference Champion – MORTON, Sectional Champion – MORTON)

The 2006 Mid-Illini Conference race was yet another tight one, as the conference championship came down to the third set of the final match of the conference tournament.  Morton freshman Brock Reiman won the singles title in a thrilling three-set match over Metamora’s Nick Vaughn to secure the title for the Potters.  Dunlap, which had entered the tournament tied with Morton, settled for second place.  Morton won its third straight sectional crown, and the Mid-Illini had two doubles teams earn all-state recognition (Brock and Ty Reiman were third team while Nick Vaughn and Tyler Lampe were honorable mention).  Reiman became the league’s first freshman to ever capture the conference singles championship.

Conference Singles Champion – Brock Reiman (Morton)
Conference Doubles Champion – Brett Massey and Mike LaHood (Morton)

2007  (Conference Champion – METAMORA, Sectional Champions – METAMORA and MORTON)

2007 witnessed the emergence of Metamora’s talented class of 2010, as four freshmen and two juniors propelled the Redbirds to the league title.  Morton entered the conference tournament unbeaten, but Metamora pulled off an improbable tournament championship, edging Morton 23-22 in the final standings for the day.  The Redbirds had to win the final three matches on the courts to win the league.  This was also the first year that Metamora was sent to the Ottawa Sectional for post-season play.  That allowed all three Mid-Illini powers to compete in a different sectional.  Morton and Metamora both captured sectional crowns, with Brock Reiman winning the singles draw in Bloomington and Tyler Lampe and Stephan Rauh winning the doubles draw in Ottawa.  Reiman completed his year by finishing in the state’s top 16 the next weekend.

Conference Singles Champion – Brock Reiman (Morton)
Conference Doubles Champion – Tyler Lampe and Stephan Rauh (Metamora)

2008  (Conference Champion – METAMORA, Sectional Champions – METAMORA and MORTON)

Metamora and Morton both fielded phenomenal tennis teams in 2008, and Dunlap wasn’t far behind.  The Redbirds nearly went through the league unbeaten; Morton upended Metamora 5-4 in the last dual of the season after the Potters’ Phil Reinken fought off eleven match points in the final match of the night to defeat Metamora’s Ryan Donnelly.  Donnelly would redeem himself a few days later, though, when he won the final match of the conference tournament over Morton’s Michael Christison in three sets to clinch the conference title for the Redbirds.  Both Metamora and Morton won sectional titles again in 2008, with the Redbirds piling up 32 points and qualifying all six players and the Potters scoring 30 points and qualifying five young men.  Doubles results were amazing, as Metamora’s, Morton’s, and Dunlap’s doubles teams each finished a perfect first and second in their respective sectionals.

Conference Singles Champion – Brock Reiman (Morton)
Conference Doubles Champion – Alex Clark and Martin O’Connor (Dunlap)

2009  (Conference Champion – METAMORA, Sectional Champions – METAMORA, MORTON, and DUNLAP)

Metamora rolled through the ’09 campaign unbeaten and won the conference tournament, representing the first time in nine years that a team had accomplished both feats.  The Redbirds won only one conference match by a score of less than 9-0.  However, both Morton and Dunlap were plenty good — good enough to win their sectional tournaments and give the Mid-Illini an unprecedented three team sectional champions.  Pekin also fielded its best team in years and is poised to begin the new decade in style, challenging the big three for conference supremacy.  Morton’s Brock Reiman finished his tremendous four-year run, winning his fourth straight league singles title.  It didn’t come without a great effort, however, as he suffered his only Mid-Illini loss of his career a few days prior to the conference tournament to Metamora’s Stephan Rauh.  Rauh and David Stewart finished the year in the state’s top 16 doubles teams, earning second team all-state, while Reiman ended his high school days with a fourth consecutive all-state certificate.

Conference Singles Champion – Brock Reiman (Morton)
Conference Doubles Champion – David Stewart and Nate Wilson (Metamora)

2010  (Conference Champion – METAMORA, Sectional Champion – METAMORA)

Metamora had the best Mid-Illini team to date in the new century in 2010, rolling through the league unbeaten for the second straight year.  Not only did the Redbirds win every league match, but they won every one by a count of 9-0.  All four flights of the conference tournament were captured by Redbirds as well, as Metamora dropped only 14 games in the entire conference tournament.  Metamora went on to obliterate the field at the Peoria Sectional and finished an amazing 10th place in Illinois the next weekend.  Metamora senior Stephan Rauh earned second team all-state in singles, while teammates David Stewart and Nate Wilson earned second team status in doubles.  The Redbirds won their fourth straight Mid-Illini title, becoming the first school to do so since Dunlap joined the league in 1999.

Conference Singles Champion – Stephan Rauh (Metamora)
Conference Doubles Champion – David Stewart and Nate Wilson (Metamora)

2011  (Conference Champion – METAMORA, Sectional Champions – METAMORA and MORTON)

The 2011 Mid-Illini race was another good one, as four-time defending champion Metamora made it five in a row with an unbeaten league campaign.  The Redbirds played with six new players from the year before but were still able to defeat all challengers.  Morton was back to its old form, sporting a terrific team of mostly underclassmen.  The Potters joined the Redbirds in capturing post-season sectional plaques.  Metamora, after scoring a remarkable 34 points at the Richwoods Sectional, went on to finish 15th at the state tournament the next weekend.  Freshman Will Koehrsen finished in the state’s top 32 singles players and was named the Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year.

Conference Singles Champion – Will Koehrsen (Metamora)
Conference Doubles Champion – Mitchell Nguyen and Quinn Vaughn (Metamora)

2012  (Conference Champion – METAMORA, Sectional Champions – METAMORA and MORTON)

Metamora won its sixth consecutive Mid-Illini championship in 2012, but it was not without a great struggle.  The Morton Potters severely challenged the Redbirds, finishing the dual season unbeaten.  It took a herculean effort by Metamora in the conference tournament to clinch the overall league title.  The Redbirds and Potters went on to both easily capture sectional titles (Metamora’s sixth straight) and finished 14th and 15th, respectively, at the state tournament, the highest finishes by any “small” schools.  Morton sophomores Trent and Grant Reiman earned second team all-state status in doubles, while Metamora’s Quinn Vaughn (sr) and Christoph Goettler (jr) were named to the third team.  Redbird singles star Will Koehrsen (soph) earned honorable mention all-state status in singles and was the repeat Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year.

Conference Singles Champion – Will Koehrsen (Metamora)
Conference Doubles Champion – Christoph Goettler and Quinn Vaughn (Metamora)

2013 (Conference Champion – MORTON, Sectional Champion – MORTON)

Morton ended Metamora’s domination of the Mid-Illini Conference in 2013, eeking out a conference title by the slimmest of margins.  The Potters entered the league tournament unbeaten but had to stage a giant rally at the end of the tournament to tie Metamora for the tournament crown.  Based on the dual result, the Potters won the league for the first time since 2006.  Metamora and Morton both went on to have successful state tournament runs, with the Redbirds finishing 14th and the Potters 22nd in the team standings.  Metamora’s Christoph Goettler and Will Koehrsen were the first medalists in league history, finishing 6th in the doubles state tournament.  Morton’s Trent and Grant Reiman also had a terrific state meet, finishing in the 9th-12th place grouping.  Goettler and Koehrsen were named first team all-state, while the Reiman twins were on the second team.  Will Koehrsen was named the Peoria Journal Star Player of the Year for the third consecutive season.

Conference Singles Champion – Will Koehrsen (Metamora)
Conference Doubles Champion – Grant Reiman and Jonah Laktas (Morton)

2014 (Conference Champion – METAMORA, Sectional Champions – METAMORA and MORTON)

The Redbirds returned to the top of the Mid-Illini heap in 2014 with an unbeaten league campaign and a sweep of all four flights of the league tournament.  Morton seniors Trent and Grant Reiman finished 5th in the state doubles tournament, earning the first medals in the history of Morton High.  The duo was named first team all-state as a result of their accomplishment.  Metamora’s Will Koehrsen won his fourth straight conference and fourth straight sectional title and was the first top 8 state singles seed in Mid-Illini history; he finished in the top 12 and was named second team all-state in singles.  He was also the Peoria Journal Star  Player of the Year for a record fourth straight year.  All six Redbird players won individual Mid-Illini titles (#1 singles – Will Koehrsen, #2 singles – Ryan Willard, #1 doubles – Mitchell Nguyen and Fletcher Koehrsen, #2 doubles – Tyler Ngo and Nick Becker).  The conference tournament sweep was only the third all-time (Metamora – 2003, 2010, 2014).

Conference Singles Champion – Will Koehrsen (Metamora)
Conference Doubles Champion – Mitchell Nguyen and Fletcher Koehrsen (Metamora)

2015 (Conference Champion – METAMORA)

The 2015 Mid-Illini season featured many fresh faces, as four-year stand-outs Will Koehrsen and Mitchell Nguyen (Metamora) and Grant and Trent Reiman (Morton) had graduated in 2014.  Dunlap looked to be the team to beat, as the Eagles were led by singles sensation Victor Spolidorio and a talented supporting cast.  Dunlap swept through the league with a perfect 6-0 record, its first unbeaten Mid-Illini campaign since its first year in the league (1999).  However, Metamora turned things up a notch at the conference tournament, winning three of the four divisions to capture a second straight league title and eighth in the last nine years.  The championship marked the ninth straight year Metamora had won the tournament (the Redbirds tied Morton in 2013) and denied Dunlap its first league title in 13 years.  For the first time since 2000, no Mid-Illini team won a sectional team championship, although Spolidorio and Morton’s Chandler Stimpert each won sectional singles titles.  Spolidorio was named third team all-state in singles, while Metamora’s Fletcher Koehrsen and Ryan Willard were named to the all-state doubles team.  Spolidorio also continued the Mid-Illini’s streak of Peoria Journal Star Players of the Year, the seventh straight winner from the league and first non-Metamora winner since 2009.

Conference Singles Champion – Victor Spolidorio (Dunlap)
Conference Doubles Champion – Fletcher Koehrsen and Carsten Boast (Metamora)