Lions tennis featured in Community Press
New Richmond leads west Clermont tennis scene
By Tom Skeen, Community Press
What a run it has been for the New Richmond boys’ tennis team and coach Rylan Shebesta.
The Lions have won back-to-back Southern Buckeye Conference American Division championships and have three SBC titles in Shebesta’s five years at the helm. The coach has posted a winning record each year at New Richmond and is coming off a year in which his team went 9-1 inside the conference and 12-6 overall.
If the Lions were to make it a conference title three-peat in 2013, it would surprise no one.
Shebesta returns six starters, including SBC American Division first-team singles player David Ohntrup and second-team doubles players Matt Rydzewski and Zach Manning.
Other returning seniors include Henry Heidlage, Ben Green and Evan McKinley.
One guy to keep an eye on is Newton McCullom. The senior played more of a fill-in role last season, but Shebesta expects McCullom to see more of the court this season and play a bigger role.
“(Newton) filled in nicely when a player was sick and he helped win some key matches,” the coach said.
Coming off a season where he was crowned American Division Coach of the Year for the second time in as many years, Shebesta now posts a career record of 65-15 in his five seasons at New Richmond.
With six starting seniors returning, Shebesta can expect to add to his win total in 2013.
“My varsity team, more than likely, will be all returning seniors from last year,” he said. “Six out of the seven guys played the majority of the matches last year.”
The Lions get their season started April 1 at home with a non-league match against Blanchester.