Peckham, Chavez drop two at state tennis tourney

Glenwood seniors Cole Peckham and Max Chavez took their 9-4 doubles record into the Class 1A State Tennis Doubles Tournament Friday in Waterloo as the No. 6 seed.

Max Chavez (pictured here) and Cole Peckham became the Rams second doubles team to ever make the state tennis tournament.

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Glenwood’s Cole Peckham combined with teammate Max Chavez to go 9-6 in doubles this season.

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Peckham and Chavez lost their first match of the tournament to the LeMars tandem of Matt Ellefson and Josh Sluiter 7-6 (10-8), 6-3.

In their second match of the day, in the Class 1A consolation bracket, Peckham and Chavez faced off against the duo of C.J. Cliff and Gable Lonning. The Decorah tandem, which was seeded fourth entering the tournament, downed Peckham and Chavez 6-0, 6-1. Cliff and Lonning went on to win their next four matches in a row to win fifth place in the tournament.

Glenwood coach Kevin Tucker thought his top doubles team acquitted themselves well at state despite the two losses.

“Their first set of their first match at state was the best they have played all year long,” Tucker said. “As their coach that was all I could ask for and I couldn’t be more proud of their effort and attitude at the state tournament. The two worked well together on the court and should hold their heads high for their accomplishments.”

Peckham and Chavez are just the second boys doubles team to qualify for the state tournament.

Both ended their senior season’s undefeated in singles with 7-0 records. Both Peckham and Chavez went 7-0 in singles which is an amazing accomplishment for only playing two seasons in the varsity lineup.

“These two have meant a lot to this team, combined they gave our team 23 victories on the season,” Tucker said.