Big South 2A/3A Tennis: Player of the year Charlie Schuls of Forestview hoping for more state tournament success

MOUNT HOLLY — As a freshman, Forestview's Charlie Schuls came into the 3A West regional finals unseeded last spring and won the tournament, advancing all the way to the quarterfinals of the state tournament in his first year playing at the varsity level. 

Since, then Schuls has stayed at the top of his game. He won the Big South 2A/3A Conference player of the year for the second consecutive season in 2016. Thursday, he adefeated Ashbrook's Will Niemeyer 6-1, 6-0 at East Gaston High School to close out the conference season undefeated. 

The Jaguars sophomore picked up a racket when he was young. He's been playing since he was 5 or 6 years old, and has found immediate success since joining the high school ranks. 

Schuls is hoping he can repeat at regionals and advance a bit further at the state tournament this season than he did last year. He'll be joined at the regional tournament by Niemeyer and East Gaston's Matthew Benner, after Benner defeated South Point's Trevor Pace 6-4, 6-1 Thursday to take the third singles spot. Benner lost to Niemeyer 6-3, 3-6, 10-8 in a tough match Tuesday in the semifinals. 

"Yesterday, I had a rough day, so today was a good turnout for me," Benner said.

In doubles, South Point's Sam Killen and Neeral Patel took the top 3A spot, defeating Forestview's Hayes Cloninger and Griffin Harwell Thursday 6-2, 6-4. The Red Raiders duo just started playing together this year, and hit their stride once conference play started, finishing 6-1 on the season. The third doubles regional spot will go to Forestview's Locke McKenzie and Connor McIlveen after they defeated Ashbrook's Solomon Collins and Nick Frez in a tightly contested match, 3-6, 6-3, and 10-0 in a tiebreaker set. 

Regional spots for the 2A portion of the conference were determined Tuesday at Stuart Cramer High School: Singles champion Adam Nesnow of Huss, Brandon Fox of Lake Norman Charter and two Stuart Cramer doubles teams (Jacob Dyksterhouse & Crocker Barker, with Spencer Childers & Bradley Parrish) earned regional berths. 

Big South 3A Championship Bracket (Wednesday and Thursday, East Gaston High School) 

Big South 2A Championship Bracket (Wednesday, Stuart Cramer High School) 

Singles

Regional tournament information: 

3A West - Jaycee Park, Hickory, May 6-7

Singles qualifiers

Charlie Schuls (Forestview)

Will Niemeyer (Ashbrook)

Matthew Benner (East Gaston)

Doubles qualifiers

Sam Killen & Neeral Patel (South Point) 

Hayes Cloninger & Griffin Harwell (Forestview)

Locke McKenzie & Connor McIlveen (Forestview)

2A West - Gardner Webb University, Boiling Springs, May 6-7

Singles qualifiers

Adam Nesnow (Hunter Huss) 

Brandon Fox (Lake Norman Charter) 

Doubles qualifiers

Jacob Dyksterhouse & Crocker Barker (Stuart Cramer)

Spencer Childers & Bradley Parrish (Stuart Cramer)

2016 Big South 2A/3A All-Conference Team

Charlie Schuls-Forestview (Player of the Year)

Sam Killen-South Point

Jacob Dyksterhouse-Stuart Cramer

Adam Nesnow-Hunter Huss

Hayes Cloninger-Forestview

Neeral Patel-South Point

Bradley Parrish-Stuart Cramer

Drew Palasick-Lake Norman Charter

Will Niemeyer-Ashbrook

Griffin Harwell-Forestview

Trevor Pace-South Point

Justin Fulcomer-Forestview

Adam Spach-Ashbrook

Bryce Walton-Ashbrook

Brandon Fox-Lake Norman Charter

Coach of the year: Laura Taylor-Stuart Cramer