Blue Devils' Bennage state tennis champ

By Billy Woods

WM School District

West Memphis junior Carlson Bennage wasn't about to let the moment get away from him.

As Bennage was about to take on foreign exchange student Orest Los of Siloam Springs for the Class 6A state boys singles championship, he thought about last year when he faced off against Los in the state's consolation round.

"I was really confident this time because my game has taken a strong step forward since last year," said Bennage. "I'd watched (Los) play in his semifinal match and I knew my game was going to be good enough to get it done."

Bennage swept Los 6-3 and 6-1 last Tuesday to win the state title. He is thought to be the first-ever West Memphian to win the boys singles state championship.

It was an overall great day for the Blue Devil boys. The doubles team of Kaiden Holt and Wallace Crain won third place to give West Memphis enough points to be declared state runners-up.

"This is very satisfying because I'm not sure the West Memphis boys have ever finished runners-up in the state tournament before," said Blue Devil coach Kevin Holt. "Our guys played great tennis for two days."

Bennage lost to Los last year in the match for third place in the state tournament. This time, Bennage said, he wasn't going to let it happen again.

"I just had to keep calm because (Los) starts off strong," said Bennage. "He got off to an early 2-0 lead on me in the first set. I had to stay focused and start moving him around a little bit. I kept moving him from corner to corner and that allowed me to play a lot more aggressive."

Turns out, Bennage wasn't even tested through the entire bracket. As the 6A-East Conference champion he was given a first-round bye. He then easily dispatched Searcy's Davis Threlkeld 6-0 and 6-2 before defeating David Woodring of Greenwood 6-3 and 6-4 in the semifinals.

As Bennage alluded to, his game went to another level from last season. He noted the tutelage of both his long-time personal coach Bob Spillman from the University Club in Memphis and Holt, who has put in long hours with the entire team in anticipation of his boys getting a shot at winning the team state title.

Another factor was Bennage's growth spurt, from 5-foot-6 a year ago to 5-10 this year.

"I was actually pretty confident coming into this year," said Bennage. "Both my coaches have done wonders for my game, so I gotta give it up to them. My shots have been more accurate and more powerful this year because I've grown a few inches."

Now Bennage advances to today's Overall state tournament. The top two finishers in each classification advance to the Overall. As of press time, Bennage's seeding was not yet known.

"No matter how I do (in the Overall), I'm just honored to be there," Bennage added.

Kaiden Holt and Crain put up a strong run for the doubles title. They outlasted Casey Hammons and Tanner Leonard of Searcy in the quarterfinals 4-6, 6-4 and 6-3. In the semifinals, the West Memphians lost to Evan Hurt and Jonathan Barber of Jonesboro 3-6, 6-3 and 6-4.

In the consolation bracket, Holt and Crain defeated Dillon Rea and Matthew Kelly of Searcy 8-4.

"I'm very proud of Kaiden and Wallace," said Coach Holt. "They both played great the week before at the conference tournament. The good thing about is these guys have gotten so much better every year. That speaks volumes about their progress."