Spartan Men’s Tennis Recruit Louie Stuerke Joins Team as a State Champion
WICHITA, Kan. – Louie Stuerke will join the Case Western Reserve University men's tennis team this fall, and the incoming freshman from Blue Valley Northwest High School (Overland Park, Kansas) will already have a major award included in his bio.
Earlier this month, Stuerke teamed with Max Katcher to win the Kansas Class 6A Boys State Doubles Championship.
The duo won the title in the most improbable of fashions. Having already lost three times earlier in the season to their finals opponent, Stuerke and Katcher rallied from a 2-0 deficit in the decisive third set to defeat top-seeded Jackson O'Gorman-Bean and Jake Glazer from Shawnee Mission East.
"We told ourselves at the beginning of the third set that we have absolutely no pressure on us," said Stuerke. "They beat us three times before this so all the pressure was on them."
Spartan Head Coach Todd Wojtkowski has compared the newest addition to his roster to 2012 graduate Sean Carr, as Stuerke only began playing tennis two years ago.
Carr joined the program in 2009 in a similar fashion with only a few years of playing experience, and he would eventually play in the No. 1 spot in Case's singles lineup in addition to finishing his career in the top-five in program history in wins.
"Louie is very underrated, and his potential is sky-high," said Wojtkowski. "The state title is only the tip of the iceberg, and we are expecting great things from him in the coming years."
The No. 17 nationally-ranked Spartans recently finished one of the best seasons in program history with a 15-8 overall record and a third-place finish in the University Athletic Association – tying the best performance in program history. The team also produced the UAA Rookie of the Year as well as qualifiers for both the singles and doubles portion of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. All three feats were team firsts.
Note: Above photo and Class 6A Championship information courtesy of CatchiTKansas.com.
