By Hannah Stewart ’12, A&E Section Editor
On Saturday, May 28th, Patrick Wildman concluded his first high school tennis season with an outstanding 3rd place finish at the state tournament. After losing the day before to Chris Diaz (a Columbus Bishop Watterson senior who will play at Ohio State) who beat Joey Fritz ’10 in his own state run last year, Wildman played in a consolation match against sophomore James Trevino of Tippecanoe.
Unfavorably windy conditions, and Trevino’s slick trick shots and hard hits initially got the best of Wildman (he would later say,”It was my worst match of the tournament”). However, Wildman remarkably won 4 games in a row to be ahead 7-5 and eliminate Trevino’s 5-3 lead, embodying Matt Detkas’ (the new tennis coach for boys’ tennis at Cincinnati Country Day School) observation that Wildman has a “competitive fire” and had a great end to “an incredible year”. At the end of the set, Trevino withdrew due to a previous injury.
Coach Matt Detkas is full of praise for Wildman’s sportmanship; he represents “the school with class” and successfully balances his “competitive fire” with his “understated” personality, which is notable considering the ego and easy temper common in the sport of tennis, and in high school sports in general.
Patrick Wildman was admittedly frustrated by Trevino’s withdrawal, since he “hates winning” that way, but the outcome likely would have stayed the same if Trevino did not withdraw. Wildman beat Trevino earlier in a match required merely to determine seedings for the state tournament.
Despite Wildman’s 3rd place finish at the Division II state tournament and sweeping win at districts, his goals remain practical- for next year, he just hopes to “do his best.” After all, he reasons, he came into this season with the same mindset, so it must be working.
In spite of Wildman’s sweeping freshman success, he is quick to brush off any comparisons with Cincinnati Country Day alum and state champion Joey Fritz ’10 (who now plays at Amherst College), saying his shoes would be “tough to fill” since he’s “so good.”
Photo courtesy of Patrick Wildman
