Lakeland Mirror

Issue date: 3/1/07 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Brian Moser Sophomore Matt Rutlin was named Lake Michigan Conference's Rookie of the Year for the 2006 tennis season. He is pictured serving againg Aurora. In the conference championship, Matt took third place in #1 singles and #1 doubles.

Matt Rutlin laid on the ground with a towel over his head and an icepack on the inside of his upper leg alleviating the pain from his pulled hamstring while he waited for the announcement of the awards at the Lake Michigan Conference Championship last April.

Rookie of the Year was announced, followed by Matt's name. He took the towel off his head and looked at tennis coach, Ben Oestreich. "Ben told me to get up there," Matt recalls.

"He made an immediate impact on our team," Oestreich said. "He was just hands down the best new player."

"That was pretty sweet!" Matt said. "It was a surprise. You don't realize you did that well until the end."

All this was accomplished by a guy who started playing tennis his junior year in high school and was set to come to Lakeland before talking to the tennis coach. "I heard he was a tennis player and he was all set to come here. And, wham, he was here," Oestreich said. "He was a great surprise."

Then, a freshman, Matt was named number one singles and number one doubles, partnering with fellow freshman, Josh Larson.

The 2006 men's tennis team was mostly made up of seniors. "It was kind of intimidating to be recognized as number one singles player as a freshman," Matt said.

In the LMC championship Matt (seeded second) lost in the first round of both number one singles and number one doubles. Fighting back in the second round Matt placed third in both divisions.

Lakeland College placed second with 13 points in the championship. Concordia University of Wisconsin took first place for the seventh year in a row.

Tennis isn't the only thing Matt has on his plate. "I worry that he stretches himself too thin," Oestreich said about Matt's many activities. "He's done a good job prioritizing and taking care of himself."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools