We’re baaacckkk!!!

Delta ended a five-year losing streak against Culver Military Academy by winning 4-1 on Saturday afternoon at the Culver courts.

Delta and Culver first met in the 2014 state finals and have been playing annual regular-season matches ever since. Delta now leads the all-time series 8-5, although Culver had dominated in recent years (1-4 in 2021, 1-4 in 2022, 1-4 in 2023, 0-5 in 2024, and 1-4 in 2025).

Delta, ranked 7th, swept 11th-ranked Culver in all three singles positions.

At No. 1 singles, Jackson Darby won 6-4, 6-4 over junior James Bartelme (Peoria, Illinois), who was an IHSAA doubles state runner-up a year ago.

At No. 2 singles, Charlie Vannatter controlled his senior Mexican opponent, Juan Pablo Sotelo, 6-2, 6-1.

At No. 3 singles, Luke Atkinson breezed to a 6-0, 6-1 victory over junior Nick Langenburg of Manhattan Beach, Calif.

The doubles matches were much more difficult.

At No. 1 doubles, Tyce Dishman and Brandon Grubbs faced a tough test from senior Matas Latvys of Chicago and his partner sophomore Emiliano Leon from Mexico.  (Latvys played No. 1 singles for part of last season at Culver with his highlight being a third-set tiebreak loss to IHSAA state singles champ Joe Garrean of Homestead.)

Dishman and Grubbs won 7-5, 5-7, 6-1 and now have a  5-1 record for the season.  And they have put together that record against some tough opposition as five of their six matches have been against state-ranked teams.

The No. 2 doubles match also went three sets.  Easton Duckworth and Kiptyn Schwartz were up against junior Aaron Coon from Saudi Arabia and senior Arturo Paredes of Mexico.  (Paredes beat Luke Atkinson at No. 3 singles last season in three sets.)   Duckworth and Schwartz won the opening set 6-3 before falling 3-6 and 1-6 in the last two sets.  Duckworth is 4-2 this season against many strong opponents. He has played four matches with Schwartz and two with Roman Ashcraft.  None of those players have played varsity before so these matches have been a learning curve as we continue to gain on-the-job training.

Culver will be adding one more player to their varsity soon.  Emiliano Ornelas of El Paso, Texas, was an IHSAA doubles state runner-up last season and will arrive on campus this week and is expected to help shore up the singles lineup this season.

At the JV level, Delta gained a 9-6 win as all team members got to play a match.

Cooper Coutinho won at JV No. 1 singles in three sets. Other singles winners were Austin Carrigan and Jason Ogle.

Doubles winners were Owen Zacek/Roman Ashcraft in three sets, Jacob Tokar/Denys Krushenytskyi, Graham Hartman/Karson Preston, Grant Durkovich/Kiptyn Berry, Jonah Swift/Stanley Hutchens, and Teagon Condie/Cohen Williams.

In addition to the on-court success, the Culver trip was a tremendous experience.  The weather was perfect with 80 degrees and light winds.

Delta played 3rd-ranked South Bend St. Joseph in a tough morning match (3-2 varsity loss and 8-0 JV win) and then Culver treated the entire team and all parents and fans to lunch in the student dining hall.

After the Culver match, the team set up camp down by Lake Maxinkuckee for pizza, s’mores, swimming, cornhole and football as well as birthday cake for Graham Hartman.

A huge highlight was the Culver lacrosse coach and 10 members of his team putting on a lacrosse demonstration for our team.  Culver lacrosse is ranked No. 2 in the nation. Their goalie and an attacker are among the top high school lacrosse players with the goalie soon headed to Duke University and the attacker committed to Princeton University (#1 ranked among colleges).

The attacker demonstrated his 105-mph shot!  All of the Delta team members had a chance to practice throwing and catching skills on the lacrosse field.

Culver, which has an enrollment of about 830 students from throughout the United States and internationally, specializes in leadership and character development.  Room and board and tuition is about $70,000 per year.

Next up for Delta is a key Hoosier Heritage Conference match against Greenfield-Central.  This will be our home opener at 5:15 p.m. Tuesday.  Then this coming weekend the varsity Eagles will be at the Fort Wayne Carroll Invitational, which will feature #2 Hamilton Southeastern as well as state-ranked FW Carroll and Cathedral.  DeKalb, Homestead, Huntington North and FW Canterbury also are in the tournament.  The draw will be announced early this week.

Complete Results

Varsity

DELTA 4, CULVER ACADEMY 1

Singles

1. Jackson Darby def. James Bartelme, 6-4, 6-4
2. Charlie Vannatter def. Juan Pablo Sotelo, 6-2, 6-1
3. Luke Atkinson def. Nick Langenburg, 6-0, 6-1

Doubles

1. Tyce Dishman / Brandon Grubbs def. Matas Latvys / Emiliano Leon, 7-5, 5-7, 6-1
2. Easton Duckworth / Kiptyn Schwartz lost to Arturo Paredes / Aaron Coon, 6-3, 3-6, 1-6

Junior Varsity

DELTA 9, CULVER ACADEMY 6

Singles

1. Cooper Coutinho won 4-6, 6-2, 6-3
2. Jensen Moody lost 2-6, 0-6
3. Drew Durkovich lost 2-6, 5-7
4. Austin Carrigan won 8-5
5. Hayden Case lost 5-8
6. Jason Ogle won 8-1
7. Evan Lindburgh lost 0-8

Doubles

1. Owen Zacek / Roman Ashcraft won 6-4, 5-7, 6-2
2. Jacob Tokar / Denys Krushenytskyi won 6-0, 6-2
3. Graham Hartman / Karson Preston won 8-0
4. Grant Durkovich / Kiptyn Berry won 8-3
5. Jonah Swift / Stanley Hutchens won 8-2
6. Teagon Condie / Cohen Williams won 8-5
7. Saul Brown / Denver Stover lost 6-8
8. Hunter Reed / Kohlton Ricks lost 4-8