L-R) Isaiah Kohli and Grady Coonfare

By Paula Scott

Bluffton Pirate seniors Grady Coonfare and Isaiah Kohli are playing as a tennis doubles team in the May 21 district tournament in Port Clinton. They have only been playing tennis for four years, but their enthusiasm for the sport is strong.

Kohli explains that he started playing with a “let’s see how it goes” attitude, while Coonfare confesses, “my mom kind of made me…” Coach Dave Roby notes that the two have the chemistry and athleticism needed to excel at doubles and the two explain, “our mind was always on doubles at the end of the year and making a tournament run.”

There are 14 players on the Pirates’ spring 2026 team. Kohli says that playing an individual sport like tennis isn’t that much different from football or soccer: “You’re still trying to encourage your teammates to all come together to win a match as one. There is more pressure on yourself, so when you mess up, it’s on you and I kind of like that.”

Next year, Kohli will be attending ATP Flight School, which trains airline pilots, and Coonfare will be a pharmacy student at The Ohio State University. Will they continue to play tennis? Undoubtedly, but as a hobby or club sport.

But for today, both are focused on making Bluffton’s first state run in tennis. “This is it. This what we’ve been building for all four years,” says Kohli.

Coonfare and Kohli are among four seniors who are leaving the team. Four freshmen will be joining the team next year.