Alton High School boys tennis captured first place in the Alton Invitational Saturday at Lewis and Clark Community College, Alton High School, and Rock Springs Park with 41 points to beat Chatham Glenwood, the next closest finisher, with 41 points.
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Teutopolis finished third (32 points), followed by Saint Louis University High (25). Desmet (23.5), Fort Zumwalt South (22), University High Urbana (21), and Belleville Althoff (18) rounded out the eight-team field.
Alton High got championship performances from Kain Henson and Drew Hays at No. 1 doubles. After dropping the first set, the Redbirds defeated the top seed and returning state qualifiers from Teutopolis Nick Pals and Andy Mersman by a score of 4-6, 6-3, 12-10.
Jackson Scheiter of Alton High also had an outstanding afternoon, Alton tennis coach Jesse Macias said. Schieter won the championship at No. 2 singles in dominating style, winning in the finals 6-1, 6-0 over Donovan McKnight from Belleville Althoff.
“It was really satisfying and I am proud of the players as a team,” Macias said of the victory. “We thought we would be in the mix to win. It is nice to win any kind of tournament of your own. It was just a group moment for the kids. I am happy for all of them.”
Macias emphasized there were some good schools in this year’s tournament. He points out the team that played Alton’s combination in the doubles championship were state qualifiers last year.
“Some of our kids needed today to get back on a winning track,” he said. “It was great to win as a team.”
The Redbirds also had big performances from Carl Stradal, Jett Durr, and Alex Piazza. Stradal lost in the finals at No. 1 singles to P.J. Panesar from Desmet. Durr and Piazza were defeated in the finals at No. 2 doubles by Teutopolis. Silas Chapman and Walker Moan finished third at No. 3 doubles, falling to Desmet.
At No. 4 doubles for Alton, Quinn Whitten teamed with foreign exchange student Julius Resche to finish fourth. It is the third consecutive Alton Invitational championship for the Redbirds.
Alton plays at 4 p.m. Tuesday at home against Chaminade College Prep.
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