Edwardsville Sweeps Doubles, Has Two Firsts, Two Seconds And Two Thirds In Singles To Win Southwestern Conference Boys Tennis Title, Alton Fifth

O'FALLON - The Edwardsville High boys tennis team swept all three flights of the doubles, and also had two wins, two second-place finishes, and two third-place finishes in the singles in going on to winning the Southwestern Conference boys tennis tournament, which was resumed Monday after rain delayed the tournament on Thursday, at O'Fallon and Belleville East High Schools.

The Tigers won the championship with 57 points, with co-host Belleville East coming in second with 54 points, other co-host O'Fallon was third at 50 points, Belleville West was fourth with 36 points, Alton came in fifth with 28 points, Collinsville was sixth with 18 points and East St. Louis finished seventh with 11 points.

The Tigers and the rest of the conference will play in the IHSA Class 2A sectionals at Belleville West on Friday, while Triad hosts the Class 1A sectionals this weekend. The state tournament is set for June 10-12, and will be centered at Arlington Heights Hersey high school in northwest suburban Chicago.

The play was resumed with the championship and third-place matches in the doubles, which were interrupted by the rain, and in the number one flight final, Jade Dynamic and Michael Karibian defeated R.J. Miksell and Ben Harris of Belleville East 6-4, 6-4, while in the second flight, Edwardsville's Colton Hulme and Ben Blake won the title over O'Fallon's Evan Potter and Nic Strobel 6-3, 1-6, 10-6. In the third flight final, the Tigers' Jace Ackerman and Adrian Norcio defeated the Lancers' Robert Rozsahegyl and Curtis Martin 6-2, 6-4 to complete the doubles sweep.

In the top flight of the singles, Hulme received a bye into the semifinals, but was defeated by Miksell 7-5, 3-6, 10-8, while Alton's Xavier Carter lost in the quarterfinals to the Maroons' Jonah Blanquart 6-0, 6-0. Carter received a bye into the fifth-place match, where he won by default over Collinsville's Nathan Weil, while Hulme won the third-place match over Blanquart 6-2, 6-0. Potter won the title match over Miksell 6-1, 6-3. Over in the number two flight, Dynamic received a bye into the semifinals, where he lost to Harris 6-4, 7-6 (7-3 in the tiebreak). Parker Mayhew of the Redbirds won his quarterfinal match over West's Jake Buettner 6-2, 7-6 (7-4 in the tiebreak), but Mayhew lost in the semifinals to O'Fallon's Gavin Sohn 6-0, 6-1. Dynamic defeated Mayhew in the third-place match 6-0, 6-1, while Sohn won the championship match over Harris 6-1, 6-1.

In the third flight, Karibian took a bye into the semifinals, while in the quarterfinals, Jack Durante of the Maroons defeated Luke Boyd of the Redbirds 6-3, 6-1. Boyd received a bye to the fifth-place match, where he won over Collinsville's David Larner 6-2, 6-2. Karibian defeated Durante in the semifinals 6-0, 6-1, then won the championship match over the Lancers' Briton Struewing 7-6 (9-7 in the tiebreak), 6-2. In the fourth tier singles, Ackerman had a bye into the semifinals, while Alton's Victor Humphrey lost to West's Jerry Aplin 6-1, 6-3. Humphrey received a pair of byes to finish fifth, while in the semifinals, Ackerman defeated Rozsahegyl 6-2, 7-5, then won the championship match over Strobel 6-3, 6-0.

In the fifth flight, Norcio received a bye into the semifinals, while Alton's James McKeever lost to Khole Germann of the Maroons 6-2, 6-0. McKeever received a pair of byes to finish in fifth, while Norcio won the semifinal match over Germann 6-2, 6-2, but lost in the final to Martin 6-2, 4-6, 10-5. In the sixth and final flight, Blake received a bye into the semifinals, while the Redbirds' Chance Linnefelser lost to Gabe Kurfman of West 7-5, 6-0. Linnefelser received a double-bye to come in fifth place, while Blake won his semifinal match over Cameron Woll of O'Fallon 6-1, 6-1, but was defeated by the Lancers' Roman Mills in the final 6-4, 6-3.

Dan Brannan also contributed to this story.

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