BELLEVILLE - Edwardsville's boys' tennis team won five of the six flights in the singles competition and swept all three doubles flights going on to win the Southwestern Conference tournament title over the weekend at Belleville East High School.
Get The Latest News!
Don't miss our top stories and need-to-know news everyday in your inbox.
The Tigers won their 22nd straight championship by scoring 62 points, with the host Lancers placing second with 51 points, O'Fallon was third with 42 points, Alton came in fifth with 41 points, Belleville West was fifth with 27 points and Collinsville was sixth at 12 points.
Jesse Hattrup of Edwardsville won the number one singles with a semifinal win over Alton's Parker Mayhew 6-0, 6-1, then defeated Ethan Moeller of East in the final 6-0, 6-0. Colton Hulme won the number two flight with wins in the semifinals over James McKeever of the Redbirds 6-0, 6-0 and Cameron Woll of the Panthers in the final 6-2, 6-1. Jade Dynamic was the winner in the number three flight, defeating Alton's Luke Boyd in the semifinal 6-1, 6-1 and Belleville East's Mason Ballard in the final 6-0, 6-1.
In the number four flight, the Tigers' Michael Karibean won in the semifinals over Dilan Patel of the Maroons 6-0, 6-0, then won over the Lancers' Lance Lee, also by 6-0, 6-0. Freshman Schaefer Bates won in his semifinal in the number five flight over Jeff Mithlo of O'Fallon 6-0, 6-1, but lost the final to Donovan O'Keefe of East 6-4, 6-1. Fellow freshman Issac Chieboun won the number six flight, taking a 6-0, 6-0 win in the semifinals over Jacob Vahle of the Panthers and defeated the Lancers' Robert Bleich in the final, also by 6-0, 6-0.
In the doubles, which were played on Friday, Dynamic and Karibean won their semifinal match over Vikram Kondagunta and Ballard of the Lancers 6-1, 6-3, then won over the Panthers' Woll and Rowan Brunner in the final 6-1, 6-1 to take the top flight. In the number two flight, Hulme and Hattrup won their semifinal match over West's Landon Kinder and Jay Naylor, then defeated Moeller and Lee of East in the final 6-1, 6-1. Bates and Chieboun won the number three flight, taking the win in the semifinal over Carson Gruenlow and Vahle 6-2, 6-1, then won the final over O'Keefe and Kevin McKeen of the Lancers 6-1, 6-0.
The Tigers, Redbirds and Kahoks, along with East, West and Granite City, will play in the IHSA Class 2A sectional tournament this coming weekend, May 19-20, at the Edwardsville Tennis Center. The qualifiers will advance to the state tournament May 25-27 at Palatine High School and other sites throughout northwest suburban Chicagoland.
More like this:
