North Thurston and Tumwater, the top two boys tennis teams in the Evergreen Conference this fall, will each send their top singles player and doubles teams to state, May 25-26, at the University of Washington’s Nordstrom Tennis Center.
The Rams’ No. 1 singles player, Jason Agtarap and No. 1 doubles team, Jooneil Ahn and Scott Vannerson, placed second and third, respectively, in singles and doubles, Saturday afternoon.
Black Hills’ Jimmy Do topped Agtarap in the singles title match, 6-1, 6-2, after both Do and Agtarap swept through their opening round matches Thursday. Do and Agtarap both played at state last spring, and Do defeated Agtarap in both regular-season matchups this fall.
All state entrants – three singles players and three doubles teams, plus one alternate – from District IV are EvCo players. All but one of Saturday’s matches featured EvCo players; the Washougal doubles team from the 2A GSHL of Regan Townsend and Andrew Kelly were knocked out in the consolation semifinal by Ahn and Vannerson. The pair defeated Townsend and Kelly, 6-0, 6-3, in the consolation final, and then topped teammates Gabriel Rush and Erik Solveson, the Rams’ No. 2 doubles team, 6-2, 6-0, to earn the No. 3 seed to state. Rush and Solveson will be first alternates to state.
Chehalis’ top doubles team of Kenny Saari and Cody Schultz beat Tumwater’s Ryan and Evan Gudbranson, 6-3, 6-1, in the doubles title match. The matchup was a repeat of last weekend’s subdistrict title match, in which Saari and Schultz won 6-4, 1-6, 6-2. The Gudbrandson brothers became a doubles team earlier this month.
Tumwater also sends its top singles player, Zach Drake, to state, after he won both matches Saturday to earn the third and final spot to state. Drake, last weekend’s EvCo subdistrict singles champion, swept Centralia’s Mark Allen, 6-0, 6-2, then beat Black Hills’ Austin Davis, 6-1, 6-0, in the consolation final. Davis will be the first alternate to state.
In the Narrows League 4A meet at the University of Puget Sound, Olympia’s defending state champion doubles team of John Stormans and Hunter Wood swept Gig Harbor’s Jasper Vaughn and Bjorn Brynestad, 6-0, 6-0, for the title.
The top four finishers advance to the West Central District tournament in the spring.
Results from the Narrows 3A tournament were not available.
CROSS COUNTRY
Auburn Riverside senior Korey Krotzer and Mount Rainier sophomore Jordan McPhee emerged victorious in the 4A South Puget Sound League cross country championship at Fort Steilacoom Park despite efforts they thought were subpar.
In 3A, Lakes senior Izaic Yorks cruised to a win with a time of 15:19.0, the third-best finish on the course. Peninsula sophomore McKenzie Bravo won the girls race in 19:12.6.
