STATE TENNIS Shah-Kuppler reach Division I semifinals

COLUMBUS -- Canfield High School's Shalin Shah and Chris Kuppler compose one of the four doubles teams still alive in the Division I state tennis tournament after winning twice Friday.
In Div. II, Brian Compton and Mike Compton of Cincinnati Indian Hill will face Brian Meek and Todd Wojtkowski of Ursuline in one semifinal match.
Columbus Wellington's Zack Fayne and Brian Steginsky, last year's runner-ups, will face Elyria Catholic's Michael Herrick and Jake Dowdell in the other semifinal.
Division I: In the first round, Kuppler-Shah defeated Fritz Lehman-Nick Newcombe of Worthington Kilbourne, 6-1, 6-1.
They went on to defeat Rob Caress-Wil Lofgren of Cincinnati Princeton 6-7, 7-6, 6-1.
After being on the losing side of a 6-7 set against Caress-Lofgren, Shah-Kuppler trailed in the second set, 5-2, then came back and won.
"That was a pretty dramatic comeback," Canfield coach Larry Davis said. "It had me on edge of my seat."
The Canfield duo will face Kilbourne's Mike Hays and Rony Sinharoy in one semifinal. The duo advanced with wins over teams from Geneva and Toledo St. Francis.
The other semifinal features Jonathon Khoury and Eric Thomas of Cincinnati Walnut Hills against Kevin O'Connell and James O'Connell of Toledo St. Francis.
Howland's Kevin and Ryan Trapp lost in their first match.
This morning's semifinals begin at 9 at OSU's Stickney Center courts.
Singles: Defending champion Derrick Spice won both of his matches to advance to the Div. I singles semifinals.
Spice, a junior from Grafton Midview, defeated Matt Metully of West Chester Lakota West 6-0, 6-1 in the first round and Ryan Valentine 6-1, 6-2 of Marion Harding in the second round.
Spice faces Chardon junior Stephen Rozek in the semis. Rozek advanced with a 6-4, 6-7 (11-9), 6-2 win over Cincinnati Elder's Rob Altenau and a 6-3, 6-3 victory over Toledo St. Francis' Ross Wilson.
In Div. II singles, Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy senior Jason Zimmerman reached the semis by beating Nate Peeler of Gahanna Columbus Academy 6-1, 6-2, and Elyria Catholic's Borko Tesic 6-0, 6-1.
Canton Central Catholic senior Carey Rubin will face Zimmerman in the semis. Rubin beat Josh Mabra of Springfield Central Catholic 6-2, 6-0 in the first round and Brian Butt of Middletown Bishop Fenwick 6-3, 6-1 in the second round.