Boardman’s Salcedos finish 3rd

The doubles team lost to the eventual state champions.

COLUMBUS — Boardman High School brothers Bryant and Robert Salcedo lost a semifinal doubles match, then bounced back to place third in the Division I state tennis tournament Saturday at Ohio State University’s Pickney Center.

The Spartans’ duo lost to state champions Michael Cole and Patrick Hamning of Middletown, 6-4, 6-1, then defeated Andy Jackson and Matt Heiler of Vandalia Butler, 6-1, 6-1.

Cole and Hemning defeated John Drosick and Jonathan Gaffney of Cincinnati St. Xavier 6-2, 7-5 for the title.

“I told the kids going into the semifinals that I would like to see them finish in an odd number, either first or third,” Boardman tennis coach Steve Warden said.

“The first set was very tough; the kids from Middletown were solid players,” Warden said. “We were behind 3-0 in the second set, but our guys won the next two games and battled back to tie it at 5 all.”

“We had a couple opportunities to go ahead, missed a couple of break points and thought they were ready to break down. They didn’t and then closed out the match.”

Easy win for third

“The guys bounced back and won the third place match pretty easily as our opponents were never in contention,” Warden said.

Boardman is playing today in the Ohio High School Tennis Coaches team tournament at an indoor facility in Lexington.

Kings Mills Kings senior Matt Allare claimed his fourth state championship, becoming the first athlete to win an Ohio High School Athletic Association boys’ tennis title in four consecutive years.

Allare, an Ohio State recruit, defeated Cincinnati St. Xavier junior Patrick Bandy 6-1, 6-4 to claim the state Division I singles title. Allare also won the singles title last year, and was part of a pairing that won the state doubles title as a freshman and sophomore.

Bandy was on the state championship doubles team last year.

In the doubles final, Cole and Hamning defeated John Drosick and Jonathan Gaffney of Cincinnati St. Xavier 6-2, 7-5.

Columbus St. Francis DeSales senior Bryce Warren defeated Cincinnati Indian Hill senior Andrew McCarthy 6-1, 6-2 to win the Division II singles championship.

In Division II doubles, New Albany duo Peter Kobelt and Skyler Engel dropped the first set 4-6 to defending champions Vinod Mahalingam and Devin McCarthy of Cincinnati Indian Hill, then rebounded to take the final two sets 6-4, 6-4.