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Ursuline, Canfield players among district tennis qualifiers
By Brian Dzenis
Austin Arfaras and Luke Tsudis’ bid to go back to the state tournament had a shaky start, but the sophomore tandem knows the road to Mason well and responded to early setbacks to win a Division II sectional title on Saturday.
The pair spent most of the regular season playing singles before teaming up again.
“Since we went to state in doubles last year, we’ve kind of been there and done that,” Arfaras said. “We’ve played together periodically throughout the season and we always seem to click at the right time and there isn’t that much of a difference from playing singles.”
The pair dropped the first set of the semifinals to Warren JFK’s Justin Bofenkamp and James Martuccio, 4-6, but rebounded to take the next two sets 6-2, 6-2.
“Against JFK, we were a little shaky, but we just had to put a gameplan together,” Arfaras said. “We just figured out what we were trying to do and once we figured that out, everything else kind of fell into place.”
They beat Poland’s Sam Delatore and Sam Scotford in the finals 7-6 (4), 6-1. The Irish were able to sweep the sectional when freshman Greg Morgione beat Cardinal Mooney’s Andrew Engartner in the semis and Lakeview’s Jake McDivitt in the finals. Both wins came in straight sets.
“Greg is amazing, I think he dropped four games in the entire tournament — that’s eight sets of tennis,” Ursuline coach Kent Blacksher said. “He’s got all the physical tools, but he has the acumen to play smart, tactical tennis and he’s a freshman. It’s beautiful watching him construct points with the same acumen in someone you find playing three or four seasons.”
Other district qualifiers out of D-II are the aforementioned McDevitt and Engartner and Warren JFK’s Armand Nannicola. In doubles, Delatore and Scotford, Bofenkamp and Martuccio and Lakeview’s John Silbaugh and Anthony Innocenzi advance.
In Division I, moving on from sectional to district is play nothing new for Canfield boys tennis, but the team achieved a rare feat on Saturday. The Cardinals swept singles and doubles sectional titles for the first time since 1996.
“It’s always been tough section and our kids have worked really hard,” Canfield coach Pat Pavlansky said. “To accomplish something like that, it’s amazing and for me, it’s a lot of fun. We played some really good tennis today.”
Tim Cianciola, the middle child between girls doubles state champions Hannah and Sydney Cianciola, claimed the singles title with straight set victories over Lake’s Justin Kelley and Dawson Drummond.
The Cardinals will send two doubles pairs to districts. Bobby Long and Sirin Nalluri claimed the doubles title after beating North Canton Hoover’s Andrew Triner and Matt Warburton (6-4, 6-2) in the semis and Jackson’s Danny Thomas and Bobby Thomas. Dylan Todd and Rajon Taneja will go to districts after claiming third place.