Everywhere one looked, a local boys tennis team was busy piling up the points and earning the top spots in various Section III tournaments.
Fayetteville-Manlius (Class A), Jamesville-DeWitt (Class B) and Christian Brothers Academy (Class C) all motored to the top of their respective classes in their own unique ways.
In the case of the Hornets, its perennial domination of Class A continued with a 58-point effort that allowed F-M to outdistance runner-up Baldwinsville (40 points) and 15 other squads for the championship.
Matt Izant, working in first singles, beat Adam Doherty (Fulton) 6-2, 6-3, then took out B’ville’s Matt Funicello 6-0, 6-2 before beating Corcoran’s Chris LaPort 6-1, 6-0 in the title match.
Mike Muraco dominated second singles for the Hornets. He beat Jake West (Fulton) and Dylan Lazovik (Rome Free Academy) and dropped just four games along the way before shutting out Liverpool’s Mike Schneider in a 6-0, 6-0 final.
Alex Martin came within a single match of making it a total F-M singles sweep. After beating Kajuan Smith (Corcoran) 6-2, 6-2 and Matt Randall (Oswego) 7-5, 6-1, Martin ran into Utica Proctor’s Dana Giannandrea and lost a 6-4, 6-1 decision.
Vikram and Vivek Nayar went after the first doubles title. The Nayars got past Ron McMurray and Trevor Bellanger 6-2, 6-3, but needed three sets in the semifinals to stop Ryan DeAngelis and Dan Salme (Liverpool) 6-4, 0-6, 6-2.
Perhaps fatigued, the Nayars lost to Greg Dietz and Eric Tressler (West Genesee) 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the finals. Shay Chen and Andrew Thomas lost in its opening match.
East Syracuse-Minoa had Daryl Johnson fall to LaPort 6-2, 6-0 in first singles, with Ken Boddie and Dino Omerovic falling in the first round. Derrick Pontillo and Chris Ashe lost a 10-4 doubles decision to Jim Howe and David Novitzki (Cicero-North Syracuse).
J-D, operating in the Class B tournament, won the team crown with 46 points, holding off Westhill (39 points for the top spot.
Gorav Simlote reached the third singles final. He topped Jacob Klinger (Cortland) 6-1, 6-4, then beat Jordan Johnson (VVS) 7-5, 7-6 to reach Tuesday’s final before Oneida’s Steve Loretti beat him 6-3, 6-2.
The Red Rams also saw Colin Doran beat Mike Ojugbeli (Chittenango) 6-3, 6-4, in the first round, but fall to Brian Rice (Westhlil) 6-1, 6-2. Cooper White got an early exit in second singles, leading early before a 3-6, 6-0, 6-1 loss to Skaneateles star Tyler Wilcox.
In doubles, Jake Weisenthal and Chris Clark made it through the early stages of first doubles, beating teams from Oneida and VVS before a championship match where Anish Dutala and Adanth Kambhampati beat them in three sets 6-3, 0-6, 6-2. Steve Rommevaux and Nate Lee won in the opening round, only to fall to Everett Hook and Zach Abend (Westhill) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3.
CBA would go to the top of the standings in the sectional Class C-1 tournament, putting up 67 points as Manlius-Pebble Hill finished second, with 47 points.
Matt Nardella and Colin Nardella won their respective singles division for the Brothers. Matt Nardella ripped Troy Bullock (Pulaski) 6-1, 6-1, then beat Diego Salano (Sauquoit Valley) 6-3, 6-2 for victory in second singles.
As for Colin Nardella, he earned a 6-3, 6-0 semifinal win over Pablo Bentanachs (Canastota) before meeting Westmoreland’s Tyler Witter in the finals and getting a 6-1, 6-1 win.
MPH’s Steven Williams would square off with CBA’s Josh Mulligan for the first singles championship. Williams, a nationally-ranked USTA player, used his 110 miles per hour serve to sweep out Mulligan 6-0, 6-0.
The Trojans also won both doubles divisions. Kenny Bennett and Seth Rothschild held off Noah Beckstead and James Anderson (Lowville) in a 6-3, 6-1 semifinal, but needed three long sets to beat Michael Hartwell and T.J. Losowski 6-3, 2-6, 6-4.
Meanwhle, in second doubles, Tim Goldman and Bairdy Hansen ripped Pat Cosgrove and Eric Evans (Clinton) 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals. Against the CBA tandem of Ash Komani and Chris Tobias, Goldman and Hansen won 6-3, 6-1.
This all led to Friday’s state qualifier at Syracuse University’s SkyTop Courts, where four local teams would walk away happy.
Williams would dominate the singles division. He sealed his trip to the state tournament by beating Brian Rice (Westhill) 6-0, 6-1, while Matt Nardella did the same when he beat Cortland’s Chris LaPort 6-2, 6-4. In the finals, Williams beat Nardella 6-0, 6-1.
F-M, shut out of state tournament berths on the single side as Izant and Martin got eliminated, atoned when Vikrem and Vivek Nayar rallied to beat Cole Kelly and Matt Kavanaugh (Westhill) 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 in the semifinals. J-D’s duo of Weisenthal and Clark rolled past Eric Tressler and Greg Dietz (West Genesee) 6-2, 6-0.
In the doubles finals, the Nayars beat Weisenthal and Clark 7-6 (7-4), 6-4, but both duos, plus Williams and Nardella, earned their spots at the state tournament, which starts Thursday at the USTA Natioanl Tennis Center at Flushing Meadows, Queens, annual site of the U.S. Open.
