Now the big test came for the Cazenovia boys tennis team as it went to SUNY-Cortland for Thursday’s Section III Class C-1 team tournament, where it proceeded to sweep through the singles division and win a doubles division, too
Nate Romig never got challenged in first singles. From his top seed, Romig had a bye straight into the semifinals, where he shut out Clinton’s Andrei Gherasoiu 6-0, 6-0 after Gherasiou had to survive a three-set match with Manlius-Pebble Hill’s Trilok Reddy just to get that far.
The final pitted Romig against Holland Patent’s Christopher Gaige, but Romig handled that challenge, too, prevailing in straight sets 6-3, 6-0 to begin a three-for-three run in the singles divisions for Cazenovia.
Put into second singles as its top seed, Fabian Grimm swept past Mikel Quintana 6-2, 6-2 in the quarterfinals and topped Skaneateles’ Connor Driscoll 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals.
Pitted against Pulaski’s Ed Sheats in the final, Grimm won the first set 6-2 and got within two games of a sweep before falling to Sheats 7-5 in the second set. Unfazed, Grimm tore through a 6-0 shutout in the third set and earned the division championship.
In third singles, Mason Stehle was the top seed, and he beat MPH’s Keerthi Martyn 6-3, 6-1 before getting past Mount Markham’s Brad Litz 6-2, 7-6 in the semifinals. In the final against Holland Patent’s Jose Arroyo, Stehle, like Romig and Grimm, came out on top, winning the first set 6-3 and edging Arroyo 7-5 in the second set to close it out.
Brady Flannery and Tim Kempton pursued the title in second doubles, getting past Jacob Stein and Owen Williams 6-4, 7-5 in the quarterfinals and then handling Pulaski’s Seth Lallier and Dan Nicholson 6-0, 7-5.
Having reached the final against the Skaneateles duo of Ryan Baily and Malcolm Lombardi, Flannery and Kempton did not stop there, taking a close first set 7-5 and then absorbing a 6-4 defeat in the second set before dominating the third set over Baily and Lombardi 6-1 for yet another Cazenovia victory.
Moving to first doubles, Nate Barna and Orson Sproule beat Joe Mihevic and Eddie Rose (Little Falls) 6-3, 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and were a set from the title match before dropping a close 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 semifinal to Pulaski’s Gabe Aguilar and Andrew Lapp.
Still, Barna and Sproule advanced to this week’s Section III state qualifier, where a full Cazenovia roster will seek top-three finishes that would advance them to the state championship tournament on the first weekend of June at the USTA-Billie Jean King National Tennis Center.
In the sectional Class B tournament at Mott Courts in Utica, Chittenango achieved some modest results.
Zach Falkenburg, in third singles, won, 6-4, 1-6, 6-3, over Central Valley Academy’s Jake Meola in the opening round before a 6-1, 6-1 loss to Mexico’s John Ocker. In second singles, Mike Ackerman lost his quarterfinal to Ethan Bartosek (Mexico) 6-3, 6-0. Aaron Norman, in first singles, lost to Homer’s Ben Herman 6-3, 6-3.
Moving to the doubles side, Ben Cyr and Matt Lanphear fell in the opening round to Austin Keller and Scott Potter (Oneida) 6-4, 6-1, while Sean Austin and Keoni Saturnio went to a third-set tie-breaker, but fell to Seth Brewster and Jayson Decker (Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) 6-4, 4-6, 7-6.
