UTICA – After a league championship in the regular season, the Cazenovia boys tennis team sought more glory when it competed in Thursday’s Section III Class C-1 championships at Utica Parkway Courts.
And it nearly added the team title, too, finishing a close second to its Laker rivals from Skaneateles but still able to win two of the three singles divisions.
Traian Cherciu was victorious in first singles, having an easy time in the early rounds as he beat Canastota’s Xavier Farwell 6-1, 6-1 before a 6-0, 6-2 semifinal win over Marcellus’ Chris Barbaro.
The final against Holland Patent’s Glen Gaige was quite different, though. Gaige took the first set 6-4, requiring Cherciu to pull out the second set 6-4 before he dominated the third set 6-1 to take the title.
Meanwhile, in second singles Aiden Katleski went to the top without dropping a set, topping Clinton’s Oliver Walters 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and handling Skaneateles’ Marcus McNeil 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals.
Then, facing Manlius-Pebble Hill’s Kai Hokanson in the championship round, Katleski remained in top form, taking that match in two sets 6-2, 6-1.
Tristan Alvisi and Lincoln Katleski played first doubles and, after a 6-3, 6-1 win over HP’s Chris Kelly and Dylan McGuire, reached the finals, only to fall to Skaneateles’ Trevor Knupp and Duncan Raddant 6-1, 7-5.
In third singles, Jake Wardel handled Ozzy Marcus (Clinton) 6-0, 6-1 and was ahead in his semifinal with Sknaeateles’ Marcus McClanahan, only to have McClanahan rally and prevail 5-7, 6-4, 7-6, though Wardel did recover to beat Matt Vitale (Marcellus) 6-1, 6-0 for third place.
Andrew Falso and Garret Lounsbury were in the first doubles semifinals and led early against Skaneateles’ Hatcher Gutchess and Andrew Neumann, but could not hold on, taking a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 loss before they topped Canastota’s Nicolas Parvese and Ezekiel Percival 6-1, 6-1 for third place.
Before this, Chittenango took its turn in the sectional spotlight, battling for Class B honors with modest success as, in four different instances, Bears players were beaten by eventual division champions.
Luke Dahlin and Artie Paul finished third in second doubles. They beat Jacob Banfield and Mitch Leeson (Indian River) 6-1, 6-3 and, after a 6-1, 6-2 semifinal defeat to Oneida’s Drew Hicks and Seth O’Connell (who would later take the final), topped Harshdeep Banga and Sophia Featherstone (Onondaga/Westhill) for the third spot.
In first doubles, Evan Edwards and Nate Smith won 6-1, 6-1 over Isaiah Beauchamp and Zane Busch (Carthage) in the first round, but fell in the quarterfinals 6-0, 6-0, to Oneida’s top-seeded duo of Aidan and Ajay Hicks, who went on to take the title.
Micah Alperuto, by beating Indian River’s William Ligabo 6-2, 6-1, reached the third singles semifinals, where he lost, 6-1, 6-2, to Oneida’s Spencer Igmire, the eventual champion.
Josh Boulter played in second singles where he beat Lincoln Pelc (Vernon-Verona-Sherrill) 6-4, 6-1 before running into Jamesville-DeWitt top seed Mark Bratslavsky, who won 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals on the way to claiming the division.
