CENTRAL NEW YORK – What the Fayetteville-Manlius boys tennis team seemed to know was that it would have to defeat Baldwinsville twice if it wanted to maintain its long-held place atop the area large-school ranks.
The Hornets barely did so in its first 2025 encounter with the Bees last Thursday afternoon, pulling out a 4-3 decision by rallying for a decisive point in third doubles.
B’ville’s Tom Canfield and Jack Wedemyer got the first set from John and William Miller 6-4, only to see the Millers take the next set by that same score and win the third set 6-2 for the decisive point.
Otherwise they were all decided in two sets, with Andrew Hoehner and Cooper Blum topping Nick Fogu and Kai Wilson 6-1, 6-2 as Rishi Kaul and Josh Zhai worked past Eoin Burke and Steve Pisacano 6-4, 6-4.
Jon Son and Ian Sul lost 6-0, 6-1 to Mason Doan and Ethan Haahr, with Josh Gates and Rowan Spates unable to gain a game in singles against Eric Ventura and Connor Donovan, respectively, though Dan Manta did beat Nathan Smith 6-2, 6-1.
Even with this win F-M is the no. 2 seed for the Section III Class A team tournament with B’ville the top seed, those two bound for a rematch in the finals barring any surprises in the earlier rounds.
Christian Brothers Academy was the no. 5 seed in Class A with its own unbeaten mark, though rain canceled last week’s showdown with fellow unbeaten Skaneateles. The Brothers would face no. 4 seed Liverpool in the quarterfinal round.
Jamesville-DeWitt is the no. 3 seed in Class B, meeting no. 6 seed Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Monday to see who would get no. 2 seed Whitesboro in the semifinals later in the week.
Manlius Pebble Hill started as a no. 6 seed in Class C and was set to face no. 11 seed Westmoreland in last Saturday’s opening round, the winner to get no. 3 seed Sauquoit Valley in the quarterfinals.
The Trojans rolled past Westmoreland 5-0, with only four of the matches contested. In singles Jasmin Zaman defeated Gavin Franz 6-0, 6-0, with Jon Howard topping Kamdyn Stanek 6-1, 6-1.
Andy and Sam Lurvey played in first doubles earning a 6-3, 6-4 win over Brody Faffley and Richard Ziegler, with Devin Trikha and Owen Hay getting a 6-0, 6-3 win over Wesley Larish and Rylan Kryczkowski.
