By Tom Robinson, NEPASportsNation.com
MOSCOW – Periodic updates from Tuesday’s action in the District 2 boys tennis singles championships, with Class 3A action at North Pocono Middle School and 2A at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre:
FINAL UPDATE
John Sinclair’s pursuit of a District 2 Class 3A boys singles title was stopped briefly for a rain delay.
Once Sinclair completed his quarterfinal victory to become the first player to advance to Wednesday’s 1 p.m. semifinals at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre, he would have preferred not to be stopping again.
“I wish I could keep going today,” Sinclair said. “If I could, I would. All the training I did over the summer really helped with my stamina.”
Sinclair advanced by defeating Dhruvaj Parmar from Scranton, 6-1, 6-2, then Adam Musto from Pittston Area, 6-3, 6-2.
Surprised at first to be named the top seed in the tournament, Sinclair now understands the selection – he lost just twice in the Lackawanna League season and went unbeaten against 3A competition – and is full of confidence going into Wednesday’s last two rounds.
“I caught my flow early on in warm-ups,” Sinclair said. “Both guys played me really hard.”
Sinclair expects more of the same. He is scheduled to face fourth-seeded Michael Hamel from Wilkes-Barre Area in one semifinal with third-seeded Ben Ziegler from Crestwood and unseeded Sam Christman from Abington Heights meet in the other semifinal.
“Everyone here that is left has really earned their spot,” Sinclair said. “They’re really tough players.”
Hamel, a freshman cyber student who joins Coughlin, GAR and Meyers students in forming the first Wilkes-Barre Area Wolfpack team in the sport, dropped the first set against Sam Weis from Abington Heights before rallying for a 2-6, 6-4, 6-2, quarterfinal victory.
“You never give up,” Hamel said. “You never know what is going to happen.”
The day’s surprise came from Christman, who followed up the only 6-0, 6-0 win of the second round by knocking out second-seeded Brendan Turowski from Berwick, 6-1, 6-4, in the quarterfinals.
“My ground strokes were very consistent,” Christman said.
Turowski battled in the second set, but could not get past the number-two singles player from the Abington Heights team that captured the district team tournament title last week.
“I was expecting a tough match,” Christman said. “Districts are the best of the best.”
Ziegler handled sixth-seeded Jack Moniot from Delaware Valley, 6-2, 6-2, in his quarterfinal.
“It was a good match,” Ziegler said. “I was just staying consistent and hitting occasional winners.”
Tuesday’s four winners will be back for more Wednesday along with the four semifinalists in Class 2A.
EIGHTH UPDATE
The top three seeds made the semifinals in Class 2A where limited upsets meant the quarterfinals consisted of seven of the eight seeded players in the tournament.
Western Wayne’s Lenny Maiocco, a two-time district champion, is the top seed.
Maiocco will play fifth-seeded Tony Ghigiarelli from Riverside in Wednesday’s semifinals. Ghigiarelli beat fourth-seeded Dan Flynn from Dallas, 6-1, 6-2, in the quarterfinals.
Third-seeded Matt Tressler from Scranton Prep, who joined Ghigiarelli as the players to win three times, will meet Tucker Chesman from Dallas. Chesman, the second seed, received a bye before winning twice, following the same path as Maiocco.
Eighth-seeded William Wolfgang from Holy Redeemer did not make it out of the first of Tuesday’s three rounds at Kirby Park.
Ethan Borick from Scranton Prep defeated Wolfgang, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3, then added a second victory to reach the quarterfinals where he lost to Maiocco.
SEVENTH UPDATE
The complete results from the Class 2A tournament’s first three rounds:
First Round
Connor Tone, Holy Cross over Adam Brzozowski, Mid Valley, 7-5, 6-1
Stephen Parinisi, Montrose over Nick Winsock, Wyoming Area, 7-5, 6-2
Ethan Borick, Scranton Prep over William Wolfgang, Holy Redeemer, 6-4, 0-6, 6-3
Tony Ghigiarelli, Riverside over Artur Gilcinski, Wyoming Seminary, 6-1, 6-0
Christian Bodamo, MMI Prep over Billy Portanova, Dunmore, 6-1, 7-5
Zak Keiser, Tunkhannock over Joe Traucht, Valley View, 6-3, 7-5
Dan Flynn, Dallas over Noah Theobald, Honesdale, 6-3, 6-2
Matt Tressler, Scranton Prep over Aiden Edwards, Tunkhannock, 6-2, 6-0
Adam Wisnewski, Wyoming Area over Matthew Schuler, Holy Redeemer, 6-4, 7-5
Isaac Gerken, Northwest over Kiel Rizzi by default
Keefer Wu, Wyoming Seminary, over Zander Spear, MMI Prep, 6-1, 6-1
Luke Kotchko Valley View over Dhiraj Baniya, Holy Cross, 6-0, 6-2
Ethan Rickard, Honesdale over Stanley Ciborosky, Mid Valley, 6-2, 6-1
David Day, Dunmore over Carter Doloway, Montrose, 6-1, 6-2
Second Round
Lenny Maiocco, Western Wayne over Tone, Holy Cross, 6-1, 6-0
Borick, Scranton Prep over Parinisi, Montrose, 6-0, 6-1
Ghigiarelli, Riverside over Bodamo, MMI Prep, 6-1, 6-0
Flynn, Dallas over Keiser, Tunkhannock, 6-3, 6-2
Tressler, Scranton Prep over Wisnewski, Scranton Prep, 6-2, 6-1
Wu, Wyoming Seminary over Gerken, Northwest, 3-6, 6-0, 6-1
Kotcho, Valley View over Rickard, Honesdale, 6-2, 6-3
Tucker Chesman, Dallas over Day, Dunmore, 6-0, 6-1
Quarterfinals
Maiocco, Western Wayne over Borick, Scranton Prep, 6-0, 6-0
Ghigiarelli, Scranton Prep over Flynn, Dallas, 6-1, 6-2
Tressler, Scranton Prep over Wu, Wyoming Seminary, 6-2, 6-2
Chesman, Dallas over Kotcho, Valley View, 6-2, 6-3
SIXTH UPDATE
The complete results from the Class 3A tournament’s first three rounds:
First Round
Dhrujav Parmar, Scranton over Cameron Zynel, Hazleton Area, 6-1, 6-1
Julien Lacoste, Crestwood over Dylan Smith, Berwick, 6-0, 6-0
Patrick Cawley, North Pocono over Jack Filip, Wallenpaupack, 6-1, 6-3
Sawyer McHale, West Scranton over Kittrick Danzeisen, Hazleton Area, 6-3, 6-4
Om Patel, Scranton over Peter MacDonough, Wallenpaupack, 6-4, 7-6 (8-6)
Second Round
John Sinclair, West Scranton over Parmar, Scranton, 6-1, 6-2
Adam Musto, Pittston Area over Maxwell Plotkin, Delaware Valley, 6-1, 6-0
Sam Weis, Abington Heights over Lacoste, Crestwood, 6-2, 6-3
Michael Hamel, Wilkes-Barre Area over Cawley, North Pocono, 6-2, 6-2
Ben Ziegler, Crestwood over McHale, West Scranton, 6-1, 6-1
Jack Moniot, Delaware Valley over Stanley Shimko, 6-4, 6-2
Sam Christman, Abington Heights over Brian Castrogiavanni, North Pocono, 6-0, 6-0
Brendan Turowski, Berwick over Patel, Scranton, 6-3, 6-1
Quarterfinals
Sinclair, West Scranton over Musto, Pittston Area, 6-3, 6-2
Hamel, Wilkes-Barre Area over Weis, Abington Heights, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2
Ziegler, Crestwood over Moniot, Delaware Valley, 6-2, 6-2
Christman, Abington Heights over Turowski, Berwick, 6-1, 6-4
FIFTH UPDATE
Three rounds of action are complete at Kirby Park in Wilkes-Barre and the four Class 2A players that will return there at 1 p.m. Wednesday for the semifinals have been determined.
Western Wayne’s Lenny Maiocco will seek his third district title. There was no competition in 2020, his junior season.
The top seed will face fifth-seeded Tony Ghigiarelli from Riverside in one semifinal.
The other semifinal has second-seeded Tucker Chesman from district team champion Dallas going against third-seeded Matt Tressler from Scranton Prep in a rematch of their number-one singles match in the team final. Chesman, a freshman won that match in straight sets.
MORE TO COME: Return to this page later today for additional details on how the four semifinalists got there.
FOURTH UPDATE
Wednesday’s 1 p.m. Class 3A singles semifinals at Kirby Park are all set.
Unseeded Sam Christman, the number-two player on the Abington Heights district championship team, upset second-seeded Brendan Turowski from Berwick, 6-1, 6-4, to join the first, third and fourth seeds in the semifinals.
West Scranton’s John Sinclair downed Pittston Area’s Adam Musto, 6-3, 6-2. Sinclair is the top seed after going unbeaten against 3A competition during the regular season.
Musto was playing for the first time because Pittston Area did not have a team this season. He won once before falling in the quarterfinals.
Wilkes-Barre Area freshman Michael Hamel, who won the day’s only three-set match, will face Sinclair in the semifinals.
Appropriately, the match between the fourth and fifth seeds was the day’s most competitive. Hamel defeated Sam Weis from Abington Heights, 2-6, 6-4, 6-2.
Crestwood’s Ben Ziegler defeated Delaware Valley’s Jack Moniot, 6-4, 6-3, to advance to face Christman in the semfinals.
MORE TO COME: Return to this page for details on each of the four semifinalists in Class 3A and updates on the Class 2A tournament.
THIRD UPDATE
After sitting for just 10 minutes, Class 3A players are back on the court for a 5-minute warmup to resume action.
SECOND UPDATE
The Class 3A tournament has entered into a rain delay with the four quarterfinal matches – the last round of the day – on the court.
The rain delay began at 1:11 p.m.
FIRST UPDATE
All six seeded players reached the quarterfinals in Class 3A.
West Scranton’s John Sinclair is the top seed, followed in order by: Berwick’s Brendan Turowski, Crestwood’s Ben Ziegler, Wilkes-Barre Area’s Michael Hamel, Abington Heights’ Sam Weis and Delaware Valley’s Jack Moniot.
They are joined by a second Abington Heights player, Sam Christman, and Pittston Area’s Adam Musto, who did not get to play all season because the Patriots did not have enough players for a team.
All six second-round matches were decided in straight sets.
INITIAL REPORT
Both Scranton players made it through the opening round of the District 2 Class 3A tournament.
Dhruvraj Parmar and Om Patel from Scranton advanced in straight sets, along with Crestwood’s Julien Lacoste, North Pocono’s Patrick Cawley and West Scranton’s Sawyer McHale.
The closest match needed a second-set tiebreaker before Scranton’s Patel defeated Wallenpaupack’s Peter MacDonough, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8).
Action is continuing through three rounds today until the four semifinalists are determined at each site.
