Contributed by Dan Vales
The Republic tennis team won the Waynesville Tournament championship for the second straight year. The Tigers put an entry into the championship match in all four brackets — flights #1 and #2 singles and flights #1 and #2 doubles. Republic ended with 28 total team points, edging Springfield Central, the runner-up, with 26.
In flight #1 doubles, Republic survived a quarterfinals scare against Rolla. In that match, Brett Carpenter and Isaac Jordan were able to reel off 4 straight games to break away from a 4-4 tie to win 8-4. In the semifinals, Carpenter and Jordan faced a strong team from Farmington, but played well to relatively cruise to the finals with an 8-3 win. In the flight #1 finals, Republic lost to Central’s tough tandem of Riddle/Sherbakov 8-4 to finish second.
In flight #2 doubles, Austin Massey and Will Berry won their first round match with relative ease, winning against Osage 8-0. In the semifinals, Republic upset the #1 seeded team of their bracket — Jain/Weiler from Central — with a huge 8-5 win. In the finals, Republic was able to keep it rolling with an 8-6 win over Girth/Hall from Forsyth.
In flight #1 singles, Dylan Mackey won his quarterfinals match over Forsyth 8-0. In the semis, Mackey faced off with a very strong sophomore tennis player, Bryson Crowell of Lebanon. Mackey rallied from a early 1-5 deficit to win the match 9-8 (7-4 in tiebreaker). In the finals, Mackey met Parvathenini of Central–one of the top players of the area–and lost a competitive match 8-3.
In flight #2 singles, Hunter Creek won easily his quarter and semifinals match over Farmington and Osage, 8-0 in each. That set up a finals match against Jack Mastyn of Central. After calculating Republic and Central’s scores from the other brackets, it became clear the overall tournament championship would come down to this match. Creek trailed early against Mastyn, starting down 1-3. He battled back to 4-4, before popping strings on an overhead smash. After taking a break to re-grip his backup racquet, Creek went back on the court and continued his momentum, despite having to change racquets, claiming an 8-5 win for Republic and clinching the team tournament championship.
Next Match: Monday- V/JV v. Parkview @ Perry Tennis Courts in Springfield.