Championship match is Saturday in Glendale
By Raymundo Frasquillo
GLENDALE – The Division III team semifinals and the final will be played in Glendale Paseo Racquet Center, 6268 West Thunderbird Road, on Friday, May 8, and on Saturday, May 9, respectively.
Two of the four 2026 semifinalists have been finalists a combined 13 times since 2012, when three divisions were established. Pusch Ridge (14-0) has been a finalist seven times with two titles, and Thatcher (15-1) six times with five titles.
Thatcher was the state champion as No. 1 (19-0) 5-3 over No. 6 Pusch Ridge (13-5) in 2012, as No. 1 (17-0) 5-1 over No. 2 Pusch Ridge (17-1) in 2014, as No. 1 (17-0) 5-4 over No. 2 Desert Christian (16-1) in 2015, as No. 2 (18-0) 5-2 over No. 9 Desert Christian (15-2) in 2016, as No. 1 (18-0) 5-1 over No. 6 Pusch Ridge (15-4) in 2024. The Eagles (17-1) were 4-5 runners-up to Phoenix Country Day (14-0) in 2023.
Pusch Ridge was the state champion as No. 3 (16-2), 5-3 over No. 5 Fountain Hills (12-4) in 2013, and as No. 3 (17-1), 5-4 over No. 1 Scottsdale Prep in 2018. The Lions were runners-up in 2012, 2014, and 2017 as No. 4 (15-3) 4-5 to No. 2 Tanque Verde (18-0), in 2024, and as No. 3 (15-2) 3-5 to No. 1 PCDS (15-0) in 2025.
The Gregory School (13-2) and ALA – West Foothills (12-0) have yet to qualify as finalists between 2012-26.
Division III State Team Tourney semifinals (May 8)
The semifinals on May 8 have No. 1 Tucson Pusch Ridge (12-0 seeding, 24.9673 rating) hosting No. 5 Tucson’s The Gregory School (11-2, 14.3893) in the upper bracket.
The lower bracket has No. 2 Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (10-0, 22.0376) hosting No. 3 Thatcher (13-1, 19.5321).
Division III State Team Tourney Quarterfinals (May 6)
The quarterfinals at the higher seeds on May 6 had No. 1 Tucson Pusch Ridge (12-0 seeding, 24.9673 rating) 6-0 over No. 8 Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (10-3, 9.6746) and No. 5 Tucson’s The Gregory School (11-2, 14.3893) 5-4 over No. 4 Phoenix Country Day School (11-1, 15.9007) in the upper bracket.
The lower bracket had No. 3 Thatcher (13-1, 19.5321) 5-0 over No. 6 Florence (13-1, 13.0953) and No. 2 Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (10-0, 22.0376) 5-2 over No. 7 Tucson Sabino (10-3, 12.5622).
No. 1 Pusch Ridge – 6, No. 8 Saint John Paul II – 0
Pusch Ridge attained the required five wins without using doubles teams. It was top seed sophomore Dean Morthland over junior Aleksander Piatek (6-1, 6-0), No. 2 junior Nick Herndon over senior Vincent Grabiec (6-0 twice), No. 3 senior Lukas Herndon over senior Josemaria Estreller (6-0 twice), No. 4 junior Christian Skinner over senior Mateusz Serwach (6-2, 5-4), No. 5 senior Cody Urias over senior Viktor Lassek (6-4, 6-0), and No. 6 senior Aviel Arellano over senior Amanda Piper (6-0 twice).
No. 5 The Gregory School – 5, No. 4 Phoenix Country Day – 1
The Griffins won five of six singles pairings to advance to the semifinals.
Singles No. 2 senior John Samii, No. 3 junior Marcus Swenson, No. 4 junior Thomas Escobedo, No. 5 sophomore Carson Namanny, and No. 6 junior Nikolas Larson defeated senior Kongkasem Suchart (6-1, 6-0), sophomore Duncan Simpson (6-2, 7-5), freshman Alex Ekpo (6-0 twice), sophomore Avish Patel (6-3, 6-1), and junior Ross Wheeler (6-3, 3-6, 12-10), respectively.
For Phoenix Country Day, No. 1 junior Garrett Valdes downed senior Anthi Christoforidis 6-1 and 6-0.
No. 3 Thatcher – 5, No. 6 Florence – 0
The host Eagles needed only five singles matches to eliminate the visiting Gophers.
It was Thatcher singles top seed senior Isaac Palmer over junior Alfred Zaklit (6-0 twice), No. 2 senior Braden Huish over junior Manuel Suarez-Montoya (6-0 twice), No. 3 senior Ranan Rubalcava over junior Joaquin Wilcox (6-0, 6-1), No. 5 senior Topher Rubalcava over senior Jonathan Palmer (6-0 twice), and No. 6 sophomore Jackson Smith over sophomore Jackson Thompson (7-5, 6-1).
The No. 5 Thatcher junior Jacob Reed versus junior Porter Hansen did not need to be finished, as five wins for one team were already in place.
No. 2 ALA – West Foothills – 5, No. 7 Sabino – 2
Having won four singles, the No. 2 Guardians needed a doubles win to advance.
It was ALA – West Foothills singles No. 3 sophomore Drake Mills over senior Brandon Lloyd (6-4, 6-0), No. 4 junior Brendon Kurzawski over junior Cade Haggart (6-1, 6-2), No. 5 senior I ziic Morales over junior Josh Filangeri (4-6, 7-5, 1-0), and No. 6 sophomore Aaron Zerbe over sophomore Cyrus Filangeri (6-3, 6-4).
In doubles, it was No. 3 Zerbe – Morales 8-2 over junior Roman Zapanta – sophomore Mekhi Benjamin.
For Sabino, it was singles No. 1 senior David Gonzalez over senior Gian Marrero (6-1 twice) and No. 2 junior Adam Olsen over senior Ryan Nicholl (6-4, 6-2).
Division III State Singles Tourney Round 1 (May 4)
Top-seeded Gilbert Classical sophomore Ayden Thielson defeated third-ranked Pusch Ridge sophomore Dean Morthland (6-3, 6-1) for the title at the Glendale Paseo Racquet Center.
Thielson (5-0) defeated Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills junior Brendon Kurzawski (6-0 twice) in the first round and Pusch Ridge junior Christian Skinner (6-0 twice) in the second round on May 1, and No. 8 The Gregory School senior Anthi Christoforidis (6-1 twice) in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Tanque Verde senior Karl Gajda (6-0 twice) in the semifinals on May 2.
Morthland (4-1) defeated Flagstaff Basis sophomore Karis Lee (6-1, 6-0) in the first round and Duncan sophomore Jared Kempton (6-1, 6-0) in the second round, and Yuma Catholic junior Marco Gutierrez (6-1, 6-0) in the quarterfinals and No. 2 ALA – West Foothills senior Gian Marrero (6-3, 6-0) in the semifinals.
Duncan sophomore Jared Kempton (1-1) ousted Pima junior Colt Lunt (6-1, 6-0) in the first round and fell to No. 3 Pusch Ridge sophomore Dean Morthland (6-1, 6-0); Thatcher sophomore Jackson Smith (1-1) eliminated Florence junior Alfred Zaklit (4-6, 6-4, 12-10) in the first round and fell to No. 7 Tanque Verde junior Jon Hetland (6-0 twice) in the second round;
First round exits were made by Thatcher junior Jacob Reed (0-1) to No. 8 The Gregory School senior Anthi Christoforidis (6-0 twice); Pima junior Eli Rogers (0-1) to Yuma Catholic senior Austin Obika (6-1, 6-0); Pima junior Colt Lunt (0-1) to Duncan sophomore Jared Kempton (6-4, 7-5).
Division III State Doubles Tourney Round 1 (May 4)
Third-ranked Thatcher senior Isaac Palmer – junior Braden Huis defeated No. 4 ALA – West Foothills senior Ryan Nicholl – sophomore Drake Mills (6-3 twice) for the title.
Palmer – Huish (5-0) defeated Buckeye Odyssey Institute juniors Owen Elledge – Lukas Kunz (6-0 twice) in the first round and Chandler Prep senior Thomas Richey – freshman Gavin Mancebo (6-1, 6-2) in the second round, and No. 6 Saint David seniors Ricky Blachly Jaxon Savage (6-1, 6-0) in the quarterfinals and No. 2 Pusch Ridge senior Lukas Herndon – junior Nick Herndon (6-4, 6-1) in the semifinals.
Nicholl – Mills (4-1) defeated Pima seniors Jackson Paull – Jimmy Smith (6-0 twice) in the first round and Pusch Ridge seniors Aviel Arellano – Cody Urias (6-2, 6-0) in the second round, and No. 6 No. 6 Saint David seniors Ricky Blachly Jaxon Savage (6-1, 6-0) in the quarterfinals and No. 1 Sabino senior David Gonzalez – junior Adam Olsen (6-3, 3-6, 10-8) in the semifinals.
First round exits were made by No. 8 Thatcher senior Topher Rubalcava – Ranan Rubalcava (0-1) to Anthem Prep sophomores Benjamin Young – Austin Simons (6-4, 6-3); Pima seniors Jackson Paull – Jimmy Smith (0-1) to No. 4 ALA – West Foothills senior Ryan Nicholl – sophomore Drake Mills (6-0 twice); Pima senior Garth Lunt – junior Kyler Reed (0-1) to No. 6 Saint David seniors Ricky Blachly Jaxon Savage (6-2 twice); Safford sophomores Lucas Lackner – Trae Gaines (0-1) to No. 7 Scottsdale Prep seniors Jack Lundstrom – Kellen Palmer (6-2, 6-0);
Division III State Team Tourney First Round (April 29)
The first-round results showed that each of the higher seeds advanced on April 29.
It was No. 1 Pusch Ridge 6-0 over No. 16 Tucson Tanque Verde (7-6, 4.6781), No. 8 Saint John Paul II 5-4 over No. 9 Glendale Prep (10-4, 9.1904), No. 5 The Gregory School 6-0 over No.12 Scottsdale Prep (9-3, 7.3130), and No. 4 Phoenix Country Day 5-1 over No. 13 Saint David (8-2, 7.0716) in the upper bracket.
The lower bracket had No. 3 Thatcher 6-0 over No. 14 Chandler Prep (8-3, 6.0715), No. 6 Florence 6-3 over No. 11 Scottsdale Christian (8-2, 8.5169), No. 7 Sabino 5-0 over No. 10 Pima (11-1, 9.1553), and No. 2 ALA – West Foothills (10-0, 22.0376) 5-0 over No. 15 Gilbert Classical (8-2, 4.9796).
Division III State Rankings
The final statewide rankings as of 7 a.m. on April 23 were Tucson Pusch Ridge (12-0 seeding, 24.9673 rating) was No. 1, Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (10-0, 22.0376) No. 2, Thatcher (13-1, 19.5321) No. 3, Phoenix Country Day School (11-1, 15.9007) No. 4, Tucson’s The Gregory School (11-2, 14.3893) No. 5, Florence (13-1, 13.0953) No. 6, Tucson Sabino (10-3, 12.5622) No. 7, and Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (10-3, 9.6746) No. 8.
Glendale Prep (10-4, 9.1904) was No. 9, Pima (11-1, 9.1553) No. 10, Scottsdale Christian (8-2, 8.5169) No. 11, Scottsdale Prep (9-3, 7.3130) No. 12, Saint David (8-2, 7.0716) No. 13, Chandler Prep (8-3, 6.0715) No. 14, Gilbert Classical (8-2, 4.9796) No. 15, and Tucson Tanque Verde (7-6, 4.6781) No. 16.
