Raymundo Frasquillo Photo/Gila Herald: Nathaniel Aguilar (7-4) backhands the ball during a recent match. The No. 1 Willcox junior is teamed up with classmate Andy Osomio for the state meet at the Glendale Paseo Tennis Center on Friday, April 26. Thatcher hosts Florence for the first round of the state team meet on Wednesday, April 24.
Thatcher remains atop state rankings, section standings
By Raymundo Frasquillo
THATCHER – The Chris Cook-coached top-ranked Thatcher Eagles host the No. 16 Florence Gophers on Wednesday, April 24.
The other local Section I state meet team qualifier, the Katie Jones-coached No. 15 Safford Bulldogs, travel to the No. 2 Phoenix Country Day School Eagles in Paradise Valley.
Division III State Team Tourney
The Division III state tourney Round One has No. 16 Florence (8-4 seeding) versus No. 1 Thatcher (14-0), 601 North 3rd Avenue; No. 9 Glendale Prep (10-2) vs. No. 8 Tucson’s The Gregory School (11-1) at Reffkin Tennis Center, 50 South Alvernon Way; No. 12 Chandler Lincoln Prep (9-2) vs. No. 5 Tucson Tanque Verde (9-3) at Fort Lowell Park, 2998 North Craycroft Road; and No. 13 Tucson Sabino (5-2) vs. No. 4 Scottsdale Prep (9-2) at Phoenix Steele Indian School Park, 300 East Indian School Road; in the upper bracket.
The lower bracket has No. 14 Saint David (9-3) vs. No. 3 Anthem Prep (9-0) at Phoenix Ironwood Country Club, 41551 North Anthem Hills Drive; No. 11 Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (10-3) vs. No. 6 Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (12-3) at Hilton El Conquistador, 10000 North Oracle Road; No. 10 Yuma Catholic (7-2) vs. No. 7 Gilbert Classical (7-2) at Mesquite Junior High, 130 West Mesquite Street; and No. 15 Safford (8-5) vs, No. 2 Phoenix Country Day School (12-0) at Phoenix Tennis Center, 6330 North 21st Avenue.
Division III State Individual Tourneys
The Division III state individual tourneys, singles, and doubles also have 16 slots in the first round at Glendale Paseo Racquet Center, 6268 West Thunderbird Road, beginning on Friday, April 26. Section I teams landed four singles and six doubles slots, with Thatcher having two singles and two doubles entrants, Safford one singles and one doubles, Willcox two doubles, Benson one singles, and Morenci one doubles. Duncan and Pima did not have qualifiers.
Singles 10 a.m. pairings have Match No. 4: Thatcher junior Eli McNeil (11-2 seeding) versus Chandler Lincoln Prep junior Timothy Tu (9-4), Match No. 10: Benson junior Matt Volker (7-5) vs. No. 3 Gilbert Classical senior Mauricio Rubino (7-2), Match No. 11: Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic junior David Drejza (10-3) vs. Thatcher junior Bryson Scorse (11-0), and Match No. 16: Safford junior Bo Bowman (6-5) vs. Tucson Tanque Verde senior Joel Hetland (10-0).
Doubles 11 a.m. pairings have Match No. 1: No. 1 Phoenix Country Day School senior Jacque Sevrain – junior Linus Gino-Griffiths (9-0) versus Safford junior Camden Montierth – senior Kody Gluyas (6-4), Match No. 2: Morenci seniors Andrew McCallum – Jakob Camacho (7-4) vs. Patagonia senior William Botz – sophomore Jaxxon Islava (5-2), Match No. 5: Willcox juniors Nathaniel Aguilar – Andy Osomio (8-4) vs. No. 5 Thatcher sophomore Isaac Palmer – senior Brock Smith (11-1), Match No. 15: Willcox juniors Elijah Bhasme – Andy Ramil (9-2) vs. Florence seniors Vasili Apostolo – Michael Katsouras (10-2), and Match No. 16: Glendale Prep senior Judson Terpstra – freshman Jai Chaudhary (8-2) vs. No. 2 Thatcher senior Gene Huish – sophomore Braden Huish (11-0).
Division III Final State Rankings
The Division III Final State Top 16 Rankings at 9 a.m. on April 18 included four teams from Section VII; three from Section II; two from Sections I, III, IV, and V; and one from Section VI.
Thatcher (14-0 seeding, 20.7760 rating) was No. 1, Phoenix Country Day (12-0, 19.3605) No. 2, Anthem Prep (9-0, 17.1219) No. 3, Scottsdale Prep (9-2, 12.6977) No. 4, Tanque Verde (9-3, 12.5726) No. 5, Pusch Ridge (12-3, 11.0194) No. 6, Gilbert Classical (7-2, 10.3002) No. 7, and The Gregory School (11-1, 9.6715) No. 8.
Glendale Prep (10-2, 9.2079) was No. 9, Yuma Catholic (7-2, 8.6673) No. 10, Saint John Paul II (10-3, 8.6673) No. 11, Lincoln Prep (9-2, 7.7370) No. 12, Sabino (5-2, 4.4826) No. 13, Saint David (9-3, 5.0807) No. 14, Safford (8-5, 4.1372) No. 15, and Florence (8-4, 3.5700) No. 16.
Division III – Section I Final Standings
The final standings were Thatcher (14-0 seeding, 6-0 section) first, Willcox (9-4, 5-1) second, Safford (9-4, 4-2) third, Pima (6-7, 3-3) fourth, Morenci (4-9, 2-4) fifth, Benson (4-8, 1-5) sixth, and Duncan (0-12, 0-6) seventh.
No. 1 Thatcher (14-0 seeding, 20.7760 rating)
Thatcher (6-0) had section wins over Pima (9-0, March 28), Morenci (9-0, April 2), Willcox (9-0, April 4), Benson (9-0, April 9), Duncan (9-0, April 11), and Safford (8-1, April 16). The Chris Cook-coached No. 1 Eagles were 71-7 (131-18 sets) in singles and 38-1 in doubles. Six singles pairings and three doubles were not played.
Individually, senior Gene Huish was 8-4 (15-9 sets), sophomore Braden Huish 11-1 (22-2 sets), junior Eli McNeil 11-2 (21-4 sets), sophomore Isaac Palmer 12-0 (23-1 sets), senior Brock Smith 13-0 (23-1 sets), junior Bryson Scorse 12-0 (23-1 sets), junior Luke Allen 2-0 (3-0 sets), sophomore Topher Rubacalva 1-0 (1-0), and junior Chad Palmer (1-0 (1-0).
In doubles, Huish – Huish was 11-0, Isaac Palmer – Smith 11-1, McNeil – Scorse 9-0, and McNeil – Allen 1-0, Allen – Rubacalva 2-0, Gene Huish – Allen 2-0, Braden Huish – Isaac Palmer 1-0, and Braden Huish – McNeil 1-0.
No. 15 Safford (8-5 seeding, 4.1372 rating)
Safford (4-2) had section wins over Benson (9-0, March 28), Duncan (9-0, April 2), Pima (9-0, April 4), and Morenci (9-0, April 9). The Katie Jones-coached No. 15 Bulldogs were 52-26 (91-52 sets) in singles and 26-14 in doubles. The records included 11 forfeit wins, seven in singles and four in doubles
Individually, junior Camden Montierth was 9-3 (17-8 sets), senior Kody Gluyas 6-4 (11-8 sets), junior Bo Bowman 6-5 (12-9 sets), senior Thomas Biggs 10-3 (18-6 sets), junior Xavier Owens 7-6 (11-11 sets), junior Owen Price 5-1 (7-2 sets), senior Brayden Bowman 4-2 (8-5 sets), junior Zane Robinson 2-0 (3-0 sets), and senior Carter Bills 3-2 (4-3 sets).
In doubles, Montierth – Gluyas was 6-4, Biggs – Owens 5-2, Bo Bowman – Bills 3-1, Montierth – Bo Bowman 2-0, Montierth – Robinson 1-0, Bo Bowman – Price 0-1, Bo Bowman – Owens 3-2, Biggs – Price 1-0, Biggs – Brayden Bowman 2-3, Owens – Price 1-0, and Price – Bills 2-1.
No. 17 Willcox (9-4 seeding, 3.3179 rating)
Willcox (5-1) had section wins over Duncan (9-0, March 7), Pima (9-0, March 26), Morenci (9-0, March 28), Benson (8-1, April 2), and Safford (5-4, April 8). The Mike Kauffman-coached No. 17 Cowboys were 45-21 (51-37 sets) in singles and 24-9 in doubles. The records include 18 forfeit wins, 11 in singles and seven in doubles.
Individually, junior Nathaniel Aguilar was 7-4 (8-7 sets), junior Keanu Ramil 7-4 (8-7 sets), senior Lane Whetten 8-1 (9-2 sets), junior Elijah Bhasme 6-4 (7-7 sets), junior Andy Osomio 6-4 (6-6 sets), junior Kyle McClaine 8-3 (9-6 sets), freshman J.D. Whetten 2-0 (3-0 sets), and junior Luke Perolino 1-1 (1-2 sets).
In doubles, Aguilar – Osomio is 7-3, Ramil – Bhasme 7-2, Lane Whetten – McClain 4-1, Whetten – Whetten 4-0, Aguilar – Bhasme 0-1, Ramil – McClaine 1-1, and McClaine – Perolino 1-1.
No. 23 Pima (6-7 seeding, minus 1.7728 rating)
Pima (3-3) had section wins over Duncan (8-1, March 12), Benson (7-2, April 4), and Morenci (5-4, April 16). The Torrie Baldwin-coached No. 23 Roughriders were 29-49 (41-90) in singles and 15-24 in doubles. The records included 15 forfeit wins, 10 in singles, and five in doubles.
Individually, sophomore Garth Lunt was 2-9 (5-16 sets), sophomore Jackson Paul 5-8 (7-16 sets), freshman Colt Lunt 5-8 (8-15 sets), sophomore Kyler Reed 5-7 (6-11 sets), junior Mac Bryce 5-6 (7-11 sets), freshman Eli Rogers 6-7 (7-13 sets), freshman Oliver McCray 1-3 (1-6 sets), and freshman Logan McCray 0-1 (0-2 sets).
In doubles, Garth Lunt – Reed was 2-5, Reed – Bryce 3-4, Colt Lunt – Rogers 5-7, Garth Lunt – Paul 0-4, Lunt – Lunt 1-0, Bryce – Paul 1-3, Paul – Oliver McCray 1-0, Paul – Rogers 0-1, Reed – Oliver McCray 0-2, and McCray – McCray 0-1.
No. 28 Morenci (4-9 seeding, minus 5.7992 rating)
Morenci (2-4) had section wins over Benson (6-3, April 3) and Duncan (7-0, April 4). The Brenda Street-coached Wildcats were 26-36 (29-52 sets) in singles and 12-14 in doubles. A total of 24 forfeits were yielded, 13 singles and 11 doubles, as well as four double forfeits, two in singles and two in doubles.
Individually, junior Tristan Burke was 5-6 (6-7 sets), senior Andrew McCallum 5-8 (6-11 sets), senior Jakob Camacho 6-7 (6-11 sets), senior Derik Jones 6-6 (7-10 sets), and freshman Jayden Cueto 4-9 (4-13 sets).
In doubles, McCallum – Camacho was 7-4, Burke – Jones 5-5, McCallum – Jones 0-2, Camacho – Cueto 0-2, and Burke – Cueto 0-1.
No. 30 Benson (4-8 seeding, minus 6.3006 rating)
The Julie Christensen-coached Benson Bobcats (1-5) were 27-45 (37-81 sets) in singles and 11-25 in doubles. The marks included 11 forfeit wins, eight in singles, and three in doubles.
Individually, junior Matt Volker was 7-5 (12-10 sets), junior Jonathan Woodward 4-8 (7-8 sets), junior Nathan Bullock 5-7 (3-12 sets), sophomore Ely Little 3-7 (4-12 sets), sophomore Kane Murray 3-8 (4-13 sets), freshman Casey Acuna 4-7 (5-11 sets), sophomore Isaac Garcia 1-1 (1-2 sets), sophomore Cody Miller 0-1 (0-2 sets), and freshman Samuel Preston 0-1 (0-1 sets).
In doubles, Volker – Woodward is 3-5, Bullock – Murray 0-5, Garcia – Preston 1-3, Volker – Bullock 0-1, Bullock – Little 1-2, Woodward – Little 0-1, Acuna – Preston 1-1, Murray – Garcia 0-1, Acuna – Garcia 1-0, and Acuna – Little 0-1.
No. 42 Duncan (0-12 seeding, minus 17.7849 rating)
The Shannon Kempton-coached Duncan Wildkats (0-6) were 4-18 (7-31 sets) in singles and 2-8 in doubles numbering two student-athletes. A total of 76 matches could not be played, 50 singles and 26 doubles matches, for lack of personnel. The records included 72 forfeits (48 singles, 24 doubles) and four double forfeits or a competitor unavailable for either team.
Individually, senior Ezekiel Cauthen was 0-12 (0-21 sets), and junior Tim Lunt was 4-6 (7-10 sets). The pair was 2-8 in doubles.
