Contributed Photo: The Thatcher boys tennis team ended the regular season as Section I champions and the state’s top ranking. The Eagles qualified as finalists a fifth time under head coach Chris Cook, ending 4-1 as the 2023 team runners-up. Phoenix Country Day edged Thatcher 5-4 to win its third consecutive title on May 6.
Thatcher finishes as state runner-up as top-four ranked teams met in the semifinals
By Raymundo Frasquillo
GLENDALE – The top-ranked Thatcher Eagles (14-0 seeding, 23.2341 rating) were edged 5-4 by the No. 2 Phoenix Country Day School Eagles (10-0, 21.4005) for the Division III Boys Tennis State Championship. All six singles and three doubles pairings were played at the Glendale Paseo Racquet Center courts on May 6.
Phoenix Country Day was the 2021 and 2022 state champions, both as No. 1, and finished 17-7 (.710) in the post-season since 2012. The Eagles also finished in the first round five times (2012, 2014-17), as a semifinalist in 2018, and as the runner-up in 2019. The 2020 season was halted in mid-March and did not have a state meet because of a global health crisis.
Individually, Phoenix Country Day has had the section players of the year four times and tied for another in six years (2017-2023) for doubles, once in singles, and head coach Jerry Keever was the section coach of the year during three of six seasons.
Perennial contender Thatcher finished 29-7 (.810) in the post-season under 12-year head coach Chris Cook, twice a quarterfinalist (2017-18), a 4-time semifinalist (2013, 2019, 2021-22), a 4-time state champion (2012, 2014-16), and now runners-up. The Eagles were ranked no lower than fourth in those 12 years, No. 4 twice (2019, 2022), No. 3 once (2021), No. 2 twice (2016, 2018), and No. 1 six times (2012-15, 2017, 2023).
Individually, Thatcher landed the doubles player-of-the-year and Cook was the coach-of-the-year both four times in six seasons (2017-2023).
Phoenix Country Day – 5, Thatcher – 4
“It was one of the best and most exciting matches I have been a part of,” coach Cook said. “I’m upset that we didn’t win but can’t complain about our effort or desire to win. It was a great season.”
“They have two incredible players at numbers one and two,” he added. “We had to be perfect in the other four (singles) matches to win. We won three of four from numbers three through six. We had three matches that went to tie-breakers and lost one 7-10.”
Phoenix Country Day senior Tyler Tam (8-2 seeding) defeated junior Brock Smith 6-1 and 6-0, junior Jacques Sevrain (10-0) defeated senior Hunter Sellers (12-1) 6-0 and 6-2, and sophomore Carter Kroeger (7-0) won a tie-breaker 10-7 after splitting 6-3 and 2-6 with junior Blake Kartchner (13-0).
Thatcher junior Gene Huish (11-2) won a tie-breaker 13-11 after splitting 4-6 and 6-4 with sophomore Linus Gino-Griffiths (6-0), senior Austin Haynie (14-0) won a tie-breaker 10-8 after splitting 6-3 and 4-6 with junior Francesco Castelletti (10-0), and senior Carter Bryce (8-0) downed sophomore Dasch Gorcyca (9-0) 6-1 and 7-5.
In doubles, Phoenix Country Day’s Sevrain – Gino-Griffiths (5-1) defeated Sellers – Haynie (9-3) 8-4, and Tam – Kroeger (1-0) blanked Kartchner – Huish (13-0) 8-0.
Thatcher’s Smith – Carter (11-0) defeated Castelletti – senior Andrew Marks (0-0) 8-4.
During regular season seeding matches, the six Phoenix Country Day entrants won a combined 96 percent (50-52) of their singles and 86 percent (6-7) of their doubles pairings while Thatcher’s sextet prevailed in 89 percent (66-74) singles and 92 percent (33-36) doubles pairings.
Tam was the Section VII singles player-of-the-year and half of the 2022 doubles POY, and Sevrain along with Gino-Griffiths the section doubles POY.
It was the fourth meeting between the two programs in the post-season under Cook. Thatcher won both first-round pairings 5-0 in 2012 and 2014 while Phoenix Country Day prevailed 5-2 during the 2022 semifinals.
Division III State Boys Team Tourney
The Top 16 ranked teams and section champions qualified and met in the first round on April 26 at the higher seed, the quarterfinals at the higher seed on May 3, and for the semifinals in the Glendale Paseo Racquet Center, 6268 West Thunderbird Road, on May 5.
Each of the top four ranked semifinalists was a section champion, Thatcher for Section I, Scottsdale Prep for Section V, Phoenix Country Day for Section VII, and Pusch Ridge for Section II.
Thatcher ousted the No. 16 Saint David Tigers (9-3, 3.0749) 6-0 in the first round, the No. 8 Gilbert Christian Knights (8-3, 10.1881) 5-1 in the quarterfinals, and the No. 4 Scottsdale Prep Spartans (11-1, 16.6215) 5-0.
Scottsdale Prep defeated No. 13 Tucson’s The Gregory School (9-1, 6.3185) 6-1 in the first round and No. 5 Anthem Prep (9-0, 13.2650) 5-1 in the quarterfinals.
Phoenix Country Day eliminated No. 15 Glendale Prep (8-3, 4.7220) 5-0 in the first round, No. 7 Chandler Prep (10-2, 10.8682) 5-0 in the quarterfinals, and the No. 3 Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian Lions (13-1, 18.6777) 5-0 in the semifinals.
Pusch Ridge downed No. 14 Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (8-5, 5.2985) 5-0 in the first round and No. 6 Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (8-1, 12.0751) 5-0 in the quarterfinals.
Also eliminated in the first round were No. 12 Safford (9-4, 7.5429) 5-1, by Anthem Prep (9-0, 13.2650); No. 11 Gilbert Classical (7-4, 7.6206), 5-4 by American Leadership – West Foothills; No. 10 Tucson Tanque Verde (8-4, 8.0534), 5-1 by Chandler Prep; and No. 9 Phoenix Veritas Prep (9-3. 8.3035), 5-3 by Gilbert Christian.
Division III Individual Boys State Tourneys
A total of 20 Section I student-athletes competed in the state individual boys tourneys, four in singles and 16 in doubles.
Four singles and four doubles made first-round exits, two doubles went two rounds, and two doubles lasted three rounds.
Pima senior Leland Thompson (10-4) fell 1-6 and 4-6 to Gilbert Classical senior Uday Brathwaite (9-3), Safford sophomore Bo Bowman (9-4) fell 2-6 and 1-6 to Florence junior Visillous Apostolos (5-1), Thatcher senior Carter Bryce (8-0) fell in a tie-breaker 11-9 after splitting 0-6 and 7-6 with The Gregory School senior Dylan Pace (9-2), and Thatcher junior Brock Smith (8-5) fell 2-6 and 1-6 to Phoenix Country Day sophomore Carter Kroeger (8-0).
Morenci seniors Jarel Diaz – Joshua Biggs (9-5) fell 0-6 twice to No. 1 Phoenix Country Day junior Jacques Sevrain – sophomore Linus Gino-Griffiths (5-1), Safford juniors Brayden Bowman – Thomas Biggs (9-4) fell 0-6 and 2-6 to Gilbert Christian seniors David Russell Cole Warren (1-0), Safford sophomore Camden Montierth – junior Kody Gluyas (8-4) fell 0-6 twice to Pusch Ridge senior Jakob Herndon – freshman Lukas Herndon (8-0), and Willcox sophomore Nathaniel Aguilar – Keanu Ramil (6-6) fell 0-6 and 4-6 to Scottsdale Prep sophomore Kyle Kwak – junior Andrew Eastlack (7-1).
Duncan seniors Logan Basteen – Bryant Rapier (5-6) won a tie-breaker 10-6 after splitting 6-4 and 5-7 with Saint John Paul II junior Jake Kalita – freshman Mateusz Serwach (9-4) before falling 2-6 and 1-6 to Anthem Prep junior Kalum Fischer – freshman Nicholas Van Cleve (8-0) and Pima seniors Dillon McCray – Cooper Reed (6-7) defeated Lincoln Prep junior Colin Russell – sophomore Quinn Yamada (7-4) 6-2 and 6-3 before falling 0-6 and 3-6 to Chandler Prep junior Noah Yeung – senior Jake Bruns (8-4).
The No. 5 Thatcher senior duo of Hunter Sellers – Austin Haynie (9-3) sent home Chandler Prep seniors David Duffek – Griffen Weldon (9-2) 6-1 and 6-0 and Pusch Ridge junior Daniel Jung – senior Charlie Cain (8-2) by winning a tie-breaker 11-9 after splitting 6-2 and 5-7 before falling 4-6 and 5-7 to No. 4 Saint David seniors Marek Haynie – Brayten Trejo (10-2).
The No. 7 Thatcher junior duo of Blake Kartchner – Gene Huish (13-0) defeated Gilbert Christian sophomore Mason Berkshire – senior Lucas Berkshire (1-0) and Tanque Verde juniors Connor Moore – Jiang Lin (7-3) 6-1 twice before falling 2-6 and 3-6 to No. 2 Veritas Prep seniors Jack Victor – Ian Townsend (10-1).
The top eight seeded entrants met in both the singles and doubles quarterfinals, the top four in the doubles semifinals, and the top two in both the singles and doubles finals.
Top-seeded Rancho Solano Prep freshman Jaden Litt (8-0) defeated No. 2 Scottsdale Prep senior Connor Swenson (12-1) 6-3 twice for the title.
Litt ousted Tombstone senior Caleb Russian (8-6) 6-0 and 6-1 in the first round, Chandler Prep senior Abraham Istambouly (10-3) 6-0 twice in the second round, No. 8 Phoenix Country Day sophomore Carter Kroeger (8-0) 6-0 and 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and No. 5 Anthem Prep senior Ryan Anderson (9-0) 6-0 twice in the semifinals.
Swenson eliminated Miami senior Eric Troglia (5-9) 6-0 and 6-1 during the first round, Florence junior Visillous Apostolos (5-1) 6-0 twice during the second round, No. 7 The Gregory School senior Dylan Pace (9-2) 6-0 twice during the quarterfinals, and No. 3 Gilbert Classical senior Uday Brathwaite (9-3) 6-0 and 6-2 during the semifinals.
In doubles, top seed Phoenix Country Day junior Jacques Sevrain – sophomore Linus Gino-Griffiths (5-1) defeated No. 2 Veritas Prep seniors Jack Victor – Ian Townsend (10-1) 10-8 in a tie-breaker after splitting 7-5 and 4-6 for the title.
Sevrain – Gino-Griffiths ousted Morenci seniors Jarel Diaz – Joshua Biggs (9-5) 6-0 twice in the first round, Scottsdale Prep senior Sean Clary – junior Ben Sanov (8-1) 6-0 twice in the second round, No. 8 Anthem Prep junior Kalum Fischer – freshman Nicholas Van Cleve (8-0) 6-0 and 6-1 in the quarterfinals, and No. 4 Saint David seniors Marek Haynie – Brayten Trejo (10-2) 6-3 and 6-2 in the semifinals.
Victor – Townsend eliminated Phoenix Country Day junior Francesco Castelletti – sophomore Dasch Gorcyca (1-0) 6-2 and 6-1 during the first round, Scottsdale Prep sophomore Kyle Kwak – junior Andrew Eastlack (7-1) 6-2, and 6-0 during the second round, No. 7 Thatcher juniors Blake Kartchner – Gene Huish (13-0) 6-2 and 6-3 during the quarterfinals, and No. 3 Pusch Ridge senior Jakob Herndon – freshman Lukas Herndon (8-0) 11-9 in a tie-breaker after splitting 7-5 and 4-6 during the semifinals.
The Individual first and second rounds were both on April 28, the quarterfinals and semifinals on April 29, and the finals on May 1. All matches were played at the Glendale Paseo Racquet Center.
Final Division III Boys State Rankings
The final Division III boys state rankings as of noon on April 19 had four teams from Section VII in the Top 16; three from Section IV; two apiece from Section I, Section II, Section III, and Section V; and one from Section VI.
The teams were Section I Thatcher (14-0 seeding, 23.2341 rating) No. 1, Section VII Phoenix Country Day School (10-0, 21.4005) No. 2, Section II Tucson Pusch Ridge Christian (13-1, 18.6777) No. 3, Section V Scottsdale Prep (11-1, 16.6215) No. 4, Section VI Anthem Prep (9-0, 13.2650) No. 5, Section VII Waddell American Leadership – West Foothills (8-1, 12.0751) No. 6, Section IV Chandler Prep (10-2, 10.8682) No. 7, and Section IV Gilbert Christian (8-3, 10.1881) No. 8.
Section V Phoenix Veritas Prep (9-3. 8.3035) No. 9, Section II Tucson Tanque Verde (8-4, 8.0534) No. 10, Section IV Gilbert Classical (7-4, 7.6206) was No. 11, Section I Safford (9-4, 7.5429) No. 12, Section III Tucson’s The Gregory School (9-1, 6.3185) No. 13, Section VII Avondale Saint John Paul II Catholic (8-5, 5.2985) No. 14, Section VII Glendale Prep (8-3, 4.7220) No. 15, and Section III Saint David (9-3, 3.0749) No. 16.
The other state rankings for Section I members were Morenci (9-5, 2.7024) No. 18, Willcox (8-5, 1.8457) No. 20, Pima (4-10, minus 7.0993) No. 32, Duncan (3-8, minus 10.3828) No. 37, and Benson (0-12, minus 19.6317) No. 44.
