Patagonia is in Duncan; Saint John Paul II goes to Morenci
By Raymundo Frasquillo
MORENCI – The Katie Jones-coached Safford tennis boys blanked the Wildcats in Morenci during the season opener on Feb. 27.
Other section matches last week (Feb. 24 – March 1) saw Thatcher post a 9-0 section shutout over Globe (Feb. 27), and defeat Sierra Vista Buena 7-2 (Feb. 28), and Miami succumbed 0-9 to Avondale John Paul II Catholic (Feb. 26).
This week (March 3-8), Thatcher hosts Safford and Duncan hosts Patagonia on Monday, March 3; Duncan hosts Willcox, Miami hosts Apache Junction, and Morenci hosts Saint John Paul II on Tuesday, March 4; Thatcher visits Tucson Sabino on Wednesday, March 5; Benson hosts Tucson Andrada Polytechnic, Globe visits Eloy Santa Cruz, Morenci visits Tombstone, and Thatcher hosts Chandler Prep on Thursday, March 6; Globe visits Coolidge, Willcox visits Tucson Tanque Verde, and Safford hosts a round robin tourney on Friday, March 7; and Duncan hosts the H.T. Clothier Invitational on Saturday, March 8.
Division III – Section I standings
The section standings as of March 1 are Thatcher (2-0 seeding, 1-0 section) first, Safford (1-0, 0-0) second, Globe (0-1, 0-1) third, Miami (0-1, 0-0) fourth, and Morenci (0-1, 0-0) fifth.
Benson (0-0, 0-0), Duncan (0-0, 0-0), Pima (0-0, 0-0), and Willcox (0-0, 0-0) begin competition this week.
Buena – 5, Thatcher – 4
The Eagles posted wins in four singles and all three doubles, while the Colts took the No. 1 and No. 2 singles.
In singles, junior Braden Huish topped sophomore Colton Haws (6-0 twice), junior Isaac Palmer blanked senior Benjamin Warwick (6-0 twice), junior Topher Rubacalva needed a tie-breaker to defeat junior Larry McClain (6-4, 4-6, 10-4), and senior Luke Allen downed sophomore Parker Hooper (6-0, 6-3).
The Huish – Palmer duo topped seniors Jimmy Rice – Jake Rodda (8-2), seniors Eli McNiel – Bryson Scorse bested Haws – Warwick (8-3), and Rubacalva – Allen defeated McClain – Hooper (8-3).
For Buena, it was Rice over McNiel (6-4, 6-2) and Rodda over Scorse (6-4, 6-3).
Safford – 9, Morenci – 0
The Bulldogs posted wins in six head-to-head pairings, four singles and two doubles. Forfeits resulted from the other pairings.
Senior Camden Montierth defeated senior Tristan Burke (6-1, 6-2), senior Bo Bowman downed junior Jaydon Cueto (6-0, 6-1), junior Owen Price blanked senior Manuel Grijalva (6-0 twice), and senior Xavier Owens shutout freshman Ryan Sullivan (6-0 twice).
In doubles, Montierth-Bowman and Price-Owens defeated Burke-Cueto (8-1) and Grijalva-Sullivan (8-0), respectively.
Senior Kyle Lines and sophomore John Archuleta were awarded forfeit wins in singles and doubles.
Thatcher – 9, Globe – 0
The Eagles posted wins in six singles and all three doubles. Excepting the No. 5 singles match, the other five were by identical 6-0 and 6-0 scores. The three doubles pairings ended in identical 8-0 scores.
In singles, it was McNiel over senior Corwin McBride, Huish over sophomore Matthew Bolinger, Scorse over junior Spencer McBride, Palmer over freshman Dallin McBride, Rubacalva over junior Kaden Graham (6-0, 6-2), and Allen over senior Jackson Pollock.
The Huish-Palmer duo, McNiel-Scorse, and Rubacalva-Allen, topped Corwin McBride-Dallin McBride, Spencer McBride-Graham, and Matthew Pollock-Jackson Pollock.
Saint John Paul II – 9, Miami – 0
The host Lions shut out the visiting Vandals, taking all six singles and all three doubles.
Sophomore Aleksander Piatek, junior Vincent Grabiec, sophomore Stephen Kane, junior Josemaria Estreller, junior Viktor Lassek, and senior Karl Lassek defeated senior Xavier Mancha (6-3, 6-2), senior Aiden Goss (6-3 twice), junior Chris White (6-4, 6-1), senior Morgan Stuart (6-0 twice), senior Aiden Rubin (6-1, 6-3), and sophomore Raejon Way (6-1 twice), respectively.
In doubles, Piatek – Kane, Grabiec Estreller, and Lassek – Lassek defeated Mancha – Goss (8-6), White – Rubin (8-4), and Stuart – Way (8-3), respectively.
