The Woodrow Wilson boys tennis team made history last week.
This weekend, the Flying Eagles are hoping to add another chapter.
For the first time sine 1991, the Beckley boys captured the Class AAA Region 3 tennis title to earn a spot in the state tournament starting Thursday in Charleston.
“I don’t think I was born then,” veteran Woodrow coach Bernie Bostick said, playfully. “It looks pretty good right now. I feel like we are playing the best we can play. We have got everything out of them and we have them ready.”
Woodrow Wilson is the No. 5 seed in the eight-team field and will match-up with No. 4 seed Washington at 9:30 a.m. Thursday morning.
Each tennis team is made up of four singles players, ranked 1-4, and three doubles teams, ranked 1-3. The team with the most wins in the seven matches, advances to the next round.
The singles unit for the Flying Eagles is made up of, in order, juniors Ram Asaithambi and Ethan Shepard, along with sophomore Tyler Radford and freshman Vince Umberger.
The doubles team consist of Asaithambi and Shepard at No. 1, Radford and Umberger at No. 2 and senior Cam Johnson and junior Nick Fultz in the No. 3 position.
“We only lose Cam Johnson off of this team and he has done a really good job all year long,” Bostick said. “He kept everybody settled down and focused. He is playing with Nick who didn’t play a lot last year. Cam has kind of taken him under his wing and has been a calming force.”
Woodrow Wilson met up with the Patriots earlier this year at the Regional Rumble played in Morgantown back in late March.
Even though Washington won the tight match, Bostick is confident of a different outcome in Charleston.
“We have improved a lot since then. Up there we had two 9-7 games and I think we had a tie-breaker. We could have won just as easy, so I think it will be a tight match,” Bostick said. “If we win we get No. 1 Hurricane in round 2. They are really good, but to be the best you have to beat the best.”
The state tennis tournament consists of three separate divisions.
In addition to the team competition, there is a singles tournament consisting of 16 players and a doubles tournament made up of eight teams.
Asaithambi and Shepard will represent the Flying Eagles in both events.
As a doubles team the Beckley duo is undefeated on the season and enters the tournament as the No. 3 seed. Their first round match will be Friday at 5 p.m. against No. 6 seed Samir Jones and Owen Erlewine from George Washington.
“They play all summer. Tennis is their sport and they are the only two “tennis” players that I have,” Bostick said. “The rest of the boys have other main sports. We have several guys that play soccer. Two of the guys on the team are 16-under soccer state champs.”
Last year, Asaithambi combined with Alberto Simoncello to finish in the final four in doubles tournament.
The current Beckley duo has also been a terror on the singles court.
“When the season is over Ram will go to tournaments. You don’t find a lot of tournaments around here, but you do in Cincinnati, Charlotte, Raleigh and places like that,” Bostick said. “Ethan did pretty much the same thing. They were pretty much playing every weekend and getting better. That is what it takes.”
After advancing to the quarterfinals last year, Asaithambi enters the tournament seeded No. 4. His first round opponent is No. 13 Brycen Maccubbin from Washington.
Shepard is the No. 10 seed and also had a big win to open last year’s event. He will battle No. 7 seed Samir Jones.
“Ethan has only lost one match. In that match he had six match points and two of the points his shoes came off. He was playing out of his shoes,” Bostick said, smiling. “Here on out, the shoes will be double knotted.”
The team finals will be contest Friday, with the doubles and singles finals slated for Saturday.
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