Sectional Tennis Recap: Five Wayne/Holmes players advance to district stage

Triway's Paul Self was more than determined to get back to the district tournament.

No matter how long it took.

The senior won a marathon semifinal match en route to a runner-up finish at the Wooster Division II Sectional Tournament, held this past week at the College of Wooster.

Self is one of three area singles players to advance to this week's district round at Springside Athletic Club — including Wooster's Henry Pozefsky (D-I) and Central Christian's Aaron Meidel (D-II) — along with the Wooster doubles team of Brock Ranney and Garrett Ranney in the big-school division.

And with a district berth on the line, Self stood strong.

After jumping out with a hard-fought win in the first set over St. Vincent-St. Mary's Ben McKnight, the local bounced back from a second-game loss to take the match 7-6, 4-6, 7-6. Self would play University School's Dean Kirchick in the final, losing in straight sets.

Meidel locked up the fourth and final qualifying spot for a repeat trip to districts, winning a three-set thriller of his own in the quarterfinal round over Coventry's Ivan Vasich. The local senior fell behind in the first game before taking the contest 4-6, 6-4, 6-3.

Over in Canton, Wooster's Pozefsky and the Ranney doubles pairing also advanced.

Brock and Garrett Ranney dropped just two games in the opening two rounds to secure a district spot before bouncing back from a loss to Jackson with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lake's duo of Joseph Moorhead and Matthew Potashnki.

Pozefsky was fourth overall in the singles bracket and won his first three matches in straight sets, before forcing a third and deciding game in the semifinals versus Elijah Corrin of Canton McKinley before falling 7-5, 5-7, 6-3. He would loss another three-game heartbreaker for third place to Lake's Carson Craig.

The Generals' Saxon Ranney came close to qualifying in singles bracket, which included a three-set win against Hoover's Hunter Holloway and an injury default over Jackson's Roshan Patel before losing to Craig in the quarters.

In D-II, Central's Drew Badertscher saw his season come to a close after winning three matches before losing in the quarterfinals to McKnight, while Orrville's pairing of Vinny Chiofallo and Max Casto along with Central's Ezra Coleman and Aaron Lehman also losing one match shy of the semifinals.

Hiland’s Jackson Mullet was the top local competing in Columbus at the D-II Central Sectional. Mullet won a pair of matches in straight sets — including a 6-0, 6-4 triumph over Alex Pringle of West Holmes — before losing to Bexley’s Max Almasanu.

Both the D-I and D-II District Tournaments open this week Springside in Akron. The D-I tourney opens on Thursday, followed by D-II on Friday, before both divisions’ placement matches will take place on Saturday morning.