By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – There were two Hamilton County champions at last Saturday’s 26th annual John Shirley Men’s Tennis Invitational, which took place at North Central’s beautifully renovated Barbara Wynne Tennis Center.
Carmel finished as co-champion in the Shirley Division, sharing the team title with Brebeuf Jesuit. Both teams scored 34 points. Meanwhile in the Buckley Division, Guerin Catholic had a dominant day, scoring 45 points to claim the trophy in that division.
No team won more than one flight in the Shirley Division. The Greyhounds were first in No. 1 doubles, where junior Michael Bao and freshman Grant Mu beat the Braves’ team of juniors Ethan Birge and Anthony Suscha 6-3, 6-2 in the first-place match.
Carmel and Brebeuf also squared off in the No. 2 singles championship. Braves freshman Tony Tancredi won a very close match, 6-4, 3-6, 10-8 over ‘Hounds sophomore Wes Worobel. (The third-set was played as a 10-point tiebreak.) Worobel showed an enormous amount of grit: He was down 3-0 in the second set before winning six straight games to force the deciding tiebreaker.
Carmel finished in third place in the other three flights: No. 1 singles (senior Braedon McIntyre), No. 3 singles (freshman David Liu) and No. 2 doubles (sophomores Sanjith Boddu and Andrew Kim). The Braves also were the runner-up at No. 3 singles and placed fourth in No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles.
“The top teams duked it out and I think in the eyes of most people it’s going to leave the state pretty wide open for who’s going to be there at the end,” said Greyhounds coach Dan Brunette.
All in the finals
Over in the Buckley Division, the Golden Eagles reached the championship match in all five flights, totaling 45 points, well ahead of runner-up Cathedral’s 28 points.
Guerin Catholic won at No. 1 singles and No. 2 doubles. Senior Max Fuller beat Cathedral junior Charlie Coleman 6-1, 6-2 for the singles victory, while the doubles team of freshman Jake Husmann and senior Sean Loub beat Terre Haute South’s team, junior Tyler Swan and senior Nathan Wright, 6-4, 6-3.
Finishing as runners-up were freshman Charlie Phillips at No. 2 singles, sophomore David Cacchillo at No. 3 singles and the No. 1 doubles team of junior Rhys Garrison and senior Alejandro Torres. As a result of the win, the Golden Eagles will move up to the Shirley Division in next year’s tournament.
“I know we won the Buckley when I was a player,” said second-year GC coach Wyatt Metzger, who graduated from Guerin Catholic in 2018. “But not at this level, not at the way we came out and competed, dominated across the board. Just really happy with the depth we showed, the heart we showed across the board.”
Fishers and Hamilton Southeastern both played in the Shirley Division, and finished tied for sixth place. Both teams scored 10 points. The Tigers got a fourth-place finish from senior Cooper Valance in No. 3 singles and a fifth-place result from junior Vaughn Curtis and sophomore Eshan Jain in No. 1 doubles. As for the Royals, No. 1 singles, junior Alex Piercy and the No. 2 doubles team of freshman Brady Stump and senior Alex White all placed fifth.