Clark, Palo Verde boys clinch region tennis titles
Artem Iermolov, Clark’s No. 1 singles player, was unavailable for the Desert Region championship match against Coronado on Friday at Liberty.
Turns out the Chargers didn’t need him.
Clark (15-0) held off Coronado (13-2) for an 11-7 victory and a second consecutive region championship. The Chargers will play Mountain Region champion Palo Verde on Saturday in the Southern Nevada team championship match.
All three teams advance to the Class 4A state tournament, as does Mountain Region runner-up Bonanza.
“We had some guys step up big time,” Clark coach Jordan Zimmel said. “If you can win the region championship without your best player, that’s really good. There are no guarantees. I was really impressed with how we played today.”
Rahul Gupte and Max Foels both went 3-0 in singles for Clark.
Coronado’s girls avenged the boys loss with a 14-4 victory over Bishop Gorman to claim their third consecutive region championship. Ava Nhaisi and Sidra Wohlwend were 3-0 in doubles for the Cougars (15-0), who haven’t lost since 2016.
Megan King and Paige Furin also were 3-0 in doubles, and Kennedy Buntrock was 2-0 in singles.
“We have five or six new players,” Coronado coach David Willingham said. “A lot of new girls come in and they’re accepted by the girls who have been there.”
Both teams advance to the Class 4A state tournament.
Palo Verde wins Mountain Region
Two-time defending boys state champion Palo Verde added another plaque to its trophy case with an 11-7 victory over Bonanza to win the Mountain Region title.
Trailing 9-5 in the final round, the Bengals closed the gap to 9-7 before Palo Verde doubles partners Nick Abdo and Kyle Stoddard, who had lost their previous two matches, defeated Bonanza’s Marshall Nelson and Mark Thuet to seal the championship.
“It was definitely a tough fought match today with these guys,” Palo Verde coach Rick Coop said. “Our kids battled back from adversity.”
Jack Kostrinsky, Michael Andre and defending state singles champion Axel Botticelli each went 2-1 for the Panthers (16-0).
Blake Kasday went 3-0 in singles for Bonanza, and Manny Gegen and Chase Kasday were 3-0 in doubles for the Bengals (15-2).
In the girls draw, Palo Verde built an 8-7 lead over Faith Lutheran, but third-round play was suspended because of darkness. The match will conclude Saturday morning at Bishop Gorman.
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Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BySamGordon on Twitter.
Class 3A boys
The doubles teams of Boen Huxford-Preston Jorgensen and Karson Bailey-Ty Pendleton each went 3-0 to lift host Boulder City to a 13-5 win over The Meadows in the Class 3A Southern Region championship match.
Connor Mikkelson was 2-0 in singles for the Eagles (18-0), who led 10-2 after two rounds en route to winning their second straight region title. Breton Erlanger and Braden Soileau each went 2-1 in singles for Boulder City.
Payton Buchmiller was 2-1 in singles for The Meadows (9-3).
Both teams advance to the state tournament, which begins Oct. 18 in Truckee, California.
Class 3A girls
Grace Nemec and Peyton Barsel teamed to go 3-0 in doubles and help The Meadows to an 11-7 win over host Boulder City in the Class 3A Southern Region final.
The Mustangs (12-0) won seven of the nine doubles sets, with the teams of Shayna Indyg and Claire Strimling and Nishelle Phansalkar-Michalik and Allison Stone each going 2-1.
Rachel Roxarzade was 2-1 in singles for The Meadows, which won its fourth straight region title.
Olivia Mikkelson was 3-0 in singles for Boulder City (16-2).
Both teams advance to the state tournament, which begins Oct. 18 in Truckee, California.
