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Boys tennis: Shawnee snares third straight WBL title

May 6—"Shawnee owns the WBL."

Shawnee's No. 1 singles player Gabe Burke made that bold statement and backed it up after winning his third straight No. 1 singles title that helped the Indians capture their third straight Western Buckeye League crown in dominating fashion Saturday.

The Indians, who were 9-0 during the regular season WBL dual matches , swept all five brackets in the league tournament for the second consecutive year to snare the school's 28th championship and 24th outright.

Due to some makeup matches that still need to be made up, the final scores are not complete, however, Shawnee's domination in the tournament gave it the tournament title with 60 points. Elida was second with 48 points and Ottawa-Glandorf rounded out the top three with 23 points. The rest of the field were St. Marys (23), Wapakoneta (22), Bath (15), Kenton (14), Celina (7), Defiance (7) and Van Wert (5).

"We just have so much depth," Shawnee head coach Andrew McGreevy. "Everybody on my team from the first singles to the second doubles are skilled in some way, shape or form that you particularly don't see like you see in the third singles. My third singles player would be every else's No. 1 and at the same time they just care.

"They help each other out. They don't care if they are a senior or a freshman. Everybody wants to win and wants to win for the school district. It goes well when everybody is on the same plan.

This marks the second straight year they have gone unbeaten in the league and 5-0 in the tournament and with pretty much the same team as last year, the Indians came into the season planning on repeating last year's success.

McGreevy said the team set the goal of going unbeaten whether he liked it or not.

"My boys say that and they probably said more than I liked them to but they've got goals and they work towards them and they don't just say it to say it," the Indians head coach said. "They work hard to try and live up to those goals. Sometimes it doesn't always come across the best way but I am proud of them for their confidence and the work they put in. They want to get those goals so they are not afraid to go after it."

At No. 1 singles, Burke continued to be the best player in the WBL. The two-time state qualifier defeated Wapakoneta's Connor Coffey in the finals.

Shawnee's Mason Stahl and Mac Davis also enjoyed their third straight singles titles.

Stahl snared the No. 2 singles crown with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Elida's Ben Osman in the finals. The Shawnee senior never lost more than two sets in any of his matches.

Davis celebrated his third title at No. 3 singles after downing Elida's Dylan Byers in the finals, 6-2, 6-1.

Shawnee's Salah Mohammed and Seth Grieshop enjoyed a second doubles title but the first together as the duo beat Elida's James Mitchell and Eben Jackson, 6-0, 6-2. Last year, Mohammed won the No. 1 doubles title with Gabe Rutter and Grieshop garnered the No. 2 title with Shashank Chanamolu.

Chanamolu came back to snare top honors at No. 2 doubles but with Jackson Carpenter as his partner this year. The Indians teamed up to score a 6-3, 6-3 win over Elida's Leyton Staley and Alex Dunahay.

"We just have a team full of people who push themselves all summer long and work hard," Stahl said. "We sort of ended up here but last year we went 16-0 and we wanted to keep that streak going."

McGreevy said this historic run continues the school's proud tennis tradition and this is another chapter.

"We talked about that the beginning of the year" McGreevy said. "You gain some level of a name for yourselves but our school has had that level a lot longer than you guys have had so you have to remember in the end we are doing it for the Shawnee logo and then the rest is for the rest of us to enjoy to at the same time. We love our school and proud of it and the place we have put it."

WBL Tournament Results

First Singles

Semifinals

Gabe Burke (Shawnee) def. Daniel Bolon (Bath) 6-1, 6-1; Connor Coffey (Wapak) def. Jaden Neuman (Elida) 6-3, 6-2.

Finals

Gabe Burke (Sh) def. Connor Coffey (Wap) 6-0, 6-1.

Third Place Match

Jaden Neuman (E) def. Daniel Bolon (B) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.

Back Draw

Fifth Place Match

Sam Schomaeker (Ottawa-Glandorf) def. Isaac Wibbeler (St. Marys) 8-2.

Seventh Place

Jack Zhang (Celina) def. Keaton Foster (VW) 9-7.

Second Singles

Semifinals

Mason Stahl (Sh) def. Ezra Bolon (B) 6-2, 6-0; Ben Osmon (E) def. Cody Birt (SM) 6-1, 6-2.

Finals

Mason Stahl (Sh) def. Ben Osmon (E) 6-2, 6-1.

Third Place Match

Cody Birt (SM) def. Ezra Bolon (B) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.

Back Draw

Fifth Place Match

Aiden Bellman (W) def. Ty Verhoff (O-G) 8-5.

Seventh Place Match

Rylan Chapman (Cel) def. Aaron Reichert (VW) 8-4.

Third Singles

Semifinals

Mac Davis (Sh) def. Parker Moell (W) 6-0, 6-1; Dylan Byers (E) def. Mason Welch (O-G) 6-3, 6-1.

Finals

Mac Davis (Sh) def. Dylan Byers (E) 6-2, 6-1.

Third Place Match

Mason Welch (O-G) def. Parker Moell (W) 6-3, 7-5.

Back Draw

Fifth Place Match

Bradey Triplett (SM) def. Isaiah Glass (Cel) 8-3.

Seventh Place Match

Kaedyn Swander (VW) def. Carmine Castanada (Defiance) 8-1.

First Doubles

Semifinals

Salah Mohammed/Seth Grieshop (Sh) def.Theo Maag/Levi Unterbrink (O-G) 6-0, 6-1; James Mitchell/Eben Jackson (E) def. Seth Manns/Mitchell Stephens (Ken) 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5.

Finals

Salah Mohammed/Seth Grieshop (Sh) def. James Mitchell/Eben Jackson (E) 6-0, 6-2.

Third Place Match

Seth Manns/Mitchell Stephens (Ken) def. Theo Maag/Levi Unterbrink (O-G) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.

Back Draw

Fifth Place Match

Jaxton Spees/Aiden Jeffries (SM) def. Carter Campbell/Kolton Grear (D) 8-5.

Seventh Place Match

Brayden Kaple/Taylor McCoy (B) def. Caleb Bledsoe/Fletcher Smith (VW) 8-5.

Second Doubles

Semifinals

Shashank Chanamolu/Jackson Carpenter (Sh) def. Camden Hicks/Adam Coffman (Ken) 6-2, 6-4; Leyton Staley/Alex Dunahay (E) def. Will Schroeder/Jaedan Compher (O-G) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.

Finals

Shashank Chanamolu/Jackson Carpenter (Sh) def. Leyton Staley/Alex Dunahay (E) 6-3, 6-3.

Third Place

Camden Hicks/Adam Coffman (Ken) def. Will Schroeder/Jaedan Compher (O-G) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.

Back Draw

Fifth Place Match

Reese Triplett/Logan Compton (SM) def. Zack Hanson/Dylan Johnson (D) 9-7.

Seventh Place Match

Brayden Hooker/Gabriele Pepi (W) def. Braydin Vanbuskirk/Declan Callahan (B) 8-4.

Reach Jose Nogueras at 567-242-0468.