Dowling Catholic's Frye, Mauro win Class 2A state tennis doubles championship

Iowa’s best tennis players from Class 2A and 1A showcased their talents at the Iowa high school girls tennis tournament on Friday and Saturday.

The Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex in Iowa City was the site for 1A finals, while Johnston High School in Johnston played host to the 2A finals.

Here is a recap of the 2A and 1A finals.

Dowling Catholic's Grace Frye, Juju Mauro take home 2A doubles title

Dowling Catholic's Grace Frye and Juju Mauro toppled Allie Christensen and Lauren Hendrickson of Johnston to win the state doubles title in Class 2A.

After dropping their first set, 2-6, the Dowling duo bounced back with a 6-3 win in the second set. In a winner-take-all set, Frye and Mauro pulled out a 6-3 win to clinch a state title.

Their state tournament run included wins in straight sets over teams from West Des Moines Valley, Marshalltown and Waukee Northwest to earn a spot in the finals.

Katelynn Kock earns 2A singles title for Cedar Rapids Washington

Cedar Rapids Washington senior Katelyn Kock entered this year's 2A state tournament as a doubles champion from 2022. She added a singles title to her resume with a win over Lily Holland of Cedar Rapids Jefferson. Kock earned a 6-1 advantage over Holland in the first set, then earned a 6-0 win in the second set to claim her first singles titles.

Cedar Rapids Xavier's Gabi Fleming claims 1A singles crown

Gabi Fleming of Cedar Rapids Xavier is just a freshman, but she's already made her mark in school history. Fleming defeated Kate Holton of Waterloo's Columbus Catholic in straight sets (7-6, 6-1) to become the second singles titleholder in program history.

"It's everything, it's awesome you know? It's great," Fleming said.

Fleming was the top-seed heading into the state tournament. In her finals match against Holton, Fleming admitted she started off slow in the first set but picked up the pace in the second. She won all of her four matches by straight sets on her way to her first state title.

“In the first set, I was letting her dictate. I wasn’t really hitting my shots but in the second set, I was like,’ You know what, I’m just going to go for it and make things happen’,” Fleming said.

Central DeWitt's Brooke Bloom, Isabelle Pierce win 1A doubles title

Despite entering the state tournament as an unseeded team, Brooke Bloom and Isabelle Pierce left no doubt that they were the best tandem in the 1A field. The duo from Central DeWitt defeated the top-seeded Kendall Olson and Kaitlyn Olson from Osage (4-6, 7-6, 6-3) to clinch their first state title.

"Everyone we played was so competitive, so good and every single match was a battle, every single point was a battle," Bloom said. "We didn't really get handed anything so I think that this is crazy and I'm really grateful to be here with Isabelle."

After dropping the first set, Bloom and Pierce battled back. It wasn't the first time that the duo faced adversity, having dropped their first set in the semifinal round. They said they used that experience to push them to win their last two state-winning sets.

"Every year we've had to prove ourselves that we were a program, that we were good enough to compete against big schools and every year we've came out and surprised people," Pierce said. "I feel like we proved ourselves here and we proved that our program is an amazing program."

Marc Ray is the high school sports reporter for the Iowa City Press-Citizen. He can be reached at MARay@gannett.com, and on X, formerly Twitter, at @themarcszn.

This article originally appeared on Iowa City Press-Citizen: Dowling Catholic's Frye, Mauro win Class 2A state tennis doubles title