Firestone senior Reece Caraboolad wins second City Series boys tennis title in a row

High school seniors across the greater Akron area are in the process of navigating a busy spring with final exams, prom and graduation quickly approaching.

Firestone senior Reece Caraboolad took an International Baccalaureate English test on Wednesday and then ventured to Towpath Tennis Center to compete in the City Series boys tennis tournament.

Caraboolad, 18, entered the indoor facility as the No. 1 seed and he left as the first singles champion and City Series Player of the Year for the second year in a row.

Caraboolad’s victory helped Firestone win the City Series team championship. The Falcons have won a league title in boys tennis every year since 1972, with one exception being 2020 when there was no season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

For perspective, Richard Nixon was the president of the United States in 1972.

Akron Public Schools boys tennis: Reece Caraboolad leads Firestone to City Series boys tennis title in 2022

Reece Caraboolad leads Firestone to 51st City Series boys tennis title since 1972

Caraboolad defeated Sanjil Magar of North 7-5, 6-3 in the first singles final Wednesday.

“I have been playing the best this year out of all of my three years that I played in high school because I didn’t have a season freshman year [in 2020],” Caraboolad said. “I am putting a lot more power on the ball and playing with a lot more confidence on the court. Groundstrokes have improved and serves have definitely improved.”

Caraboolad is in the midst of a three-week span in which he has IB exams in English, history, math, chemistry and Spanish. Firestone’s graduation is scheduled for May 31.

Caraboolad, who is 6-foot and 160 pounds, has a 3.7 GPA and plans to study mechanical engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

Firestone sophomore Dylan Debo defeated Will Greathouse of Garfield 7-5, 3-6, 6-3 in the second singles final. Falcons freshman Mason Kehner and senior Brelyn Gisentaner topped Garfield’s Isabella Baughman and John Gill 6-3, 6-4 in the first doubles final.

Akron Public Schools boys tennis: Firestone wins City Series boys tennis championship in 2021

“We had to get these new guys coming in from never holding a racket to ready to roll and teach them how to play,” Caraboolad said.

Garfield placed first in two of the brackets as valedictorian Keith Greathouse defeated North’s Roman Magar 7-5, 6-4 in the third singles final and Legend Easley and Tymmithee Miller triumphed 6-3, 6-4 over Firestone’s Sal Pietrosanti and Andreas Varner-Waltz in the second doubles final.

“It was really iffy going into this season because initially we had Reece and then we started getting more and more players, but everybody was new,” Firestone coach Craig Sampsell said. “The only other person with any playing experience before this season is Mason, who actually takes lessons here. Everybody else was new to the sport.

"Dylan Debo took to the sport really quick. Brelyn took to the sport really quick. We had a lot of guys who had their struggles in the beginning, but they came around and improved. Having Charles Jones around as an assistant coach is fantastic because he teaches the fundamentals very well. Coach Jones was Firestone’s coach back in the day.”

Michael Beaven can be reached by email at mbeaven@thebeaconjournal.com and is on Twitter at @MBeavenABJ.

Akron Public Schools boys tennis: Spring sports spotlight: Firestone boys tennis at a glance in 2020

Akron Public Schools boys tennis: Firestone aces City Series boys tennis in 2019

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Firestone senior Reece Caraboolad wins second City Series tennis title