McDowell, Cathedral Prep advance to PIAA boys team tennis first round. How did they get there?
Andy Heinlein was a major contributor to the feeder program that currently benefits McDowell’s tennis program.
Some of the male players who progressed through that system, which included his son, swung rackets for the Trojans during Friday’s District 10 Class 3A team final against Erie High.
However, McDowell’s 4-1 win at Westwood Racquet Club varied from its other recent titles there. Heinlein experienced those conquests as an assistant.
D-10 singles: Top seeds Gavin Ferretti, Aaron Heinlein prevail as District 10 tennis champions
This time, Heinlein watched the Trojans blank the Royals in his first season as head coach.
Aaron Heinlein, Krish Jain and Eric Cui, McDowell’s starters in singles, helped ease that notable transition of leadership.
“This (season) has been a lot of fun,” Andy Heinlein said, “but I’m happier for our seniors. Those guys have carried this team. It’s great to see them end it with some success.”
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Heinlein made it sound like, win or lose, McDowell’s season was over after its third season victory against Erie High.
It wasn’t.
The Trojans remained at Westwood for a PIAA 3A play-in dual vs. Obama Academy. A 5-0 shutout of their Pittsburgh City League opponent left them 12-4 overall and assured of a berth in next week’s 16-team state bracket.
Cathedral Prep will represent the district in the state’s Class 2A field. The Ramblers improved to 17-2 with consecutive 5-0 wins over Greenville and Warren during the small-school tournament at Westwood.
Warren rallied to beat Fairview 3-2 in Friday’s other 2A semifinal.
Old outcome in new class for Ramblers
Prep’s district title was its 13th since the state started its team tournament in 2001.
What made Friday’s trophy presentation so unique was it was for first place in 2A. The Ramblers' first dozen were of the 3A variety.
Given the district’s last two 2A singles gold medalists were Prep freshmen, more such championships are possible for the Ramblers.
Prep’s Jonah Ng was a first-year player when he won districts in 2022. He advanced to the state semifinals and finished fourth overall.
Ng bypassed the chance to defend. Instead, he entered and won Wednesday’s district 2A doubles tournament with senior teammate Hayden Hutchinson.
First-year Rambler Gavin Ferretti took advantage of Ng’s decision to enter last weekend’s district’s 2A singles competition. He lived up to its status as the tournament’s top seed.
Ferretti and Ng continued to showcase their talent Friday. Combined, they only lost five games over their four matches.
Hutchinson was the only senior in the starting lineup for Prep coach Pat Grab.
James Casella, who played No. 1 doubles with Hutchinson, is a junior. Aryan Noticewala (No. 3 singles) and Cameron Grieshaber and Colin Troutman (No. 2 doubles) are sophomores.
“This (title) is good, and we’ve got a lot more to go,” Ng said. “Gavin’s got three more years (left) and I’ve got two more years, so we’re building for the future.”
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What’s next for district champs
Win or lose, Tuesday’s PIAA duals at Westwood will be the last local matches for the 2023 Ramblers and Trojans.
Prep takes on North Catholic in a 2A first-rounder at noon. North Catholic, which like McDowell is nicknamed the Trojans, qualified as the third of four seeds out of the WPIAL.
McDowell and North Allegheny are scheduled to start at 1:15 p.m. The Tigers from Wexford were the silver medalists for District 7’s 3A meet.
Tuesday’s victors will advance to the main portion of the tournament. All remaining rounds will run next weekend at Hershey Racquet Club.
Spring scoreboard: District 10 baseball, softball, tennis, track, more results for May 8-13
D-10 team tournament results
Results for the District 10 boys team tennis tournament at Westwood Racquet Club:
Class 2A
Semifinals
Cathedral Prep 5, Greenville 0
Singles: Jonah Ng (CP) def. Isaac Hightree 6-0, 6-0; Gavin Ferretti (CP) def. Alex Harcourt 6-0, 6-0; Aaryan Noticewala (CP) def. Finn Butcher 6-0, 6-0
Doubles: Hayden Hutchinson-James Casella (CP) def. Saku Fujita-Bryce Stefanowicz 6-2, 6-0; Cameron Grieshaber-Colin Troutman (CP) def. Zach Morgan-Blayne Knauf 6-0, 6-0
Greenville 8-4
Warren 3, Fairview 2
Singles: Aditya Turaga (Fv) def. Logan Fincher 6-1, 6-4; Graham Louis (Fv) def. Mark Lynds 6-7, 6-2, 6-4; Abe Wolf (W) def. Amani Thomas 6-3, 6-1
Doubles: Owen Strandburg-Adam Strandburg (W) def. Jai Prabhu-Connor Dystra 6-3, 6-3; Hugh Harrison-John Lynds (W) def. Ben Thomas-Charlie Allen (W) 5-7, 6-4, 6-3
Fairview 10-4
Championship
Cathedral Prep 5, Warren 0
Singles: Jonah Ng (CP) def. Logan Fincher 6-0, 6-1; Gavin Ferretti (CP) def. Mark Lynds 6-0, 6-4; Aryan Noticewala (CP) def. Abe Wolf 6-1, 6-1
Doubles: Hayden Hutchinson-James Casella (CP) def. Owen Strandburg-Adam Strandburg 6-0, 6-2; Cameron Grieshaber-Colin Troutman (CP) def. Hugh Harrison-John Lynds 6-2, 6-0
Cathedral Prep 17-2, Warren 13-4
Class 3A
Championship
McDowell 4, Erie High 1
Singles: Aaron Heinlein (Mc) def. Owen Sinnott 6-1, 6-2; Krish Jain (Mc) def. John Sinnott 6-3, 6-3; Eric Cui (Mc) Nate Devlin 6-0, 6-0
Doubles: Noah Hardesty-Gridley Wright (Mc) def. Kyle Westfall-Evan Nadzam 7-6, 6-1; Joel Lee-Joe Salamon (EH) def. Dan Idzik-Christian Neubert 6-4, 6-2
Erie High 6-7
PIAA
Class 3A subregion final
McDowell 5, Obama Academy 0
Singles: Aaron Heinlein (Mc) def. Aavin Mangalmurti 6-0, 6-0; Krish Jain (Mc) def. Isaiah Turnbull 6-3, 6-1; Eric Cui (Mc) def. Max Pekich 6-0, 6-0
Doubles: Noah Hardesty-Gridley Wright (Mc) def. Abe Crow-Sam Pellegrino 6-1, 6-0; Dan Idzik-Christian Neubert (Mc) by forfeit
McDowell 12-4
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: McDowell, Cathedral Prep win District 10 boys team tennis finals
