How McDowell, Cathedral Prep duos win District 10 doubles tournament titles
Gridley Wright and Noah Hardesty were singles starters for most of McDowell’s boys tennis season.
The sophomores, though, realized their unfinished business when coach Andy Heinlein paired them for Wednesday’s District 10 Class 3A doubles tournament.
“We fell short last year when we lost in the semis,” Wright said. “After we found out we’d be playing together, we knew we wanted to take (the title) this time.
“We were able to do just that.”
Wright and Hardesty lived up to their status as the tournament’s top seeds. They won eight-game and 10-game pro sets ahead of their final at Westwood Racquet Club.
It was then and there they defeated fellow Trojans Christian Neubert and Dan Idzik 6-1, 6-2.
“This reaffirms the dynamic that we have,” Wright said.
Wednesday’s Class 2A finalists also were familiar with each other long before the first serve was struck.
That all-Cathedral Prep match favored Gavin Ferretti and James Casella. They also prevailed as the top seeds for that bracket with a 6-1, 6-4 sweep of teammates Colin Troutman and Cameron Grieshaber.
Tennis, track and lacrosse: Results for District 10 spring sports: May 6-11
Casella compartmentalizes
Ferretti qualified for PIAA tournament action at Hershey Racquet Club a year after he traveled there as the district’s 2A singles champion. Prep junior Jonah Ng denied the sophomore left-hander a chance to repeat in Monday’s final.
Ng also was the district’s 2022 small-school winner.
Although Ferretti’s latest state appearance will be in doubles, last spring’s experience in singles will remain beneficial come Memorial Day weekend.
“There’s a lot of high-level players there and a lot of pressure,” he said. “We know we'll have to play our best game. Let’s see what happens.”
Prep coach Pat Grab paired Casella with Ferretti, even though Casella mostly served and volleyed with Grieshaber throughout the regular season.
Casella, at least over the final’s hour-plus match time, found it easy to sever their emotional ties.
“You know they’re your teammates,” he said, “but you’ve got to treat them like completely different people. You’ve got to.
“At the end (of the match), then you shake hands.”
More: Top seeds John Sinnott and Jonah Ng prevail in District 10's boys tennis tournament finals
Wright recovers from injury
Wright, like Ferretti, also became one of Wednesday’s district gold medalists in doubles two days after he lost a singles final. Erie High’s John Sinnott beat him 6-1, 6-3 for first place in the 3A bracket.
Unlike Ferretti, though, Wright played in physical duress Monday. He pulled a hamstring during the second set, which he said was caused by not enough warmup time because of a late arrival at Westwood.
Sinnott and Wright had advance placement tests formerly scheduled. That necessitated an hour’s delay for their first serve, but Wright still arrived at Westwood later than desired.
McDowell’s athletic training staff worked to loosen Wright’s hamstring on Tuesday. The session proved beneficial.
More: District 10 boys tennis highlights the top performers among Erie County athletes: May 6-11
“I didn’t really feel anything until the end of (Wednesday),” Wright said. “It (stinks) to have an injury like that, especially during the playoffs.”
Wednesday’s all-McDowell 3A final was assured when Idzik and Neubert recorded the tournament’s most notable upset. They defeated Erie High second seeds Joe Salamon and Joel Lee 10-7 in the semis.
Mike has worked for the Erie Times-News editorial department since 1997 and full time with its sports department since 2004. He was the sports editor for the former Titusville Herald from 1991-93.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Duos from McDowell and Cathedral Prep win District 10 finals
