OHSAA boys tennis: Bexley's Henry Lessard captures Division II state singles championship
WOOSTER – The one point Bexley freshman Henry Lessard recalled more than any other from Friday’s Division II boys tennis state singles final was one that didn’t go his way.
“It was really the 5-all point (during a first-set tiebreaker), a crazy overhead he hit,” Lessard said of his opponent, Pepper Pike Orange senior Chika Nwaozuzu. “That was basically the set and I lost the set, but then I realized that with the wind and with his condition, he might eventually wear out and miss. I feel like the more I play, the better I get.”
Lessard wore down Nwaozuzu from there, strengthening his own game as Nwaozuzu battled a cold and cramping on a sunny afternoon in the mid-80s at the College of Wooster. Lessard won 6-7 (5-7), 6-3, 6-3 to close out his first high school season with the state championship.
Not only did Lessard finish 26-1 in bringing Bexley its sixth all-time singles title and first since 1986, he went 7-0 in three-set matches. One of those was a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 win over Nwaozuzu on April 19.
Earlier Friday, Lessard survived a 7-6 (7-5), 6-3 semifinal against Cincinnati Seven Hills’ Avi Mahajan that took almost two hours.
“(Lessard) is able to flip a switch,” Bexley coach Will Gingery said. “He probably feels like he didn’t play his best in that tiebreaker so to be able to flip the switch, start the second set on a roll, get an early break and hold on, he’s incredible to watch. It’s hard to beat him two sets. He may not play great or you might play really well, but he’s tough to beat two out of three sets.”
Lessard’s win also gave Bexley a sweep of the Division II singles championships this school year. Sophomore Amiya Bowles won the girls title in October.
“It’s so sweet,” Lessard said. “I knew it was going to be a grind, but I was able to pull it out.”
New Albany junior Abhinav Dandu completed his first state tournament with a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Cincinnati St. Xavier’s Carson Dwyer in the Division I singles final.
“(Dwyer) went around every backhand,” said Dandu, who swept Olentangy Liberty sophomore Shane Hand 7-5, 6-4 in a semifinal. “He put a lot of pressure on me on serves. I wasn’t serving as well as I have previously, but he played really well.”
Dandu (24-4) played first singles all season for perennial power New Albany, less than two years after missing eight months of competition with a right shoulder injury.
The Eagles were seeking their sixth state title, all of which have come since 2007, and third in singles.
“(Dandu) has always been the kind of kid who takes what is front of him and fights for everything he can get,” New Albany coach Marc Thomas said. “Whatever we’ve asked from him, he’s been the guy who lives for those situations.”
Hand placed fourth in his state debut, losing 6-3, 6-2 to Cincinnati Sycamore’s Nick Meyers in the third-place match.
Columbus Academy juniors Rowen Lo and Lucas Xue finished fourth in Division II doubles.
They lost a semifinal 6-1, 6-4 to eventual champions Dylan Catanese and Ethan Remy from Lexington and fell 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 to Cincinnati Indian Hill’s Neelan Gandhi and R.J. Poffenberger.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: OHSAA boys tennis: Bexley's Henry Lessard wins state singles title
