Perfect prep: Lex Invite gets area’s two best tennis programs ready for post-season
LEXINGTON – Ethan Remy isn’t planning for a one-and-done at this year’s state high school tennis tournament.
He didn’t make it out of the first day as a freshman in doubles or as a sophomore in singles, but one gets the sense that this year might be different after he and partner Dylan Catanese swept all three of their matches for the host school in Saturday’s nine-team Lexington Invitational,
The Lex duo beat Toledo St. Francis 8-3 and Tipp City Tippecanoe 8-5 before blanking Columbus Bexley 8-0 in the finals for the No. 1 doubles title in what always is one of the best regular season showcases in Ohio.
“I think we have a great shot at making it to the second day at state,” Remy said. “I’m really good at the baseline and Dylan’s ready good at the net and keeping things positive on the court.”
For Lex and Ontario, the two best teams in north central Ohio, the invite was the perfect dress rehearsal for post-season play and a sneak peek at the level of competition that awaits everyone that navigates their way to Columbus for the OHSAA individual state tournament.
Saturday’s loaded field included:
The host Minutemen, coming off a Final Four appearance in the 2022 state team tournament, hosted by the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association.
Ontario, which could go 12-0 in Mid-Ohio Athletic Conference play without losing a court. The Warriors host Lex on Wednesday at Marshall Park in the district semifinals of the OTCA team tournament.
Toledo St. Francis, the preseason No. 1 ranked Division I team in the Northwest District.
Columbus Academy and Columbus Bexley, the preseason No. 1 and No. 2 ranked DII teams, respectively, in the Central District.
Dublin Coffman, the preseason No. 6 DI program in the Central District.
Findlay, the preseason No. 4 DI program in the Northwest District.
Centerville, the preseason No. 7 DI program in the Southwest District, and Tippecanoe, a DI program on the rise in the same district.
“I love the invite and all of the good teams playing in it,” Catanese said. “It’s one of my favorite parts of the season.”
Rather than the matches being two sets with a tiebreaker if necessary, Saturday’s invite followed a pro set, first to win eight games format as a concession to wet conditions and time constraints, Most of the action took place indoors at Lakewood Racquet with some doubles on Lexington High School’s outside courts.
Academy scored 27 points to dethrone the Minutemen. Bexley was runner-up (20), followed by Coffman (18), Centerville (16), Lex (15), Tippecanoe (8), Findlay (7), St. Francis (4) and Ontario (3).
Evan Booker, a 2021 Ontario grad and part of the coaching staff at his alma mater with Cary Carcione and Luke Webster, said the experience the Warriors gained playing on this stage is immeasurable.
“We played Lexington my senior year in a dual meet and it was a really good experience,” he said. “To come here and play all these guys was a great experience for our boys. They’ve learned a lot … I’ve learned a lot. Seeing talent at the state level in a tournament here in town is pretty awesome.”
Lex and Ontario put their doubles teams together for this invite the way their lineups will look come the DII sectionals at Shelby in a couple of weeks.
In addition to Remy and Catanese at No. 1 doubles, Lex paired Jake Chilcote and Owan Gongwer at No. 2 doubles and Cooper Remy (Ethan’s younger brother) and Jake Halfhill at No. 3 doubles. Karl Etzel, a two-time OHSAA state doubles qualifier, played singles, but had to retire after one match because of back issues.
Lex transfer Joseph Litao and Pablo Sanchez Vidal have played No. 1 and 2 singles, respectively, all season for Ontario, but they played No. 1 doubles Saturday as a tune-up for the post-season. At No.2 doubles was Hector Sanchez Vidal, Pablo’s younger brother, and Alex Ellis, with Brody Phillips and Hunter Petit at No. 3 doubles and Matt Bayes at singles for the Warriors.
So far, so great for the Remy-Catanese collaboration.
“I thought (Bexley) was going to be a close match, but that was the best match we’ve ever played together,” Catanese said. “Ethan’s really consistent and has a pretty good serve, so I can poach off that (at the net).”
Catanese is nothing if not adaptable. He and Chilcote have actually spent more time as partners over these last two seasons and recently won the Medina Invitational together.
“It’s not that hard to adjust (from one partner to the next),” Catanese said. “I just need to play as good as I can every match.”
Lex coach Ron Schaub wasn’t blindly throwing Remy and Catanese together for this invite. They did really well in a couple of tournaments last off-season and won the Upper Arlington Invite together this spring.
“They had a really good win over Academy (in that invite),” Schaub said, “so they just want to continue that. This tournament is super strong, so hopefully this will help us out.”
Lex’s other two tandems went 2-1, with Chilcote and Gongwer finishing third and Halfhill and Cooper Remy battling back to finish fifth after dropping their first match.
Chilcote and Gongwer opened with an 8-3 win over Hector Sanchez Vidal and Alex Ellis, lost 8-6 to Bexley and then rebounded to beat Centerville 8-2 in the consolation finals.
“I think (the invite) was deeper this year,” said Chilcote, who won No. 3 doubles last year, winning two matches with Catanese and one with Gongwer. “Owan and I played two other times this year and won 6-1, 6-1 in the invite last year, so I knew it would be a pretty good pairing.
“We have some of the same strengths – hitting crosscourt, hitting good volleys, just consistency. We knew we could do well together, especially this being my senior year.”
Chilcote just committed to Otterbein University, where he will continue his tennis career and major in finance. You might say he’s already been thinking like a college player this season.
“The biggest difference is my knowledge,” he said. “The strokes were there last year, but knowing what to do and when to do it wasn’t there.”
Gongwer’s greatest virtue is patience. He was good enough to play No. 1 for any other program in the area last season but it was hard to find a place for him in Lex’s lineup. Not anymore. He’s mostly been at No. 3 singles, but will shift his focus to doubles with Chilcote come the post-season.
“If I was playing doubles all season I’d want it to be with Jake,” Gongwer said. “I just feel like we work well together. I don’t feel any pressure from him if I miss a ball and I don’t think he feels any pressure from me.
“It’s just one point at a time with us. That (mindset) has definitely made it a lot easier to transition to doubles.”
It’s very possible that the four district-qualifying doubles teams coming out of the Shelby sectional will be the two Lex tandems and the two Ontario tandems.
Litao didn’t play at all last season after transferring to Ontario, but he was a sectional runner-up and district quarterfinalist in singles two years ago for Lex.
“The whole year I was leaning toward playing singles (this season) at sectionals,” he admitted, “but then my buddy, Ethan, switched to doubles, and Dylan is playing doubles. And I’m like, I might as well play doubles! I tried with Pablo and we’ve jelled.”
Sanchez Vidal was the MOAC tournament singles champion and a district qualifier last year before moving to No. 2 singles this year to accommodate Litao’s arrival in the lineup. He has really only known singles until the two of them played a practice set in the week leading up to this invite.
“It’s pretty easy playing with (Litao),” he said. “It’s fun. We were losing 1-7 in the first (match) and won like four games in a row, so that’s pretty good. And then we won our second (8-4 over Coffman), And then we won the first game (of the third match against St. Francis). Then I broke my strings and didn’t have another racket.”
He borrowed one from Lex assistant Jansen Webster to finish the tourney, after which he proclaimed, “I think we’re ready (for the post-season).”
Ontario has never had anyone from the boys program qualify for state. This could be the year that drought ends.
“We want it so bad,” Sanchez Vidal said. “That’s why we’re practicing and we’re going to come here (to Lakewood) and keep practicing. We try our best.”
Litao isn’t surprised that he and Sanchez Vidal have meshed so quickly. Why?
“I think because we’re good friends off the court,” he said. “And he puts everything away. He’s fast, too. The more we played, the better he got, and the better we played, so I’m really proud of him.
“When I’m on serve and he’s at the net, he’s like a little bug. He can get (to) anything.”
With Ontario in the midst of a historic season for the program, Booker was glad the Warriors were able to take a break from tearing through the MOAC to gain some much-needed perspective.
“I’m glad we played this,” he said. “It was humbling and eye-opening, too. You come here thinking you’re top dog and then you play Bexley or Academy. It’s very humbling for the whole team.”
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Perfect prep: Lex Invite gets area’s two best tennis programs ready for post-season
