Regional champ Flying Eagles ready for Charleston
May 8—When you accomplish something that hasn't often happened, it normally carries a positive wallop.
Such is the case with the Woodrow Wilson boys tennis team. Last week, the Flying Eagles took out George Washington to win their first Class AAA Region 3 championship since 1991.
They will carry that momentum into the team portion of the state tournament Thursday in Charleston.
"It got these guys all psyched up and it's a good feeling going into the state (tournament)," head coach Bernie Bostick said. "Our girls were fourth about three or four years ago before Covid and that's the best that I know of for a long time."
A first round win on Thursday would assure no worse than a fourth place finish. Woodrow is the fifth seed in the eight-team race and will take on No. 4 Washington at 9:30 a.m. All Class AAA boys matches will be played at Charleston Catholic High School.
A win would send the Flying Eagles to the semifinals against the winner between No. 1 Hurricane and No. 8 University.
Bostick is proud of the progression his team has made from day one, especially in comparison to some of the top teams comprised of athletes who play the sport year round. Most players in the southern part of the state are multi-sport athletes who only play tennis seasonally.
"Everybody is playing well," Bostick said. "Everybody on the boys side has a winning record, singles and doubles. And they're getting better. (Other teams) usually get marginally better, if at all, but our guys have shown a huge improvement from the beginning of the season to now."
First seed Ram Asamthambi, a junior, also qualified for the singles tournament, runner-up to George Washington's Samir Jones out of Region 3. Asamthambi and fellow junior Ethan Shepard won the Region 3 doubles championship with a victory over Jones and Owen Erlewine and earned the No. 3 seed in doubles.
The singles and doubles tournaments will be held Friday and Saturday.
Asamthambi, a state singles quarterfinalist last year, has developed into one of the top players in the state and still has a year to go. He is the fourth seed out of 16 in singles and will face No. 13 Brycen Maccubbin of Washington Friday at noon. Asamthambi defeated Maccubbin in the regular season.
"Ram doesn't get too excited. He stays pretty calm," Bostick said. "He's smart. (Assistant) coach (Rich) Daniel is a strategist and he can pick up things pretty quick, and Ram is smart enough that he can adjust on the fly to whatever Rich tells him."
Shepard was third at the regional and will take the No. 10 seed into the state tournament. He has the chance to gain a little revenge for his doubles partner — he will take on Jones, who is the No. 7 seed.
"I think he's got a good shot," Bostick said of Shepard.
Asamthambi and Shepard will face Jones and Erlewine for the fourth time this season in a first round doubles match Friday at 5 p.m.
"Ethan and Ram have played together, played in tournaments over the summer, so they've got a lot of court time together," Bostick said.
As for the team tournament, Bostick likes where things stand with his group. Joining Asamthambi and Shepard in singles are sophomore Tyler Radford at No. 3 and freshman Vince Umberger at No. 4. They are cousins who team up at No. 2 doubles.
The No. 3 doubles team is senior Cam Johnson and junior Nick Fultz.
"We look pretty good going in in team play," Bostick said. "If you're fourth or fifth in the state, that says a lot about what these guys get done in a short two-month period."
Princeton's John Paul Choate is the No. 8 seed in singles and will face No. 9 Wyatt Abbitt of Morgantown Friday at noon.
