Returning state champs featured in OHSAA Southwest District boys tennis postseason
Tournament time for the spring has arrived and that means postseason brackets are out to be studied. The Ohio High School Athletic Association Southwest District released sectional tournament brackets for boys tennis to open the sport's postseason.
Cincinnati/Princeton and Mason sectionals begin with Division II on May 7 with Division I on May 8 with finals on May 11. Centerville sectionals begin on May 7 with the finals the following day. Qualifiers advance to the district tournaments.
Here is a look at the Centerville, Cincinnati Princeton and Mason sectional brackets and a look ahead to the district meets.
Centerville sectional
Division I
Springboro, Lebanon and Monroe will have participants in the Centerville brackets with Springboro represented by some state-placing hopefuls.
Springboro junior Rishi Dore holds the top seed in Division I singles and his teammate, senior Jack Siehl, is the third-seeded player. Dore was a state qualifier as a freshman and sophomore, reaching the state quarterfinals last season. Siehl was a qualifier for state last season in doubles with partner Drew Baumgartner.
In this season's doubles sectional, Baumgartner remains at doubles, partnered with freshman Peyton Nelson as the sectional's top seed.
Cincinnati Princeton sectional
Division I
With the Cincinnati/Princeton sectional and the Mason sectional, representation from Cincinnati schools beefs up as opposed to the Centerville sectional.
In the Cincinnati/Princeton Division I singles, St. Xavier state champion sophomore Carson Dwyer holds the top singles seed. Dwyer was a freshman last season when he helped win the state doubles championship with Drew Evans.
Milford's Jaden Worden, undefeated in the regular season in first singles, holds the second seed with Elder's Jacob Eddingfield and Lakota East's Ethan Vass following at three and four.
On the doubles side, St. Xavier will try and repeat as doubles champs with a new duo. Freshman Nihal Narisetty and senior Chase Homan hold the top seed. As in singles, it is Milford with the second seed, represented by the team of Jack Bowser and Thomas Kennedy.
Moeller's Ethan Hawryschuk and Henry Brown hold the third seed and Lakota East's sophomore duo of Varun Das and Mercer Mills will be fourth.
Division II
After being a doubles qualifier as a sophomore last season, Nikhil Shah has jumped into the singles bracket and is the No. 1 seed in the Division II sectional. The Cincinnati Country Day star headlines a top four that also features Summit Country Day sophomore Tyler Lammers, CHCA junior Julian Guitron and Wyoming senior Avery Kraus.
In the doubles, Wyoming's Conor Bergen and Kaan Ladd sit at the top while Cincinnati Country Day's Adam Arebi and Leo Joffe will try and get the Nighthawks to state.
Mason sectional
Division I
Whether in Division I or II, the Mason sectional will be the bracket to see for potential state placers or champions.
In Division I singles, Sycamore senior Nick Meyers returns after finishing third in the state last season. Meyers holds the top seed while teammate Dhruv Kota secured the No. 4 seed.
In between the Aviators, Mason sophomore Daniel Tonkal is No. 2 and Walnut Hills senior Dugan Fowler is No. 3.
Sycamore, the defending Ohio Tennis Coaches Association team state champion, also dominates the doubles seedings. Seniors Arjun Rajagopala and Andrew Wittenbaum return as teammates from last season's state runner-up finish with the top seed and two byes in the sectional.
With the No. 2 seed, Sycamore is again represented with Nicholas Choo and Chase Klugo. Klugo, a freshman, teams with Choo, who was a singles placer the last two years after being a doubles qualifier in 2021.
The Walnut Hills' pair of Revanth Manchinella and Rapeegan Tangsantikul hold the No. 3 seed while Mason's Connor Buckingham and Aron Dornhecker team for the No. 4 seed. Buckingham was a doubles state qualifier last season while Dornhecker was as a freshman in 2022.
Division II
Avi Mahajan will try to finally secure that state championship. The Seven Hills senior has a third-place finish as a freshman in 2021 and a runner-up finish last season. Mahajan's sophomore teammate, Adi Nayak, has the No. 4 seed.
Like Mahajan, Indian Hill senior Jack Pollock will also be looking for a title after multiple state trips. Pollock was a qualifier in 2021 as a freshman, falling to Mahajan in the third-place match. Pollock again reached the third-place match last year, falling to Seven Hills' Cole Cozens.
In 2023, none of the Cincinnati-area state doubles qualifiers placed in the top four. Indian Hill and Seven Hills will each have a pair of teams trying to get into the placing rounds.
Indian Hill owns the sectional's top seed with R.J. Poffenberger and Neelan Gandhi teaming and the No. 3 seed with Michael Ryu and Eschaan Gandhi.
Poffenberger was a singles qualifier last season after winning a doubles state championship in 2022 with a fourth-place finish in 2021. In that 2022 state final, Poffenberger defeated John Corbett and Ethan Blatt in the semifinals. That duo of Corbett and Blatt hold the No. 2 seed in the sectional with a chance to meet Poffenberger in the sectional finals.
District tournament
Following the sectional tournaments, top finishers qualify for the district tournaments with the next step being the OHSAA state tournament.
For both Divisions I and II, district tournaments are scheduled for May 16 and 18 at the Mason Middle School courts. Rain dates fall on May 17 or 19 as needed depending on weather.
The OHSAA state tournaments run from May 23-25 at the College of Wooster & Aspen Racquetball Club.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: OHSAA Southwest District boys tennis playoff brackets announced
