HIGH SCHOOL-OHIO

CCD's Hirsch has a new 'intense' rival

By Mark Schmetzer
Enquirer contributor

Cincinnati Country Day boys' tennis coach Matt Dektas has seen this show before – but he never gets tired of the script, especially when the characters change to keep it fresh.

Last season, the strongest competition faced by Indians' then-sophomore Asher Hirsch on his way to winning the Division II state championship was his teammate, junior Patrick Wildman. The two met in the sectional, district and state championship matches.

Wildman is playing doubles this season, but CCD freshman Jeffrey John Wolf has taken over and showed on Saturday that he might pose an even more formidable challenge to the top-seeded Hirsch after knocking off the No. 1 seed, 6-4, 6-2.

"We go back and forth," said the second-seeded Wolf, known more commonly as J.J., about his inter-team rivalry with Hirsch. "It's always fun and friendly when we play, but we're both intense."

CCD players squared off in the Division II singles and doubles championship matches, moved indoors because of bad weather from the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason to the Camargo Racquet Club. The top-seeded team of Wildman and freshman Kevin Yu defeated the No. 3 seed team of junior Chase Tholke and freshman Shaheel Mitra, 6-3, 6-0 in the doubles finals.

St. Xavier duplicated CCD's presence in Division I. Sophomore Andrew Niehaus defended his sectional championship and No. 1 seed by coming from behind in the second set to beat unseeded Bombers' freshman Patrick Schulteis, 6-2, 6-3, in the singles final.

The doubles' No. 1 seed, senior Matt Momper and junior Connor Aronoff, won the sectional title with a 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 victory over the fourth-seeded team of senior Jay Shanahan and sophomore Neil Bostick.

The top four in each bracket earned berths in the Divisions I and II district tournaments, which are scheduled for Thursday and Saturday at the Lindner Family Tennis Center. Saturday's results determined seedings for the district events, which will include qualifiers from the Centerville, Mason and Troy sectionals.

Wolf and Hirsch are equally matched, CCD coach Matt Dektas said, having split the 8-10 matches they've played. Wolf was a little surprised at the outcome of Saturday's match.

"I think I got a couple of shots back that maybe I shouldn't have – some lucky shots that helped me shorten the match," he said.

Also advancing in Division II was fourth-seeded Clark Montessori junior Chris Bak, who finished fourth to become the first Cougar boy to reach the district tournament, according to athletic director Aaron Zupka.

"I'm pretty happy about it," said Bak, who was on his way to do some rowing before getting cleaned up for the prom. "Hopefully, I'll make it to state."

St. Xavier coach Russ King wasn't surprised to see Schulteis advance, even though the freshman wasn't seeded.

"He's a pretty good player," King said. "He mostly played doubles this year, and it's hard to get a freshman seeded. I took my (numbers two and three singles players) and put them in doubles."

Schulteis upset third-seeded Luke Groene of Elder, 6-4, 6-4, to reach the semifinal and earn a district tournament berth and second-seeded Pierce Scott of Anderson, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 to reach the finals, but he couldn't sustain the performance, though he did lead briefly in the second set.

"I knew I'd face some tough matches, and the last one was the toughest," Niehaus said.