Lehi Sports
Skyridge tennis earns 3rd place, two medals at state meet
The Skyridge boys tennis team finished in third place at the 6A state tournament at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City on May 15and 17, also claiming a gold medal in Second Doubles and a silver in First Singles.
Ironically, the marathon title doubles match ended up determining who won the gold trophy as well, even though the championship team did not have a representative in the event.
Seniors Jaden Peck and Brandon Poulsen, as the No. 2 seed, took on the No. 1 duo of Adam Smith and Cache Dowdle ofLone Peak.
The Knight team won the first set 6-3. Facing elimination the rest of the way, Peck and Poulsen battled back to win the hotly-contested remaining sets 7-6(7-5) and 7-6(9-7) to dramatically capture the bracket title and the gold medals that came with it.
The Skyridge victory allowed American Fork to win the team championship as they edged Lone Peak 51-49. The Falcons finished third with 43 points and Farmington was a distant fourth with 33 points.
In the No. 1 Singles bracket, senior defending state champion Calvin Armstrong move confidently through the rounds, easily qualifying for a title-match berth against top seed Braeden Johnson of American Fork, a junior move-in from Idaho.
Armstrong comfortably won the first set 6-2, but Johnson rallied and went on to win the remaining sets 6-4, 6-3 to earn the gold medal. Armstrong collected a silver medal for his efforts.
In No. 2 Singles, Falcon junior Stockton Dyer was the no. 4 seed and didn’t give up a single game in his second-round match. He had to put up a bit more of a fight in the quarterfinals but prevailed 7-6(7-3), 6-3. He fell to No. 1 Nathaniel Bullard ofFarmington 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals to end his season.
In No. 3 Singles, sophomore Crew Mandalaris was also assigned the No. 4 seed. He won his second-round match easily at 6-1, 6-1. He survived a more challenging quarterfinal 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) to advance to the semifinals, where he was eliminated by No. 1 Ashton Cahoon of Lone Peak 6-1, 6-0.
The No. 4 Skyridge duo in No. 1 Doubles included freshman Michael Sperry and senior Hudson Holm. They won their second-round match 6-2, 6-0 and the quarterfinal contest 6-4, 6-4. They won games in the semifinal but eventually bowed out to No. 1 Luke Miller and Tate Squires of Lone Peak 6-3, 6-2.
