Lehi Sports
Falcon netters finish a strong third at State
Beky Beaton / Lehi Free Press
The Skyridge boys tennis team earned 35 points during the 6A state tournament and finished in third place behind Region 3 powerhouses Lone Peak with 57 points and American Fork with 56. The meet was played May 7 and 9 at Liberty Park in Salt Lake City.
The Falcons earned a pair of silver medals in this year’s very competitive field, finishing second in the Second Singles and Second Doubles brackets.
In No. 2 Singles, Skyridge junior Crew Mandelaris was seeded No. 2 entering the playoffs and easily disposed of No. 15 Jaiden Gudmundson 6-0, 6-0 in the Round of 16. In the quarterfinals, he similarly swept No. 7 Davis Smith of Davis 6-0, 6-0 to advance to the semifinals.
There, he took on No. 3 Jonah Hansen of Lone Peak and comfortably bested the Knight 6-2, 6-2. In the title match, he fell to American Fork’s top-seeded Camden Johnson 6-1, 6-4.
In No. 2 Doubles, the Falcon pairing of senior Ben Schmidt and junior Jace Peck was the No. 2 entrant in the bracket. They first defeated No. 15 Kyson Smead and Boston Fitzgerald of Cedar Valley 6-1, 6-0. Next up was No. 7 Jack Balle and Foster Revill of Lehi, and the Skyridge duo bested them 6-2, 6-3.
In the semifinals, the Falcons defeated the No. 3 entrant, American Fork’s Phillip Steed and Drew Jacobsmeyer, 6-1, 6-3 to earn a date in the championship match against the No. 1 seed from Lone Peak, Ashton Cahoon and Everett Lee.
What followed was an epic battle. Skyridge claimed the first set 6-3, but the Knights staved off elimination by winning the marathon second set 7-6 (7-4). The third set was also hotly contested, but the Lone Peak pair won it 7-5 and by so doing lifted their team to the 6A crown by a single point.
Freshman Mack Mandelaris represented Skyridge in the First Singles bracket as the No. 5 seed. He defeated No. 12 James Burton of Riverton 6-1, 6-0 to reach the quarterfinals. There, he bowed out to Knight No. 4 Cache Dowdle 6-2, 6-1.
In No. 3 Singles, Falcon junior Cameron Higginbotham was the No. 3 seed and got his run started by eliminating No. 14 Wesley Hunt of Cedar Valley 6-3, 6-1.
He had to work a little harder against upset winner No. 11 Seth Engar of Corner Canyon in the quarterfinals, but eventually he prevailed over the Charger 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. He finished his appearance in the semifinals against No. 2 Levi Johnson of Lone Peak, who won their match 6-0, 6-1.
Claiming the No. 3 seed in the First Doubles bracket, sophomore Michael Sperry and freshman JJ Lewis first defeated No. 14 Tyson Rich and Tyce Olsen of Mountain Ridge 6-0, 6-1. They lost the first set in the quarterfinals 4-6 to No. 6 Jamis Leishman and Brock Hoagland of Davis, but tidily finished the job 6-1, 6-1.
The Skyridge duo then advanced to take on No. 2 Sam Fairbanks and Sam Karras of American Fork in the semifinals. The Falcons won the first set easily 6-2, but the Cavemen rallied and closed out the match 6-1, 6-4.
With the Skyridge team losing just one senior from the state squad to graduation, the Falcons can look forward to another great season next year.
Photos by Sam Penrod.
