WHEELING – Mother Nature interrupted the OVAC tennis tournament on Tuesday, forcing the completion of the boys’ singles competition to the Bubble at Wheeling Park after starting on the John Marshall courts in Glen Dale.
It didn’t keep Morgantown High from capturing its fourth consecutive OVAC “Big School” title. The Mohigans outpaced Dover (Ohio), 24-22.
Despite an almost entirely new lineup, the Linsly boys captured the ‘Small School’ title by a single point, 11-10, over Cambridge. It is the Cadets fourth consecutive title. Neither team had a player reach the finals in the four divisions.
“We essentially had to replace everyone except Andrew Hoang,” Linsly head coach Rebecca Upton said. “Winning the championship was a little unexpected, but the kids fought hard. We have some tennis players and we have some athletes. They fought hard.”
The Cadets earned six points in boys’ doubles on Monday and then added five more on Tuesday in singles play. The Bobcats, meanwhile, only managed three points in doubles action but rallied, and even took the lead, during the singles format.
In the ‘Big School’ division, Morgantown claimed two singles champions, Max Chen at No. 3 boys and Larry Du at No. 2 boys. Du defeated Dover’s Nathan Ricker 8-1, while Chen defeated Dover’s Jeremy Cappel, 8-1.
University High’s Kalman Nagy was the champion at No. 1 boys singles, defeating Dover’s Gabe McDade-Povich, 8-0.
Linsly’s 11 points as a team was third-highest after Dover and Morgantown. Cambridge and University each finished with 10 points, while John Marshall, Steubenville Catholic and Wheeling Park were tied for next-highest total with five points apiece.
Complete scoring is as follows:
BIG SCHOOL
1. Morgantown 24; 2. Dover 22; 3. University 10; 4. (tie) Wheeling Park and John Marshall 5; 6. (tie) Parkersburg South and Marietta 4; 8. (tie) Brooke and Steubenville 0
SMALL SCHOOL
1. Linsly 11; 2. Cambridge 10; 3. Steubenville Catholic 5; 4. Weir 4; 5. St. Clairsville 3; 6. (tie) Wheeling Central and East Liverpool 1; 8. Indian Creek 0.
— Story by Kim North
