Marvin Ridge doubles duo captures NCHSAA 3A tennis crown

Two Observer-area singles players and one doubles team won N.C. High School Athletic Association state tennis championships Saturday.

In 3A, Marvin Ridge took both doubles spots in the championship round and singles’ star George Lovitt also made the finals. Lovitt lost 7-6 (0), 6-1 to Cardinal Gibbons Matt Galush. The Mavericks’ doubles team of Hayden Wohlfarth and Woody Watson beat teammates John Hatala and Avanish Madhavarm 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 to win the 3A doubles title.

Hatala and Madhavarm were the Mavericks’ No. 1 doubles team this season, with Wohlfarth and Watson slotted at No. 2. But the No. 2 team beat Hatala and Madhavarm in the regional championship last week and in the state final Saturday.

▪ In 2A, Shelby’s Marshall Parker won his second singles championship in three years, beating Brevard’s Joseph Schrader 6-3, 3-6, 6-4. In doubles, Carrboro’s Max Fritsch and Jake Zinn beat Jason Wykoff and Sean Ross of Carrboro 6-1, 6-4.

▪ In 1A, Max Vicario of Mooresville’s Pine Lake Prep beat Queens Grant’s Zuri Kent-Smith 6-0, 6-1. It was only the second loss of the season for Kent-Smith of the Charlotte-based charter school. He had advanced to the finals after winning a semifinal that lasted three hours and 15 minutes. In doubles, Harrison Tsent and Joseph Fisher of Raleigh Charter beat Elkin’s Ryan Schell and Chad Vestal 6-4, 6-3.

▪ In the 4A final, Middle Creek’s Nick Stachowiak of Middle Creek beat Clayton’s Klein Evans 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in the singles final. Raleigh Wakefield’s Bo Boyden and Jensen Martin beat Austin Cobb and Josiah Schainblatt of Raleigh Millbrook in the doubles final.

This story was originally published May 9, 2015 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Marvin Ridge doubles duo captures NCHSAA 3A tennis crown."