The Abington Heights duo of Liam Farrell (left) and William Arp won the Class 3A district doubles championship by defeating their Comets teammates Brady Comstock and Bryce Comstock in the finals on Thursday.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
Wyoming Seminary’s Stefan Zecar (left) and Dhruv Sudhakar pose with the completed brackets after they won the District 2 Class 2A boys tennis doubles championship on Thursday.
Kevin Carroll | Times Leader
CLARKS SUMMIT — After rolling through everyone in their path on the way to the District 2 Class 2A finals on Thursday, Stefan Zecar and Dhruv Sudhakar found themselves in slightly uncharted waters during the championship match.
The Wyoming Seminary doubles pair had dropped the first set to Holy Cross’ Alex Harrison and Ray Zhang and, after rallying to force a third set, Zecar and Sudhakar were down a break and in some trouble.
Resiliency won the day for the two Blue Knights, who kept their cool and rallied to slam the door shut and win the gold medals.
Zecar and Sudhakar defeated Harrison and Zhang 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in a very competitive final to win the Class 2A district championships at Birchwood Racquet Club.
A double fault from Holy Cross while serving to stay in the match sealed the championship for the Sem duo, who were both fired up after securing the championship point.
“The most important thing is our mentality, we had to be stable in our heads,” Zecar said. “Even though we were down in the third set, I was telling Dhruv, ‘I believe in you, I trust you, we got it.’ ”
Zecar entered the tournament as the veteran of the pairing, a senior and a defending doubles champ after winning last year with Billy Hall.
It was Sudhakar’s first attempt at the district doubles tournament, but the Sem freshman’s already had himself a rock-solid postseason with a district team title and a run to the semifinals in the singles tournament before winning the gold with Zecar on Thursday.
They first dispatched the Dallas team of Nate Linnen and Theo Barr in the semifinal round before facing Harrison and Zhang, the tournament’s top seeded team.
Harrison and Zhang defeated Holy Redeemer’s Frank Klimovitz and Daniel Dudrick in the semis to set the stage for the finals, another Holy Cross versus Wyoming Seminary clash after the two schools met in the team final and were both represented in the singles championship.
After dropping the opening set, Zecar and Sudhakar came out and took control of the second set to force a third. Down 3-1 in the third, the pair rallied to get their break back and never looked back on their run to the finish line.
“We just had to stay in the game and trust each other,” Sudhakar said. “We had to keep playing our best.”
It’s been a long week for Zecar and Sudhakar, who both played singles on Tuesday as Wyoming Seminary won their opening round match of the team state tournament.
It was back to Kirby Park on Wednesday for the first three rounds of the doubles tournament, Birchwood on Thursday for the semis and finals and it will be back to Hershey to continue the team’s state run on Friday.
This victory for Zecar and Sudhakar completes the district sweep for Wyoming Seminary, capturing District 2 championships in the team, singles and doubles tournaments this spring.
Arp and Farrell win all-Abington Heights 3A final
The first of the two doubles finals to finish, it could be said that the Class 3A championship match wrote the script for Sem and Holy Cross to follow later in Class 2A.
After dropping the first set, William Arp and Liam Farrell rallied to force a third set and then won a tiebreak to capture the District 2 Class 3A doubles championships.
Arp and Farrell defeated their Abington Heights teammates Brady Comstock and Bryce Comstock in the final after both teams made quick work of their semifinal opponents.
The two Abington Heights teams had to go the distance to determine a winner, but it was Arp and Farrell that came out on top with a 7-2 tiebreaker victory to win the match 5-7, 6-4, 7-6.
“This was our first tiebreak of the season, we were a little nervous but we talked and came up with a strategy,” Farrell said.
It was the second straight District 2 doubles title victory for Farrell; last season, he partnered with Brady Comstock to defeat Arp and Domenic Peters in the finals.
With the Comets switching things up, Farrell found himself on the opposite side of the net from his partner in last year’s final.
On Friday, when Abington Heights is back on the court in the quarterfinals of the Class 3A team tournament, Farrell and Brady Comstock will be back on the same side once again.
“It’s very difficult, going against your partner,” Farrell said. “But I think this match will make us stronger as a team because we could realize our weaknesses and build on that to do better tomorrow when we’re back as a team.”
District 2 Class 2A Boys Tennis
Doubles Championships
Semifinals — Alex Harrison/Ray Zhang (Holy Cross) def. Frank Klimovitz/Daniel Dudrick (Holy Redeemer) 6-3, 6-3; Stefan Zecar/Dhruv Sudhakar (Wyoming Seminary) def. Nate Linnen/Theo Barr (Dallas) 6-1, 6-0.
Championship — Zecar/Sudhakar def. Harrison/Zhang 2-6, 6-4, 6-4.
Class 3A Boys Tennis Doubles Championships
Semifinals — William Arp/Liam Farrell (Abington Heights) def. Sean Rossi/Spencer Young (Crestwood) 6-0, 6-0; Brady Comstock/Bryce Comstock (Abington Heights) def. Nick Burak/Billy Giovagnolli (Valley View) 6-0, 6-1.
Championship — Arp/Farrell def. Comstock/Comstock 5-7, 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
