Monticello’s Luke Hairston and Jacob Romero won a third-set tiebreaker to clinch the boys doubles title at the 4A state high school tennis championships in Clarksville.
The University of the Ozarks was the scene of a hotly contested final between Hairston and Romero and Episcopal Collegiate’s Rhys Wolter and Charley Hyde. Hairston/Romero stormed from an 0-6 first-set loss to win the next two, 7-5, 6-4.
Episcopal won the boys team championship, while Monticello finished second.
Hairston/Romero earned a first-round bye and beat Scout Bull and Dylan Keys of Dardanelle 3-6, 6-0, 6-2, then Jaren Tritt and William Jones of Episcopal 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 to make it to the title round.
Parker Hill and Pierce Terry of Monticello reached the second round after beating a team from Brookland 6-3, 7-6, but were defeated by Clinton’s Noah Calhoun and Carson Raboin 2-6, 6-4, 6-4. Wolter/Hyde beat Calhoun/Raboin in three sets.
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
The Star City pair of Lilly Weast and Tanner Grayson finished second in the 4A girls doubles. Weast/Grayson beat Kaelyn Lasley and Lexi Wallace of Clinton 6-4 in the first set, before Lasley/Wallace took the next two 7-5 and 6-1.
Weast/Grayson beat a pair from Nashville 6-2, 6-2 in the first round, Lexie Schuermann and Madison Duncan of Brookland 7-5, 6-1 in the second round and Annalise Chan and Lily Eisenach of Joe T. Robinson 6-4, 7-5 in the semifinals.
Two Warren pairs, Anna Arroyo/Ava Denton and Avery Wharton/Livi McKinney, each finished in the quarterfinals. Arroyo/Denton beat Phoebe Reed/Mira Julian of Heber Springs 6-1, 6-0 before losing to Lasley/Wallace of Clinton 6-3, 6-1, and Wharton/McKinney beat Kate Kazzee and Libby Rawls of Pocahontas 7-5, 7-5 before falling to Annie Hardin/Sydney Greer of Arkadelphia 6-1, 6-2.
Other Southeast Arkansas state tennis results:
4A girls singles: Maggie Fakouri of Monticello defeated Kilea Dennis of Dardanelle 6-4, 6-1 and Haidyn Harris of Batesville Southside 6-0, 6-2, but lost to Monica Bobo of Hope 6-2, 6-0 in the state semifinals. Mary Katherine Stephens of Stuttgart beat Mattyx Cureton of Jonesboro Westside 6-0, 6-0, but lost to Audrey Skinner of Pottsville 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Presley Reep of Warren lost to Monica Bobo of Hope 6-1, 6-1, and Mykayla Hale of Stuttgart lost to Megna Schwehm of Pottsville 6-3, 6-2, both matches in the first round.
4A boys singles: Landon Reid of Monticello defeated Aaron Grosu of Robinson 7-6, 6-4 and lost to Eli Edens of Brookland 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
3A girls singles (at Conway Tennis Center): Olivia Lyle of Drew Central lost to Naomi Yayock of Haas Hall Academy 6-2, 6-1 in the first round.
3A boys doubles (at Conway Tennis Center): Hunter Griffin/Trent Burton of Drew Central defeated Mason Windham/Bennett Foster of Conway Christian 6-1, 6-0 and lost to Titus Henley/Pierce Davenport of Harding Academy 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. Cade Allison/Colton Reed of Drew Central lost to Cole Kessman/Max Kessman of Haas Hall Fayetteville 6-2, 6-1, and John Jimenez/Kevin Gonzalez of Lake Village Lakeside lost to Brayden Wiechman/Parker Kehril of Providence Academy 6-3, 6-3, both in the first round.
3A boys singles (at Conway Tennis Center): Kevin Lucas of Drew Central lost to Adhi Anandaraj of Mountain View 6-0, 6-0 in the first round.