State qualifiers wrap up tennis season
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The MSHSAA state boys tennis tournament concluded without a medalist among six local qualifiers on Friday evening.
District champions Wren Blount and Noah Silvy of Arcadia Valley salvaged a consolation doubles victory before ending their run at Cooper Tennis Complex.
North County senior and district champion Evan Veach, Farmington junior Maddox Brenneke and Potosi pairing Isaiah Marty and Draven Griffin were eliminated earlier in the day.
Blount and Silvy extended their stay in the Class 1 consolation bracket by ousting Kirksville tandem Wesley Martin and Turner Peterson in a super tiebreaker 4-6, 6-2, 10-5.
But AV faced a tough draw with both doubles teams from powerful Clayton in their path. Amav Poddar and Ismael Robles-Razzaq topped Blount and Silvy 6-2, 6-0 in the first round before Anurag Venigalla and Daden Deaver earned the 6-4, 6-3 triumph in an elimination match.
Elsewhere in the Class 1 doubles bracket, Marty and Griffin were initially defeated by Jackson O’Dell and Elijah Davis of New Covenant 6-2, 6-2.
The Potosi team nearly advanced in the consolation round after capturing the first set, but fell to Kyle Klayden and Roni Yakovley of Logan-Rogersville by the slimmest possible margin 3-6, 7-6, 10-8.
Veach secured his first appearance at the state gathering on his final opportunity, but fell 6-2, 6-0 against Cole Horton of Savannah and 6-3, 6-4 to Heisman Welch of Monett in Class 1 action.
Brenneke qualified as a district runner-up in Class 2 for Farmington, and dropped singles contests to Prithvi Nagarajan of Thomas Jefferson 6-1, 6-1 and Ethan McNutt of Capital City 6-4, 6-4.
Veach and Brenneke never squared off this season as the top singles players from the Mineral Area due to multiple weather postponements of the scheduled match between the Raiders and Knights.
Arcadia Valley senior Noah Silvy hits an overhead return as junior Wren Blount looks on during a match in the Class 1, District 1 boys tennis doubles tournament on Thursday, May 4, 2023, in Potosi.
