5A Division 1 Wando, J.L. Mann Finally Hammer It Out on USC Indoor Courts
By WORTHY EVANS
Contributing Writer
Columbia - Rainy conditions in the Midlands Saturday kept J.L. Mann and Wando off the courts for the 5A Division I championship. While championships at the other classifications were hashed out at the University of South Carolina’s indoor tennis facility that day, the Patriots and Warriors opted to play another day, considering that the other six teams battled each other until 6 p.m.
Thursday afternoon at the USC indoor tennis facility, J.L. Mann and Wando finally engaged in a rematch of last year’s 5A title match. Just as last year’s outcome, the Patriots came through with a victory.
J.L. Mann (27-0) got wins in doubles and in No.2 – No.5 singles to claim a 5-1 victory and win their fourth straight state championship.
Wando No.1 Owen Griffiths defeated Christian Holloway 6-3, 5-4 (retired), but J.L. Mann No.2 Sebastian Hyjek defeated Benny Bonavito 6-2, 6-3; Nolan Curran defeated Graham Anderson 6-2, 6-3 at No. 3; James Parker defeated Nacho Oria 6-3, 6-2 at No.4; and Aaron Kumar defeated Vijay Pandey 6-1, 7-5 at No.5. The Patriots doubles team of Miles Vogt and Holden Lucas defeated Nico Oria and Ethan Gawryluk 6-3, 6-1.
“My seniors have been here between five and six years total, I’m losing my 1-3 next year,” J.L. Mann head coach John Armstrong said. “For them to come out here and be a part of four state titles is pretty incredible.”
J.L. Mann’s No.1 player, Holloway, and No.2 player, Hyjek, signed to play tennis for The Citadel last November. The No.3 player, Curran, has not yet signed. While those three move on, Armstrong said the rest of the team is pumped to try for a fifth straight state crown.
“We’ve got a really promising young group of guys,” Armstrong said. “We’ve been talking about it a little bit. We’re going with ‘Fear the Thumb.’”
Wando (18-1) had been state runner-up the last six times it reached the state final. Head coach Bob Lang hoped that the seventh time might be the charm.
While the Warriors fell again, Lang said the season won’t be diminished because of a loss to a top-notch team.
“I’m really proud of the boys. They’ve had quite a season,” Lang said. “This was a rough finish, but we just played a really, really good team. We put up a good fight today and were in a few matches here and there, but they just came up with the shots they needed, when they needed to, and they’re a class team.”
Wando loses five seniors, including No.1 player Owen Griffiths, No. 2 Ben Bonavito, who signed to play for Coker, and doubles players Nico Oria and Gawryluk, and Aidan Norman.
“All of them have started at one time or another,” Lang said. “But in the top five, we should have three coming back. We’ve got a good nucleus coming back and we’re going to try to get here again. It’s hard to get here, and we appreciate that and understand that. But it wouldn’t shock me if this team (J.L. Mann) just reloads and gets back here again.
