Clyde wins Rod Gale PC Doubles Invite

SANDUSKY — Clyde won two of the four brackets en route to the team championship at the Rod Gale PC Doubles Invitational on Friday. The event was moved from Port Clinton High School to Court 1 in Sandusky due to inclement weather. "I was very happy with the way the boys rebounded after the tough loss Wednesday to Port Clinton," Fliers coach Jeff MacFarland said. "We went out and played solid doubles from top to bottom and we showed what we are capable of achieving." Clyde finished with 95 points while the Redskins were runner-up with 75 points. St. Mary Central Catholic took third (56 points), Edison was fourth (54 points), Bellevue was sixth (24 points) and Perkins was seventh (18 points). The Fliers had champions in the 2nd and 4th Doubles bracket. At 2nd doubles, Aric Kauble and Cole Sengstock picked up wins over Toledo St. John's (8-1), Port Clinton's Charley Kruse and Zach Speer (8-0) and SMCC's Pavan Gorty and Luke Spicer (8-0). At 4th doubles, the duo of Trenton Brown and Ethan Johnson rolled past Edison (8-1), Perkins (8-3) and St. John's (8-5). The team of Chase Castle and Oscar were runners-up in the 1st Doubles bracket. The topped Bellevue (8-1) and St. John's (8-5) before falling to Edison's Adin Colbert and Wade Ruggles 8-7 (2). "I was especially happy for Chase Castle because he picked up his 100th varsity win in the semifinals," MacFarland said. "He has been a rock steady doubles player for us these past four years and I'm so happy for him to be just the second male in Clyde tennis history to achieve that mark." Also for the Fliers, Connor Eastby and Alex Barrett took third in the 3rd Doubles bracket. They defeated Fremont St. Joseph Central Catholic (8-1), before losing to Port Clinton's Alex DeFreitas and Payton Wadsworth (8-5). The two bounced back to knock off Edison (6-1). DeFreitas and Wadsworth were champions in the 3rd Doubles bracket. They opened with a win over St. John's (8-6) and after topping Eastby and Barrett, defeated SMCC's Jack Davis and Carter Snyder (8-3). "I continue to be proud of our team," PC coach Joe Miller said. "There was some good competition with Clyde, SMCC, and St. John's. I thought Edison's Adin Colbert was the MVP of the tournament. But our guys really compete and play with lots of energy and effort every single point, which gets them results like this and makes them fun to coach." The Redskins' other three teams all took third place. At 1st Doubles, Kai Weit and Evan Lovitt defeated SJCC (8-1), lost to Colbert and Ruggles (8-2) and topped St. John's 7-6 (4). At 2nd Doubles, Kruse and Speer opened with a win over Edison (8-1), lost to Kauble and Sengstock and blanked Bellevue (6-0). At 4th Doubles, Aero Wymer and Derek Holly started with a win over SMCC's Mason Russell and Luke Evans (8-5), lost to St. John's 8-7 (4) and defeated Perkins (6-4). "Thank you to Court 1 in Sandusky for hosting this event," Miller said. "The forecast looked iffy, so we decided to go the safe route and play indoors. I appreciate Aaron Taylor, Rick Dominick, Tracey Tomaselli and everyone who worked behind the scenes to move a tournament indoors in a span of a couple hours. Tracey, our athletic secretary, is masterful in helping to plan and make on the fly changes for events like this." Gorty and Spicer got to the 2nd Doubles final by defeating SJCC (8-0) and Bellevue (8-1) while Davis and Snyder advanced to the 4th Doubles final with wins over Perkins (8-0) and Edison (8-1). Also for the Panthers, Pravir Gorty and Eian Etchill took fifth at 1st Doubles. They lost to Colbert and Ruggles before wins over SJCC (6-0) and Bellevue (6-3). Russell and Evans were also fifth for SMCC. After the loss to Wymer and Holly, they bounced back to take down Bellevue (6-4) and Edison 7-6 (2). "A third-place finish is great and shows that we were pretty competitive throughout the entire tournament," SMCC coach Daniel Miller said. "All four doubles teams won two out of three matches. However, I still felt like we left a little on the courts. I have high expectations for this team and don't think we played to our full potential. "Overall, it was a great experience and a fun night to play some competitive doubles heading into tournament time."