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Williamstown claims regional tennis crown

SOUTH CHARLESTON -Williamstown’s boys tennis team raised its record to 15-2 here Friday by rolling to the Class AA-A Region 4 championship.

Coach Jay Carter’s Yellowjackets crowned two individual and one doubles champion in amassing 18 points, four more than runner-up and defending state champion Charleston Catholic.

The Yellowjackets put themselves in a solid position to win the school’s first tennis championship since 1995 next week in Charleston.

Winning individual titles for Williamstown were the Leo brothers, Aaron and Ryan. In winning the No. 2 singles title with an 8-0 demolition of Andrew Jones of Charleston Catholic, Aaron Leo remained undefeated on the season, winning for the 20th time. In the No. 3 singles final, Ryan Leo found himself in a dogfight with Charleston Catholic’s Tyler Zubiak. Both players won eight games, forcing a tie-breaker, which Leo won, 7-5, to raise his record to 18-2.

Williamstown players advanced to all four singles finals with No. 1 Luke Flanagan dropping an 8-0 decision to Max Meade of Huntington St. Joe, just Flanagan’s second loss in 20 matches.

At No. 4 singles, Muhammad Kingston lost to Charleston Catholic’s Joe Kelly, 8-1.

In doubles competition, Flanagan and Aaron Leo cruised to the No. 1 title, defeating a team from Scott High School of Madison, 8-1. Ryan Leo and Kingston lost a tight 8-6 final to Zubiak and Andrew Jones, but still advanced to next week’s state tournament.

At No. 3 doubles, Garrett Wilson and Andrew McGuffey advanced to the finals before losing to a team from Poca, 8-5.

“We’re very excited,” said coach Carter, whose team finished the season with a 15-2 dual meet record with its only losses to Class AAA powerhouse Parkersburg High School.

Last year, Williamstown was the runnerup to Charleston Catholic in both the regionals and the state tournament. This year, Williamstown would like nothing more than to turn the tables on the Irish.

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