CHAPEL HILL – The North Carolina High School Athletic Association’s Men’s Tennis Individual Championships concluded Saturday at four locations. Below are recaps from each championship.
1A Championships
Final Brackets: Singles | Doubles
CARY – Elkin’s Ballard twins, Connor and Aidan, won their second consecutive 1A Doubles Championship on Saturday morning at Cary Tennis Center after beating Nate Bermeo and Jack Kroothoep from Eno River in the Championship Match. The Ballards won 6-4, 6-2 in the final to secure the championship.
The win is the ninth doubles championship in program history for the Buckin’ Elks. The Ballards dropped just two games on Friday in the first two rounds as they won both matches 6-0, 6-1. Bermeo was the defending 1A singles champion and teamed up with Noad Marsico in 2023 to win the doubles title.
In the singles championship, Luke Ansari from Bishop McGuinness topped Eli Edwards from Eno River Academy 6-4, 6-2 in the championship match to win the first men’s singles championship in Bishop McGuinness history. On Friday, Ansari beat Own Reinhardt from Wake Prep 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals and Tyler Hinshaw from Voyager 6-1, 6-2 in the semis.
2A Championships
Final Brackets: Singles | Doubles
HOLLY SPRINGS – For the second year in a row, Franklin Academy swept the 2A Individual Championships at the Ting Park Tennis Center.
In the singles championship, senior Alphonso Sison won his third consecutive 2A singles championship, becoming the 10th individual to win three consecutive singles titles. Sison beat Pine Lake Prep’s Jackson Grathwohl 6-3, 6-0 in the final on Saturday to seal the title.
He topped Research Triangle 6-2, 6-0 in the semifinals, East Burke’s Luke Borders 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals, and Martin County’s Krishiv Patel 6-1, 6-2 in the first round.
In the doubles championship, Derek Shute and Nick Delisio dropped just eight games over four matches to repeat as 2A doubles champions. They beat the North Carolina Science and Math – Durham duo of Alfred Ye and Nimish Kadekar 6-3, 6-1 in the final, and they topped Dylan Patel and Christian Endsjo from Pine Lake Prep 6-1, 6-1 in the semis.
3A Championships
Final Brackets: Singles | Doubles
BURLINGTON – Terry Sanford’s Drew Hedgecoe won his fourth consecutive NCHSAA 3A singles championship on Saturday afternoon at the Burlington Tennis Center. He is just the second male in the history of NCHSAA Tennis championships to win four in a row.
Charlotte Catholic’s Kyle Johnson was the first to do it, winning 2009-2012.
In the final, Hedgecoe defeated Hickory’s Graham Powers, a two-time defending 3A doubles champion, winning with Griffin Lovern in 2023 and Clinton Powers in 2024.
Hedgecoe’s toughest test came in the semifinals Saturday morning as he dropped the first set to South Central’s Shaw Akula, in a rematch of the 2024 state championship match. Hedgecoe bounced back to win the final two sets 6-3, 6-1.
In the doubles championship, South Point’s James Dover and Rex Dover won the program’s first ever individual tennis championship at the Burlington Tennis Center on Saturday. Dover and Dover beat Carson Brown and Lawson Miller from East Lincoln 6-3, 6-2 in the championship match.
The South Point duo beat Adam Boylston and Timothy McDowell 6-2, 6-3 in the semis Saturday morning, and on Friday, beat Carrboro’s Lucas Miyagawa and Max Costant 7-5, 6-3 and Piedmont’s Tucker Bramlett and Brady Hayes 6-1, 6-1.
4A Championships
Final Brackets: Singles | Doubles
RALEIGH – Kai Villagomez delivered the first individual men’s tennis championship in program history on Saturday for Butler. He defeated Trishiv Premanand from Green Level 6-2, 6-0 to win the 4A title.
Villagomez topped Northwest Guilford’s Eshaan Dabadghav 6-4, 6-3 in the semis on Saturday morning and, on Friday, he topped Jordan’s Bryant Ross 6-2, 6-3 and West Forsyth’s Sean Cooper 6-0, 6-0.
In the doubles bracket, Panther Creek’s Ved Chotalia and Max Gao won the first doubles championship in program history and only the second individual men’s tennis title of any kind. Trice Pickens won the 4A Singles Championship for Panther Creek in 2018. Chotalia and Gao beat Owen Phillips and Carter Harris from East Chapel Hill 6-2, 6-3 in the finals on Saturday.
In the semifinals, Chotalia and Gao defeated the defending champions Stephen Gervase and Vivek Indlamuri from Green Hope, 6-1, 6-1.
