High seeds dominate MIAA tennis individual championships

by Derek Toney

It was deja vu for Austin Chuun at the MIAA tennis championships Thursday . The Calvert Hall College sophomore repeated as the A Conference No. 1 singles champ at McDonogh. 

Chuun outlasted Park’s Gavin Cordish in three sets (7-5, 4-6, 6-3). Last year, Chuun rebounded from a rough second set (lost 6-0) to win the third and final set.

Another three-set thriller almost didn’t happen as Chuun went down in the sixth game of the second set with a cramp in his left leg. He briefly considered retiring the match.

“I was about to I’m not going to lie,” said Chuun, who chugged down three electolyte drinks to rehydrate while the event’s on-site athletic trainer and Chuun’s coach, David Mast, worked the cramp out of his leg. 

“I told him to push on and fight,” said Mast. “If the cramps spread through his body that’s one thing…he wanted to give in and I said ‘no way.’”

Chuun said it’s been long time since he experience cramping during a match. Though he didn’t get to back 100-percent, Chuun was able to regroup and put away Cordish - who handed him his lone loss during the regular season - in the decisive third set.

Chuun said Cordish, who he plays online video games with, brings the best out of him on the court.

“He’s a really good player,” said Chuun. “I know it’s going to be a good match and I have to be ready.”

Chuun’s teammate, sophomore Francis Cellabos, won his second straight No. 2 singles crown with a straight set decision over McDonogh’s Gil Boker. 

McDonogh kept No. 3 singles title as David Barnstein defeated Calvert Hall’s David Susko in three sets. Boker won the No. 3 crown last spring for McDonogh.

The Eagles swept the doubles as junior Rajan Marhawa and senior Nathan Huang swept Calvert Hall’s Conor Gibbs and Demetrios Eckley in the No. 1 match. Freshmen Owen Tammadon and Mason Schwartz claimed No. 2 in straight sets over John Antonelli and Harrison Monk from Calvert Hall.

Glenelg Country reigned in the B Conference singles as senior Holger Nissen claimed captured the No. 1 singles title with a straight sets victory over Key School’s Morgan Schaefer. Junior William Zhang took the No. 2 crown with a 6-4, 7-5 sweep of Archbishop Spalding’s Robert Longeran.

Key School, which won the B team title last week, won the No. 3 singles title with junior Matei Dean defeating Severn School’s Sebastian Sardi.

Mount St. Joseph swept the doubles with senior Jack McGuinn and junior Jace Milnes besting Spalding’s Cody Winn and Antonio Macleay in the No. 1 final. Junior August Lancelotta and freshman Matt Wallace captured the No. 2 title in straight sets over Spalding’s Alexander Awakian and Landon Oliver.

In the C Conference, Saints Peter & Paul High School led the way with three championships.

Will Coughlan captured the No. 1 singles title as the top seed, while teammate William Murphy emerged from the No. 2 singles bracket as the No. 3 seed to give Saints Peter & Paul another championship. Gunston School’s James Schopfer won the No. 3 singles crown as the bracket’s top seed.

Saints Peter & Paul also earned the No. 1 doubles championship behind the top-seeded pairing of Alan Hinduja and Finn Loveless. St. Mary's High School rounded out the list of champions as Enzo Gorgen and Tristan Couture captured the No. 2 doubles title.

MIAA INDIVIDUAL TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIP
at McDonogh

A CONFERENCE

No. 1 singles - #2 Austin Chhun (Calvert Hall) def. #1 Gavin Cordish (Park), 7-5, 4-6, 6-3

No. 2 singles - #1 Francis Cellabos (Calvert Hall) def. #3 Gil Boker (McDonogh), 6-1, 6-3

No. 3 singles - #2 David Barnstein (McDonogh) def. #1 David Susko (Calvert Hall), 6-4, 6-7, 6-1

No. 1 doubles - #1 Rajan Marhawa & Nathan Huang (McDonogh) def. #2 Conor Gibbs & Demetrios Eckley (Calvert Hall), 6-1, 6-4

No. 2 doubles - #1 Owen Tammadon & Mason Schwartz (McDonogh) def. #2 John Antonelli & Harrison Monk (Calvert Hall), 6-4, 6-4

B CONFERENCE

No. 1 singles - #1 Holger Nissen (Glenelg Country) def. #2 Morgan Schaefer (Key), 6-1, 6-1

No. 2 singles - #1 William Zhang (Glenelg Country) def. #3 Robert Longeran (Spalding), 6-4, 7-5

No. 3 singles - #1 Matei Dean (Key) def. #2 Sebastian Sandi (Severn), 7-5, 6-3

No. 1 doubles - #1 Jack McGuinn &Jace Milnes (Mount St. Joseph) def. #3 Cody Winn & Antonio Macleay (Spalding), 6-1, 7-5

No. 2 doubles - #2 August Lancelotta & Matt Wallace (Mount St. Joseph) def. #1 Alexander Awakian & Landon Oliver (Spalding), 7-5, 6-3

C Conference 

No. 1 singles - #1 Will Couglan (Saints Peter & Paul) def. #2 Michael Galluaugher (St. John's Catholic Prep)

No. 1 singles - #3 William Murphy (Saints Peter Paul) def. #1 Elijah Tanious (AACS)

No. 3 singles - #1 James Schopfer (Gunston School) def. #2 Ian Knopp (Saints Peter & Paul)

No. 1 doubles - #1 Alan Hinduja & Finn Loveless def. #2 Orlando Brown & Griffin Raspa (AACS)

No. 2 doubles - #1 Enzo Gorgen & Tristan Couture (St. Mary's) def. #2 Mason Headley & Sasha Crouch (AACS)