The Crook County High School boys tennis team dominated the Class 4A/3A/2A/1A Special District 4 tournament, qualifying nine players for the state championships, which will be held Friday and Saturday at Oregon State University.
“It was an amazing weekend with multiple extremely exciting matches,” Crook County boys coach Eric Ryan said. “Friday was wild. I’m just so proud of the work they put in all season and how it culminated with the success yesterday.”
The Cowboys finished the tournament, which was played over the past two weekends with 33 points, while Madras was second with 10 and The Dalles was third with six. The tournament started in the Tri-Cities area in Washington, and then concluded this past Friday and Saturday at Crook County.
Although things did not go according to the seeds, Crook County took the top spots in both the singles and doubles competition. In singles action Crook County’s number two singles player Marcos Munoz upset No. 2 seed Dominic Pulver of Sisters in the semifinals then defeated teammate and No.1 seed Victor Covarrubias in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2 in the finals to win the district title. Then, Crook County No. 3 singles player Jaime Acunas upset Pulver in the third place match, sending all three Cowboys to the state tournament.
Doubles play was probably even more surprising as Crook County’s No. 2 doubles team of Hoyt Kudlac and Caleb Decker upset teammates Evan Wood and Greg Hubble in the semifinals, then defeated No. 1 seed Juan Olivera and Maties Ruiz of Madras 7-6(4), 6-4 in the championship match to win the district title. Crook County’s No. 3 doubles team of Iker Layunta and Alvaro Coca lost 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 to Olivera and Ruiz in the semifinals, then won by default over Wood and Hubble in the third place match, with both teams qualifying for the state tournament.
“I noticed early on how good this team is, easily beating multiple Bend and Redmond 5A schools and have had to regularly keep myself from thinking too far ahead,” Ryan said. “All of our players played their highest level of tennis at our tournament. Now we get to take 75 percent of our entire team to the state tournament. The future of boys tennis in Crook County is brighter than ever.”
Cowgirls sending four
Sami Ramos, the Cowgirls’ top singles player, opened the quarterfinals Friday with a 6-1, 6-4 win over Shae Wylan of Sisters. The win put her in the semis and guaranteed a top-four finish and a spot at state. Ramos faced another Sisters player in the semis, Katie Ryan, and it was a battle. Ryan won the first set 6-4, but Ramos turned the tide in the next two sets to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
In the finals, Ramos faced the buzzsaw known as Juhree Kizziar. Kizziar had lost just one game in four matches reaching the finals. Ramos managed to win two in the first set and another in the second set but fell in the title match 6-2, 6-1.
The Cowgirls’ Callie Winebarger battled all the way through district. In the quarterfinals, she survived past Sisters’ Rylie Bick 7-6 (4), 7-6 (6). The win put Winebarger into the semis and guaranteed her a spot at state. She fced Kizziar is the semis and lost 6-0, 6-0, then fell by the same score to Katie Ryan of Sisters.
Cowgirls DeLaney Engstrom and Haven Housley, won the district doubles title, but it wasn’t easy. Both their wins in Prineville were three-setters. They won the title match 6-1, 5-7, 6-4 over Leah Mueller and Claire Mueller of Irrigon. In the semis, the Cowgirl pair beat Leah O’Hern and Sophia Rush of Sisters 6-3, 1-6, 6-2.
Sisters won the district team title with 20 points while Crook County was second with 17.
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