F-M boys tennis beats J-D in sectional showdown, 5-2

CENTRAL NEW YORK – Two Section III boys tennis champions met on Sunday afternoon to determine which of them would advance to the New York State Public High School Athletic Association Division I team championships.

And Fayetteville-Manlius would win it, the Class A champion Hornets sweeping all four doubles matches to key a 5-2 victory over Class B champion Jamesville-DeWitt.

Jared Duggal and Sawyer Brown prevailed over Jacob and Zach Price, with Will Ferguson and Zach Costanza getting a 6-0, 6-0 shutout over Harman Butalia and Lucas Chiorini.

In first doubles, Dan Manta and Justin Dunn got through a tough first set to beat Carson Souser and Shreyank Bhatt 6-4, 6-1, with Xavier Sul and John Gilligan turning back Dean Bratslavsky and Kian Sarmast 6-1, 6-4.

Up in singles, J-D struck twice when Anthony Fico beat Colin Byer 6-3, 6-3 and Zain Hegazy got past Andrew Hoehner 6-4, 6-2, but in first singles F-M’s Cameron Lukasik won 6-0, 6-3 over Will Sharlow.

Now those teams, along with other local sides, went to the individual sectional tournaments Monday and Tuesday, with several of them advancing to the state qualifier later in the week.

And it included both of J-D’s top doubles teams. Souser and Bhatt breezed to the Division II final where, against Bratslavsky and Sarmast, they wasted little time earning a 6-1, 6-0 victory. Fico beat Sharlow 6-0, 6-2 and reached the semifinals to also earn a berth in the state qualifier.

Not to be outdone, F-M also got a sweep in Division I doubles, where Dunn and Manta roared to the title, not dropping a set as they beat Sul and Gilligan 6-2, 7-6 (8-6) in the finals. Just to get there, Sul and Gilligan rallied from a set down and a second-set tiebreak to beat Baldwinsville’s Nick Helbig and Andrew Jung 3-6, 7-6 (7-3), 6-0.

Lukasik, in Division I singles, got to the finals before taking a 7-5, 7-6 (8-6) defeat to Liverpool’s Justin Barrett. Christian Brothers Academy standout Chanu Yang also advanced to the qualifier when he rallied past B’ville’s Mason Doan 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals before Lukasik beat him in the semifinals.

East Syracuse Minoa had the doubles team of Donovan Randall and Brett Hockey reach the quarterfinals before falling to Helbig and Jung, while Jayce Domres and Jacob Harmon lost in the round of 16.

In Division IV, Manlius Pebble Hill swept the titles, including doubles, where Sam and Andy Lurvey ended up facing Abe Salomon and Devan Trihka in the final round and the Lurveys prevailed in straight sets 6-3, 6-3.

The Trojans also had Jaasim Zaman winning the singles title, his closest match in four rounds a 6-3, 6-3 semifinal win over Quincy Slayton (Sauquoit Valley) before he swept Cooperstown’s Isaiah George 6-0, 6-2 in the finals.