WINSTON-SALEM — East Surry’s Levi Watson and Kade Talton finished runner-up in the 2A Midwest Regional Tennis Championship.
A few rainy days and a venue change couldn’t keep the Cardinals duo from returning to the regional championship match. The tournament began Friday, May 3 at Salisbury High School, then wasn’t completed until the following Monday. The doubles duo also had to travel from Salisbury to Wake Forest’s Indoor Tennis Complex on Monday to finish the tournament.
Watson/Talton opened regionals with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Providence Grove’s Carson Jones/Jackson Lawyer. The East Surry duo then topped Trinity’s Cohen Crotts/Moises Ventura in the quarterfinals, which gave the pair automatic admission into the state tournament.
Watson/Talton qualified for the 2023 state tournament as a doubles duo, but weren’t able to compete in the competition. Watson also qualified for the state singles tournament as a sophomore.
The Cardinals returned to the court to take on Salisbury’s Soyer Cornelison/Reid Hlavacek, a duo that entered the regional tournament with only one loss as a doubles team. Cornelison/Hlavacek advanced to the semis by beating another Surry County team — Surry Central’s Maddox Martin/Isaac Eller — in the quarterfinals.
Watson/Talton won the first set of the semifinal match 6-1 before the Hornets’ duo took the second set 7-5. The Cardinals advanced to the championship with an emphatic 6-0 win in the third set.
Waiting for East Surry in the championship was another duo from Salisbury — AJ Jarrell and Gray Davis. This Hornets team entered regionals undefeated on the season.
Jarrell/Davis won regionals with a 7-5, 6-3 win over Watson/Talton.
The East Surry duo will face NC School of Science and Math—Durham’s Aryan Vinay/Sid Gupta in the opening round of the 2A Doubles State Tournament. The winner of that match will take on the winner of Owen’s Blake Bradley/Rafa Kohn and Holmes’ Cole Dougherty/Ayden Furlough.
Surry Central’s Martin/Eller fell one match short of qualifying for states. The Golden Eagles’ duo defeated Forest Hills’ Evan Keith/Sam Mullis 6-3, 6-0 in the first round, then dropped a close 6-3, 6-4 match to Salisbury’s Cornelison/Hlavacek.
Surry Central’s Chris Hall/Dalton Quesenberry also competed in the doubles tournament, but dropped their first match 6-2, 6-3 to East Davidson’s Allen Simmons/Cam Eddinger.
In addition to the three doubles teams, Surry County was represented by two singles players at regionals and both fell one match short of qualifying for states. Both were eliminated by the players that advanced to the regional championship match.
East Surry’s Noah Hopkins opened the tournament with a 7-6 (7-2), 6-2 victory over West Stanly’s Nic Smith, then fell 6-1, 6-0 to top-seeded Ameno Morgan of North Stanly. Stanly went on to win the 2A Midwest Regional Singles Championship.
Lupe Chavez, also of East Surry, defeated Trinity’s Dominic Payne 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of the singles bracket. Chavez’s victory set up a rematch with North Wilkes’ Mitch Adams, whom Chavez battled a week prior in the Foothills 2A Conference Singles Championship. Adams got the better of Chavez again by winning 6-0, 6-0, then finished runner-up in the singles bracket.
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