Wilson Bulldogs teams reach JTT states

WINSTON-SALEM — A pair of Wilson Bulldogs teams that won Downeast Junior Team Tennis titles this spring competed in USTA North Carolina Junior Team Tennis championships last weekend, July 19-20, but didn’t extend the Bulldogs’ state championship streak.

The Bulldogs ages 14-under coed team Kensley Hill, Landon Davis, Colton Owens, Sam Avent, Sara Lamm, Sophie Manavi and Isaac Manavi won the Down East JTT league title by defeating Greenville Country Club and River Birch Tennis Center in all head-to-head meetings. However, at the state tournament, only Hill, Davis and Avent were able to participate due to illness and previous commitments by the other players, meaning they had to play all the matches in the 14-U Beginner Group 2 without breaks. Even so, the Bulldogs managed to defeat Wiley Middle School of Winston-Salem and OPRC of Charlotte while tying eventual group winner Ebony Polar Bears of Raleigh. Wilson fell by two games to Sunset Muffin of Cary.

Hill is a rising freshman at Fike High.

The Bulldogs 18-U team, consisting of five players from Fike’s NCHSAA 3-A runner-up team this spring, also won their division in the Downeast JTT league this spring, but couldn’t produce a third straight state championship in that age group.

The Bulldogs 18s — Zach Hill, Cian Bonner, Braydon Jones, Aidan Bonner and Collins Pearson — stopped teams from River Birch and Greenville Country Club as well as a squad comprised of girls players from Hunt and Fike.

Playing in the 18-U Intermediate Group 1, the Bulldogs played teams from Wilmington, Lake Norman, Charlotte, Clayton and Durham but did not advance out of the group. That ended the Bulldogs’ title run after claiming back-to-back state titles in 2022 and 2023.

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