By Terry Boehmker
NKyTribune sports reporter
Covington Catholic won two of the four semifinal matches in the 9th Region boys tennis tournament on Tuesday and clinched first place in the team standings for the 19th consecutive year.
CovCath freshman Brady Hussey, the No. 1 seed in singles, defeated Highlands senior Peter Laskey, 6-2, 6-1, to reach the region final in his first year of varsity competition. The Colonels secured the team title when fourth-seeded Ryan Bosch and Andrew Kennedy upset second-seeded Joey Case and Matthew Marlette of Villa Madonna, 6-2, 6-0, in doubles.
Covington Latin junior Kuzu Wantanabe makes a two-handed return during his singles semifinal match. (Photo by Bob Jackson)
Those victories gave CovCath 13 total points. Highlands is in second place with 11 points, but the Bluebirds can only get one more point in Wednesday’s final round at CovCath.
Covington Latin junior Kuzu Wantanabe made it to the singles final with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Jackson Poulos of CovCath. Wantanabe, the No. 2 seed, was region runner-up in 2019.
In the other doubles semifinal, top-seeded Eli Back and Eli Hornsby of Highlands won a third-set tiebreaker to get past third-seeded Kalei Christensen and Alex Yeager of Holy Cross, 6-4, 6-7 (6), 1 (3).
Starting times for Wednesday’s region championship matches at CovCath are 3:45 p.m. for singles and 5 p.m. for doubles. A trophy presentation will take place after the matches.
The region champion, runner-up and other two semifinalists in both singles and doubles advance to the state tournament June 1-3 at the University of Kentucky.
The first two rounds of the 9th Region girls tennis tournament were completed Tuesday with the top four seeds in singles and doubles advancing to the quarterfinals on Wednesday at Notre Dame.
Beechwood currently leads the girls team standings with seven points, followed by Notre Dame with six. Villa Madonna and Highlands are tied for third place with five points each.
9th REGION GIRLS TENNIS
Quarterfinal matches on Wednesday at Notre Dame
SINGLES (Seeds listed before names)
1-Sara Wantanabe (Covington Latin) vs. H. Valentine (Highlands), 5 p.m.
4-Martine Hue (Notre Dame) vs. 5-Paetyn Ashcraft (Villa Madonna), 5 p.m.
3-Katherine Taylor (Beechwood) vs. 7-Emma Hudson (Dixie Heights), 5 p.m.
2-Ellie Zureick (Cooper) vs. 8-Olivia Hoffmann (Highlands), 5 p.m.
DOUBLES (Seeds listed before names)
1-Lauren Janzaruk-Taylor Meenach (Notre Dame) vs. Creige-Lukey (Dixie Heights), 3:45 p.m.
3-Allyse Rassenfoss-Natalie Elleman (Conner) vs. Haley King-Abby Sleet (Beechwood), 3:45 p.m.
4-Elizabeth Wintershiemer-Mehr Brar (Beechwood) vs. Greene-Suttisatana (NewCath), 3:45 p.m.
2-Hailey Fullkenkamp-Samantha Bailey (Notre Dame) vs. 6-Jenna Berling-Rachel Gillman (St. Henry), 3:45 p.m.
