Columbus North’s Teddy Littrell accepts the semistate trophy from Center Grove athletics director Joe Bronkella following Saturday’s 3-2 win against Cathedral.
Ted Schultz | The Republic
GREENWOOD — After beating Cathedral in last year’s semistate, 23rd-ranked Columbus North went into this year’s Center Grove Semistate with a measure of confidence for their rematch with the Irish Saturday.
Although this match was a little closer, the Bull Dogs kept their streak alive by winning their eighth consecutive boys tennis semistate title with a 3-2 victory.
“We definitely had a lot of confidence,” senior No. 2 doubles player Jaishil Padmanabhan said. “The atmosphere definitely with the fans played a big role in our game today, and having a great mental attitude is what came out on top for us.”
North (15-6) moves on to play No. 2 Homestead in the state quarterfinals at 10 a.m. Friday at North Central. The semifinals and final are Oct. 18, also at North Central.
Cathedral jumped out to a 1-0 lead against the Bull Dogs with James Langfeldt’s 6-1, 6-0 win against Max Wei at No. 2 singles. North’s three points then came in rapid succession, beginning with freshman Alek Devidze finishing off a 6-2, 6-2 victory against Chris Wojtaik at No. 1 singles.
“That was great,” Alek Devidze said. “That was one of the best matches I’ve had on the high school team, and I think if I play like that, and I do the best that I can, even if I lose, I’m always happy.”
“Alek was great,” North coach Kendal Hammel added. “As a freshman this year, he’s stepping into Hank’s role and is doing a great job. He has done very well, and this is a nice, huge win for him.”
A few minutes later, seniors Teddy Littrell and Vince Sasse completed a 6-4, 7-5 win against Tanner Wernke and Ryan Wernke at No. 1 doubles.
“We had good expectations,” Littrell said. “I think we were ready to go out there and play hard. We had a little bit of a slow start. It was a rocky match for us, but we pulled through and got the job done.”
“I think we played great today, and I’m glad we’re moving on,” Sasse said.
Littrell broke his ankle and had to retire from his No. 3 singles match during last year’s 4-1 semistate win against the Irish.
“For me, this is a little bit of a revenge match,” Littrell said. “Last year, we played Cathedral in the semistate, and I was winning a good match before I got hurt. Tensions and emotions were high that match, as well, so going into this match, I was looking to get emotional and get a win back.”
Not more than a couple minutes after the No. 1 doubles victory, the Bull Dogs got the clinching point with Padmanabhan’s and Luka Devidze’s 6-1, 6-4 triumph against Luke Smith and Joey Whelan.
“That meant the most to us because coming into this season, we definitely lost a lot of players from last year, so winning that last point means a lot to us,” Padmanabhan said. “We just have to keep working hard.”
“I feel like you just have to believe in yourself, and then if you do that, you’ve got it,” Luka Devidze added.
Cathedral scored the final point when Luke Langfelt topped Jace Branham 6-3, 6-0 at No. 3 singles.
“Both doubles did the job,” Hammel said. “I felt like we had the advantage at the doubles positions, and it was tight. It wasn’t easy. We had to battle. No. 1 doubles played a great first set, and then fatigue has gotten into their mind in the second set, and they started struggling, but they regrouped, they refocused, they stayed with what they needed to do and pulled off the match to get us to the point where 2 doubles was able to finish it off.”
