1A/2A crown up for grabs

Both the Manti Templars and the Rowland Hall-St. Marks Winged Lions swept all five of their opening matches on Friday at the 1A/2A State Tennis Tournament, tying both teams for the lead after the opening round.

Manti and Rowland Hall will meet head-to-head twice, first and second singles, in the semifinal matches Saturday to determine crucial team points before finals play even begins.

"I have a great group of kids," Manti coach Andy Naylor said. "We have a lot of depth and we're senior-heavy. This could be our year."

Also still in the mix is defending state champion Waterford. Although the Ravens dropped two important opening round matches, they are the favorites in first singles and second singles, matches which could allow Waterford to accumulate key standings points.

Yale-bound senior Calvin Bennett cruised through his opening match, defeating Grand's Jordan Loveridge 6-0, 6-0, for Waterford's first singles, while junior Daniel Reichert didn't fare much worse at Waterford's second singles, defeating Parowan's Jeff Curtis 6-0, 6-1. Bennett is attempting to win his fourth straight singles title, while Reichert is bidding to repeat.

"We're stronger at the top, but the other two are deeper," Waterford coach Ken Wade said. "When it gets down to the end, it should be interesting."

In the best match of the day, Rowland Hall's freshman duo at No. 1 doubles, Andrew Arsht and Ben Friedman, were down one set, and 0-3 in the second set when they came from behind to defeat Richfield's Joseph Jensen and Tyler Carson 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 in a nailbiter.

Rowland Hall, Waterford and Manti's coaches all agree that first doubles may end up being where the whole tournament is won. With Arsht and Friedman's come-from-behind win, all three teams still have their duos in play.

"First doubles will be huge," Rowland Hall coach Tim Sleeper said. "Whoever gets through the second round in first doubles will pick up very important points."

Tournament play continues today with semifinal matches starting at 9 a.m. at Coach Mike's Tennis Academy. The finals will begin at 1 p.m.

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