Newtown Tennis Players Capture 3 Gold, 4 Silver, 3 Bronze

Newtown captured three gold medals and one silver in the final round of the South-West Conference individual boys tennis championships at Pomperaug High School Thursday.

The Nighthawks, who had begun the individual round the day before and won the team championships Monday, dominated Thursday's tournament, participating in four of the seven finals, and in two cases, battled back from a set behind to win.

Meanwhile the Newtown girls tennis team, who participated in their individual conference championships at Joel Barlow High School Thursday, also did well, capturing second and third places in six matches.

In the finals of the boys' four singles bracket, Newtown's Casey Tenney faced Bunnell's Mike Dolph, an opponent whom Tenney had played twice earlier this season, in which he split the series 1-1.

Dolph took control of the match early by attacking Tenney's forehand and keeping him off balance, which ultimately resulted in a 6-4 first set win. But like he has so many times this year Tenney came right back, showcasing his powerful backhand en route to a 7-5 second set win.

With the score tied at one set a piece, Dolph came out on fire in the third set, playing with a sense of urgency as he jumped out to a 4-1 lead, a point where a loss looked inevitable for Tenney.

But just at that moment, Newtown's coach Marty Margulies leaned over to Tenney's father to issue a prediction.

"He is going to win it," Margulies said. "If anyone can do it, it is this kid right here."

Sure enough, Tenney slowly crept back into the match. Led by his backhand, Tenney guided perfect shots down the line one after another until he was standing at the center of the court shaking Dolph's hands after winning the third set 6-4.

"When I was down I just tried to focus on playing my game," Tenney said. "I wanted to be patient and be smart. (Dolph) kept giving me opportunities to hit with my backhand, which was working well for me today."

Newtown's third gold medal was won by Rob Beier, who beat D.J. Karasik, whom he had lost twice to earlier this season, in the finals of the three singles bracket.

In the championship, Karasik dominated the first set, winning 6-3, and looking like he was ready to beat Beier once again. But Beier kept fighting.

Sprinting from side to side, he stayed alive and pushed the second set into a tiebreaker. Beier eventually took the second set following the tiebreaker, and then went on to win the match, 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4.

"Because we have played twice before, I knew he has a great forehand," Beier said. "So I was really focusing on avoiding that and hitting it to his backhand. I really was just trying to be consistent. I knew if I was consistent I would give myself a chance."

Rich Andreotta and Tyler Ruefenacht, the No. 1 seed in two doubles, who were the first Nighthawks to play Thursday in a semifinal match, beat Joel Barlow's Grayson Kramer and Steve Dreznick, 6-3, 7-6(3), by keeping the ball on the court and leaving their opponents to making unforced errors.

"We just wanted to come out and play our game," Andreotta said. "We tried to limit our mistakes and keep the ball in play."

The duo then carried their newfound momentum into the championship match where they faced Masuk's Ryan Sandor and Antoine Balland.

With powerful serves and great backhand shots, Andreotta and Ruefenacht won the match, 6-2, 6-0, and captured the first gold medal of the day for Newtown.

The Nighthawks next opportunity to medal came in the finals of the one doubles bracket, when Newtown's  Colin Jacob and Connor Howell, the No. 2 seeded pair, battled the No. 1 pair of Blake Kramer and Sean Hanczor.

Jacob and Howell's strong net play allowed them to cruise to a 6-3 first set victory.

But the pair from Barlow responded. Starting with Kramer's strong serves, the duo rebounded and won the second set 6-3. With renewed confidence, they never looked back, winning the third set, 6-4, and leaving Newtown with the silver medal.

In other play, Newtown's Pete Manos, who had started a semifinals match with Bunnell's Nikko Squeglia on Wednesday before it was suspended due to nightfall, was able to battle back from one set behind to win the second set, but then lost it in the third set.

Newtown duo Cam McCleary and Max Paynter also lost their semifinal match to Weston's Matt Wasserman and Zach Levine.

SINGLES

(Semifinals) #1 Nikko Squeglia (B) def. #4 Peter Manos (N): 6-3, 4-6, 6-1 (2 singles)

(Finals) #2 Rob Beier (N) def. #1 D.J. Karasik (B): 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 (3 singles)

(Finals) #2 Casey Tenney (N) def. #1 Mike Dolph (B): 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 (4 singles)

DOUBLES

(Semifinals) #4 Matt Wasserman/Zach Levine (W) def. #1 Cam McCleary/ Max Paynter (N): 6-3, 7-6(5)

(Semifinals) #1 Rich Andreotta/Tyler Ruefenacht (N) def. #4 Grayson Kramer/Steve Dreznick (B): 6-3, 7-6(3)

(Finals) #1 Blake Kramer/ Sean Hanczor (B) def. #2 Colin Jacob/ Connor Howell (N): 3-6, 6-3, 6-4

(Finals) #1 Rich Andreotta/Tyler Ruefenacht (N) def. #3  Ryan Sandor/ Antoine Balland (M): 6-2, 6-0

In the girls tournament, Christina Ciamarra took second place in the ones singles bracket, Nicole Vournazos took second place in the four singles, Lauren Frazzetta took third place in the two singles and Ale Fuentes took third place in the third singles.

In doubles play, Sara Benson and Stephanie Roman, third doubles, took second place while Megan Loose and Ashley Cech, first doubles, took third place.