Clark repeats as region champion

Gupte, Foels win in singles; Coronado girls topple Gorman

Artem Iermolov, Clark’s No. 1 singles player, was unavailable for the Desert Region championship match against Coronado on Friday at Liberty.

Turns out the Chargers didn’t need him.

Clark (15-0) held off Coronado (13-2) for an 11-7 victory and a second consecutive region championship. The Chargers will play Mountain Region champion Palo Verde on Saturday in the Southern Nevada team championship match.

All three teams advance to the Class 4A state tournament, as does Mountain Region runner-up Bonanza.

“We had some guys step up big time,” Clark coach Jordan Zimmel said. “If you can win the region championship without your best player, that’s really good. There are no guarantees. I was really impressed with how we played today.”

Rahul Gupte and Max Foels both went 3-0 in singles for Clark.

Coronado’s girls avenged the loss bytheboyswitha14-4victoryover Bishop Gorman to claim their third consecutive region championship. Ava Nhaisi and Sidra Wohlwend were 3-0 in doubles for the Cougars (15-0), who haven’t lost since 2016.

Megan King and Paige Furin also were 3-0 in doubles and Kennedy Buntrock was 2-0 in singles.

“We have five or six new players,” Coronado coach David Willingham said. “A lot of new girls come in and they’re accepted by the girls who have been there.”

Both teams advance to the Class 4A state tournament.

Palo Verde wins Mountain Region

Two-time defending boys state champion Palo Verde added another plaque to its trophy case with an

11-7 victory over Bonanza to win the Mountain Region title.

Trailing 9-5 in the final round, the Bengals closed the gap to 9-7 before Palo Verde doubles partners Nick Abdo and Kyle Stoddard, who had lost their previous two matches, defeated Bonanza’s Marshall

Nelson and Mark Thuet to seal the championship.

“It was definitely a tough fought match today with these guys,” Palo Verde coach Rick Coop said. “Our kids battled back from adversity.”

In the girls draw, Palo Verde built an 8-7 lead over Faith Lutheran, but third-round play was suspended because of darkness. The match will conclude Saturday morning at Bishop Gorman.

Contact reporter Sam Gordon at sgordon@reviewjournal.com. Follow @Bysamgordon on Twitter.

Bizuayehu Tesfaye Las Vegas Review-journal Clark’s Max Foels returns against Coronado’s Sebastian Frace in their singles match in the Desert Region championship.