Sewickley Academy senior looking for rare double
Luke Ross is going for 2nd title in row
Tri-State Sports & News Service
You can count on one hand the number of boys tennis players from the WPIAL who have repeated as state singles champions.
Actually, it only takes one finger.
Mt. Lebanon alumnus Jack Waltz is the only player in either classification to repeat as a PIAA singles champion. The former Blue Devils standout took three in a row from 1961-63.
It has been 54 years, but Sewickley Academy senior Luke Ross has the opportunity to become the second.
Ross, a three-time WPIAL and defending PIAA Class 2A champion, will take the court May 26 at Hershey Racquet Club looking to win two in a row. Last year, he became only the second WPIAL player to ever win a state Class 2A championship since Class 2A was established in 1999.
“It’s a little more pressure, but I’ve played so much that I’m used to it by now and I can handle it,” Ross said. “I have the week before to get used to it which is nice and have a couple matches. It’s a nice place to have states.”
Ross, who has already committed to Georgetown, barely lost a game through the regular season except against Carlynton senior Luke Phillips, who has given him fits all year. The Cleveland State recruit knocked him off in the Section 4 championship match, 7-6 (73), 6-4, and led in the third set of the WPIAL finals before Ross came back for a 6-3, 1-6, 6-2 victory over the 2015 champion.
“Every match we play can go either way,” Ross said. “The first match we played this year went three sets, too, and I know I have to start fresh.”
There is little doubt the two will be watching each other closely in Hershey and both fully expect to see each other one last time this year. They will be on opposite sides of the bracket and looking for a rematch of the 2016 final won by Ross, 6-4, 6-3, in the first all-WPIAL final in Class 2A and first in either classification since Shady Side Academy’s Chris Mengel defeated Ethan Kallick of Upper St. Clair in 2010.
“That’s what I’m shooting for, definitely, but I’ll have a tough first round this year against Jonathan Nottingham because I’m pretty sure he’s going to come out of District 12,” Phillips said. “There will be some challenges, but I’m definitely hoping for that rematch in the finals.”
Nottingham, a junior from Masterman, made it to the state semifinals last year before he was knocked off by Ross, 6-4, 6-0. To get to the finals last year, Phillips had to go through three district champions.
Fox Chapel sophomore Robby Shymansky was probably looking forward to a Class 3A state finals rematch with Downingtown East senior Michael Dickson. But if the two do play again, it won’t be for a title.
Shymansky was knocked off in dramatic fashion in the WPIAL Class 3A singles final by Peters Township freshman Connor Bruce, which put the Foxes’ No. 1 player on the same side of the bracket as Dickson, a Butler recruit. That means, if the two play, it will come in Friday’s quarterfinals.
Bruce, meanwhile, will get his first individual experience in the state championships when he takes on Council Rock North freshman Daniel Kliebhan, who is ranked No. 10 in his class in the state. Bruce is ranked six spots ahead of him.
“I think it’s better that I haven’t seen them because they haven’t seen me and they don’t know what I’m going to do,” Bruce said. “People knew me coming into high school this year, but I was kind of an underdog because I only did USTA and showed everyone who I am.”