Albert Gallatin’s English successful at switching courts
Nate English had some time on his hands after Gateway eliminated Albert Gallatin in the opening round of the WPIAL Class 5A basketball playoffs.
So, the 5-foot-11 senior guard decided to trade in his high tops for tennis shoes and make a run at the WPIAL Class 3A singles title.
“I was kind of bored after basketball season ended. I had been playing tennis since I was like 4 years old and I stopped playing when I was 12 or 13 and I started playing basketball,” English said. “After the season, I just thought I might as well play tennis this year because it’s my last season and I started training a month before the WPIALs.”
If he had trained yearround and did what he did, it would be reasonable. To have not picked up a racket for nearly five years and to have the showing he did was mindboggling.
English competed as an independent representing the Colonials and went into the Class 3A Section 1 tournament as the No. 6 seed. All he did there was beat Alex Turkowski of Penn-Trafford, Franklin Regional No. 2 singles player Shrey Ramesh and Dominick Robinson of Latrobe in the preliminary rounds to reach the championship match.
Though he lost in straight sets, 6-0, 6-0, to Franklin Regional’ top player and the No. 12 senior in the state, Anup Nadesan, he still earned a spot in the WPIAL tournament.
“I think he’s the hardest working kid I’ve ever had. He grew up playing tennis and I knew that a little bit, but I didn’t know it was very serious,” Albert Gallatin basketball coach Shea Fleenor said. “He has a gym at his house and he was homeschooled up through his 11th grade year, so he would literally be in the gym non-stop. It’s kind of scary to think where he might have been if he had just played tennis.”
He gave the rest of the WPIAL players an eyeful at North Allegheny in the finals.
Going in as the No. 7 seed, he ousted 10th-seeded Ellian Ascencio of Peters Township, who won a PIAA Class 3A doubles title in 2019 while paired with current Dayton singles player Connor Bruce. He then ran into half of the team that lost to Ascencio and Bruce in the state finals, second-seeded Colin Gramley of Shady Side Academy, in the second round and the two battled back and forth before the Dennison recruit and No. 9 senior in the state pulled out a 10-5 win in the pro-set format match.
Gramley made it all the way to the WPIAL finals before losing to South Fayette junior Jacob Patterson.
“I was pretty good when I was younger and played in tournaments all over the country,” English said. “I was really serious about it.’
Still, to give up a sport for five years, train for a month, then put several of the top names in the WPIAL on notice was impressive to say the least.
“It was awesome and I enjoyed it a lot and, once I started playing, I kind of missed it and wished I had tried playing again sooner and I would have picked up the racket before basketball season ended. I realize how good I could have been if I had kept playing,” English said. “I felt confident going into that quarterfinals match, but I made some mistakes and I lost the match.”
Upper St. Clair
Upper St. Clair did not have a player finish in the top four of its section in the singles tournament let alone make an impact at the WPIAL finals.
Yet, there are the Panthers, sitting pretty at 7-0 overall and with their first Class 3A section 4 title in their pocket with almost a month remaining in the regular season.
Upper St. Clair had not won even a share of a section title since 2016 and won its most recent title in 2008.
“It’s been what I believed that they could do when I got there three or four years ago when this group was all freshmen. The senior leadership is just taking over,” Upper St. Clair coach Brandon Romain said. “They just believe they can win and they’re doing it.”
Though senior Eric Wang may be the No. 1, he has a solid group behind him, including freshman Ronan Gibbons at No. 2 singles and sophomore Daniel Wang at No. 3 singles.
“Tennis is such a mental sport that a lot of it is just getting them the confidence that they can really do something,” Romain said. “There’s so many players that are really good players, but when it comes to matches, it’s tough. You have to believe you’re the best player on the court and have the confidence to take the necessary risks to win.”