Drew Hedgecoe wins 3rd singles title, Hickory wins another doubles championship
Terry Sanford junior Drew Hedgecoe has a chance to do something only one other tennis player in N.C. High School Athletic Association history has accomplished — win a fourth state championship.
On Saturday at the Burlington Tennis Center, Hedgecoe, a junior, won his third straight state title, beating South Central freshman Shaw Akula 6-2, 6-3.
Hedgecoe said he had to overcome mistakes and errors of his own in the championship match, crediting Akula for not giving him anything. But now, Hedgecoe will turn to his senior season.
"Maybe a little bit (of added pressure), but we'll see what happens ... four would be pretty cool. Got to wait another year for it, I'll keep working, keep playing," Hedgecoe said. "I'm excited to hopefully be back here next year"
Charlotte Catholic's Kyle Johnson is the only tennis player in NCHSAA history to win four straight. Joining that short list would mean a lot to Hedgecoe.
"It means a lot to be able to represent my school, my coaches, and just the entire student body at Terry Sanford because that school means a lot to me," he said.
Hedgecoe rolled to the championship match on Saturday morning with a 6-0, 6-0 win in the semifinals against Derek Hinkle of Smoky Mountain. On Friday, Hedgecoe defeated Sohan Sagar of Atkins 6-1, 6-1 in the first round, then beat Ethan Caryle of C.B. Aycock 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinals.
Akula's impressive freshman performance included a 6-1, 6-1 first round win over East Lincoln's Carson Brown, a 6-1, 6-0 win over Carrboro's Theo Buchholtz in the quarterfinals, and a 6-0, 6-0 win over South Point's Shiv Patel in the semifinals.
In the doubles tournament, Hickory's Graham Powers won his second straight doubles state championship, this time with his brother, Clint.
The brothers defeated another pair of brothers — Snyder and Collins Pearson of Fike — 6-4, 6-4 in the championship match. It marked the first time brothers have won the 3A doubles championship and the first time in NCHSAA history two pairs of brothers have played against each other for a state title.
Graham Powers joined Griffin Lovern to win the 3A doubles title last season.
The Hickory duo beat Anthony Vucinovic and J.J. Woerner of First Flight 6-4, 7-5 in a tough semifinals matchup on Saturday morning. On Friday, the Powers brothers beat J.H. Rose's Wyatt Schmidt and Ethan Tang 6-0, 6-1 in the first round, then knocked off Carrboro's Kai Spira and Noah SImmons 6-1, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
Fike's Pearson brothers beat Charlie Schild and Tejas Sridhar of Lake Norman Charter 6-4, 6-4 in the semifinals on Saturday morning. The duo started the tournament with a 6-0, 6-2 win over South Point's team of James Dover and Rex Dover, another pair of brothers, then beat Durham School of the Arts' Zach Blizzard and Grant Euler 6-3, 7-5 in the quarterfinals.
3A Boys Tennis Results: Singles
First Round
- Shaw Akula (South Central) def. Carson Brown (East Lincoln) 6-1, 6-1
- Theo Buhholtz (Carrboro) def. Caleb Butts (Central Cabarrus) 6-1, 6-1
- Shiv Patel (South Point) def. Kaiji Fu (J.H. Rose) 6-1, 6-1
- Luke Durham (Western Alamance) def. William Herman (Piedmont) 6-1, 6-1
- Adam Boylston (Western Alamance) def. Logan Thomas (Ledford) 6-1, 6-1
- Derek Hinkle (Smoky Mountain) def. Alex Ellis (Hunt) 6-1, 6-1
- Drew Hedgecoe (Terry Sanford) def. Sohan Sagar (Atkins) 6-1, 6-1
- Ethan Caryle (C.B. Aycock) def. Blake Walker (St. Stephens) 6-1, 6-1
Quarterfinals
- Akula (South Central) def. Buchholtz (Carrboro) 6-1, 6-0
- Patel (South Point) def. Durham (Western Alamance) 7-6 (6), 2-6, 6-4
- Hinkle (Smoky Mountain) def. Boylston (Western Alamance) 6-4, 7-5
- Hedgecoe (Terry Sanford) def. Caryle (C.B. Aycock) 6-1, 6-0
Semifinals
- Akula (South Central) def. Patel (South Point) 6-0, 6-0
- Hedgecoe (Terry Sanford) def. Hinkle (Smoky Mountain) 6-0, 6-0
Championship
- Hedgecoe (Terry Sanford) def. Akula (South Central) 6-2, 6-3
3A Boys Tennis Results: Doubles
First Round
- Anthony Vucinovic/J.J. Woerner (First Flight) def. Drew Crotts/Luke Mingus (Cramer) 6-1, 6-1
- Tucker Bramlett/Brady Hayes (Piedmont) def. Fionn Kuo/Lev Bearman (Cedar Ridge) 1-0
- Graham Powers/Clint Powers (Hickory) def. Wyatt Schmidt/Ethan Tang (J.H. Rose) 6-0, 6-1
- Kai Spira/Noah Simmons (Carrboro) def. Karson Sloop/Austin Atwell (Jesse Carson) 6-0, 7-6 (8)
- Charlie Schlid/Tejas Sridhar (Lake Norman Charter) def. Alex Brown/Michael Zang (Williams) 6-1, 6-0
- Drake Gallian/Julian Stolevski (West Henderson) def. Dylan Skinner/Zachary Hill (Fike) 6-2, 7-5
- Zach Blizzard/Grant Euler (Durham School of Arts) def. Luis Broome/Kyle Cooke (North Davidson) 6-4, 6-2
- Snyder Pearson/Collins Pearson (Fike) def. James Dover/Rex Dover (South Point) 6-0, 6-2
Quarterfinals
- Vucinovic/Woerner (First Flight) def. Bramlett/Hayes (Piedmont) 6-1, 6-2
- Powers/Powers (Hickory) def. Spira/Simmons (Carrboro) 6-1, 6-1
- Schild/Sridhar (Lake Norman Charter) def. Gallian/Stolevski (West Henderson) 4-6, 6-0, 6-4
- Pearson/Pearson (Fike) def. Blizzard/Euler (Durham School of Arts) 6-3, 7-5
Semifinals
- Powers/Powers (Hickory) def. Vucinovic/Woerner (First Flight) 6-4, 7-5
- Pearson/Pearson (Fike) def. Schild/Sridhar (Lake Norman Charter) 6-4, 6-4
Championship
- Powers/Powers (Hickory) def. Pearson/Pearson (Fike) 6-4, 6-4
