Shawnee’s Gabe Burke gets low for a backhand return during Saturday’s Western Buckeye League tournament at UNOH.
Jose Nogueras | The Lima News
“Shawnee owns the WBL.”
Shawnee’s No. 1 singles player Gabe Burke made that bold statement and backed it up after winning his third straight No. 1 singles title that helped the Indians capture their third straight Western Buckeye League crown in dominating fashion Saturday.
The Indians, who were 9-0 during the regular season WBL dual matches , swept all five brackets in the league tournament for the second consecutive year to snare the school’s 28th championship and 24th outright.
Due to some makeup matches that still need to be made up, the final scores are not complete, however, Shawnee’s domination in the tournament gave it the tournament title with 60 points. Elida was second with 48 points and Ottawa-Glandorf rounded out the top three with 23 points. The rest of the field were St. Marys (23), Wapakoneta (22), Bath (15), Kenton (14), Celina (7), Defiance (7) and Van Wert (5).
“We just have so much depth,” Shawnee head coach Andrew McGreevy. “Everybody on my team from the first singles to the second doubles are skilled in some way, shape or form that you particularly don’t see like you see in the third singles. My third singles player would be every else’s No. 1 and at the same time they just care.
“They help each other out. They don’t care if they are a senior or a freshman. Everybody wants to win and wants to win for the school district. It goes well when everybody is on the same plan.
This marks the second straight year they have gone unbeaten in the league and 5-0 in the tournament and with pretty much the same team as last year, the Indians came into the season planning on repeating last year’s success.
McGreevy said the team set the goal of going unbeaten whether he liked it or not.
“My boys say that and they probably said more than I liked them to but they’ve got goals and they work towards them and they don’t just say it to say it,” the Indians head coach said. “They work hard to try and live up to those goals. Sometimes it doesn’t always come across the best way but I am proud of them for their confidence and the work they put in. They want to get those goals so they are not afraid to go after it.”
At No. 1 singles, Burke continued to be the best player in the WBL. The two-time state qualifier defeated Wapakoneta’s Connor Coffey in the finals.
Shawnee’s Mason Stahl and Mac Davis also enjoyed their third straight singles titles.
Stahl snared the No. 2 singles crown with a 6-2, 6-1 victory over Elida’s Ben Osman in the finals. The Shawnee senior never lost more than two sets in any of his matches.
Davis celebrated his third title at No. 3 singles after downing Elida’s Dylan Byers in the finals, 6-2, 6-1.
Shawnee’s Salah Mohammed and Seth Grieshop enjoyed a second doubles title but the first together as the duo beat Elida’s James Mitchell and Eben Jackson, 6-0, 6-2. Last year, Mohammed won the No. 1 doubles title with Gabe Rutter and Grieshop garnered the No. 2 title with Shashank Chanamolu.
Chanamolu came back to snare top honors at No. 2 doubles but with Jackson Carpenter as his partner this year. The Indians teamed up to score a 6-3, 6-3 win over Elida’s Leyton Staley and Alex Dunahay.
“We just have a team full of people who push themselves all summer long and work hard,” Stahl said. “We sort of ended up here but last year we went 16-0 and we wanted to keep that streak going.”
McGreevy said this historic run continues the school’s proud tennis tradition and this is another chapter.
“We talked about that the beginning of the year” McGreevy said. “You gain some level of a name for yourselves but our school has had that level a lot longer than you guys have had so you have to remember in the end we are doing it for the Shawnee logo and then the rest is for the rest of us to enjoy to at the same time. We love our school and proud of it and the place we have put it.”
WBL Tournament Results
First Singles
Semifinals
Gabe Burke (Shawnee) def. Daniel Bolon (Bath) 6-1, 6-1; Connor Coffey (Wapak) def. Jaden Neuman (Elida) 6-3, 6-2.
Finals
Gabe Burke (Sh) def. Connor Coffey (Wap) 6-0, 6-1.
Third Place Match
Jaden Neuman (E) def. Daniel Bolon (B) 7-6 (7-2), 6-4.
Back Draw
Fifth Place Match
Sam Schomaeker (Ottawa-Glandorf) def. Isaac Wibbeler (St. Marys) 8-2.
Seventh Place
Jack Zhang (Celina) def. Keaton Foster (VW) 9-7.
Second Singles
Semifinals
Mason Stahl (Sh) def. Ezra Bolon (B) 6-2, 6-0; Ben Osmon (E) def. Cody Birt (SM) 6-1, 6-2.
Finals
Mason Stahl (Sh) def. Ben Osmon (E) 6-2, 6-1.
Third Place Match
Cody Birt (SM) def. Ezra Bolon (B) 5-7, 6-1, 6-4.
Back Draw
Fifth Place Match
Aiden Bellman (W) def. Ty Verhoff (O-G) 8-5.
Seventh Place Match
Rylan Chapman (Cel) def. Aaron Reichert (VW) 8-4.
Third Singles
Semifinals
Mac Davis (Sh) def. Parker Moell (W) 6-0, 6-1; Dylan Byers (E) def. Mason Welch (O-G) 6-3, 6-1.
Finals
Mac Davis (Sh) def. Dylan Byers (E) 6-2, 6-1.
Third Place Match
Mason Welch (O-G) def. Parker Moell (W) 6-3, 7-5.
Back Draw
Fifth Place Match
Bradey Triplett (SM) def. Isaiah Glass (Cel) 8-3.
Seventh Place Match
Kaedyn Swander (VW) def. Carmine Castanada (Defiance) 8-1.
First Doubles
Semifinals
Salah Mohammed/Seth Grieshop (Sh) def.Theo Maag/Levi Unterbrink (O-G) 6-0, 6-1; James Mitchell/Eben Jackson (E) def. Seth Manns/Mitchell Stephens (Ken) 2-6, 7-6 (8-6), 7-5.
Finals
Salah Mohammed/Seth Grieshop (Sh) def. James Mitchell/Eben Jackson (E) 6-0, 6-2.
Third Place Match
Seth Manns/Mitchell Stephens (Ken) def. Theo Maag/Levi Unterbrink (O-G) 4-6, 6-2, 7-5.
Back Draw
Fifth Place Match
Jaxton Spees/Aiden Jeffries (SM) def. Carter Campbell/Kolton Grear (D) 8-5.
Seventh Place Match
Brayden Kaple/Taylor McCoy (B) def. Caleb Bledsoe/Fletcher Smith (VW) 8-5.
Second Doubles
Semifinals
Shashank Chanamolu/Jackson Carpenter (Sh) def. Camden Hicks/Adam Coffman (Ken) 6-2, 6-4; Leyton Staley/Alex Dunahay (E) def. Will Schroeder/Jaedan Compher (O-G) 7-6 (7-2), 6-2.
Finals
Shashank Chanamolu/Jackson Carpenter (Sh) def. Leyton Staley/Alex Dunahay (E) 6-3, 6-3.
Third Place
Camden Hicks/Adam Coffman (Ken) def. Will Schroeder/Jaedan Compher (O-G) 7-6 (7-5), 6-4.
Back Draw
Fifth Place Match
Reese Triplett/Logan Compton (SM) def. Zack Hanson/Dylan Johnson (D) 9-7.
Seventh Place Match
Brayden Hooker/Gabriele Pepi (W) def. Braydin Vanbuskirk/Declan Callahan (B) 8-4.
Reach Jose Nogueras at 567-242-0468.
