These McDowell, Cathedral Prep tennis players seek to repeat as D-10 boys singles titlists
McDowell tennis player Aaron Heinlein seeks an abbreviated career sweep of boys singles titles when District 10’s postseason play begins this weekend.
The early rounds take place Saturday at Westwood Racquet Club, where all action is scheduled through May 12. Class 3A matches will start at noon and those in Class 2A at 1 p.m.
Saturday’s semifinalists will return to the club Monday for the 3 p.m. finals. Each winner will advance to the PIAA championships over Memorial Day weekend at Hershey Racquet Club.
Boys tennis standings, results: 2023 District 10 boys tennis standings
Hershey also is the destination for the champions of the May 10 district doubles tournament and May 12 team tournament.
Heinlein bids for a third straight 3A singles gold medal. The PIAA boys tennis season for 2020, when Heinlein was a freshman, was canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The canceled campaign denies the senior the chance to graduate as a rare four-time winner.
Cathedral Prep’s Jonah Ng, who won last season’s district 2A singles tournament as a freshman, is expected to defend come Saturday.
Ng advanced to the 2022 state semifinals, where he lost to eventual champ Nicolas Scheller of North Catholic, and finished fourth overall.
That result, combined with Ng’s results this spring, has left him a viable threat to become the district’s first PIAA singles gold medalist since Fairview’s Donald Johnson won its former open division in 1984.
Johnson, who also was the state’s 1986 open singles titlist as a Mt. Lebanon student, was a Wimbledon mixed doubles winner in 2000 and a men’s doubles victor in 2001.
Spring scoreboard: District 10 baseball, softball, track, boys tennis, more results for May 1-6
District 10 doubles tournament
Should Heinlein win Monday’s 3A singles final, new McDowell coach Andy Heinlein is likely to pair Eric Cui and Sahil Jain for Wednesday’s large-school doubles tournament. The seniors would seek consecutive titles should that happen.
A new tandem is assured to win that day’s 2A doubles bracket. The Fairview Tigers graduated last year’s victors, Aravind Turaga and Nate Kisiel.
Wednesday’s 2A matches will begin at 10:30 a.m., followed by 3A play at noon.
Last season: Fairview, McDowell duos win D-10 boys doubles tournament
District 10 team tournament
Fairview (2A) and McDowell (3A) are the district’s defending titlists for the team competition May 12 at Westwood. The 2A semifinals open the day-long event at 10:30 a.m.
Should Fairview qualify for the 2A semifinals, it would do so with an at-large berth. Prep has already clinched first place in the district’s Region 2 standings, as has Warren in Region 1.
McDowell and Erie High, Region 2’s top two 3A teams, are likely to meet in that final. The winner between the Trojans and Royals are scheduled to remain at Westwood and face the top team out of District 8, the Pittsburgh City League, in a PIAA subregion dual at 1:30 p.m.
Contact Mike Copper at mcopper@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNcopper.
This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: McDowell, Cathedral Prep players aim to defend in D-10 boys tennis
