FHS comes close, but St. Francis wins TRAC tennis crown

TOLEDO – So very very close … And yet so very, very far away. Alone in first place in the Three Rivers Athletic Conference boys tennis standings with one regular-season league match remaining, Findlay was sitting in excellent position as the 2023 season wound down. Toledo St. Francis upset the Trojans in that final TRAC match, however, then was upended itself by Toledo St. John's. St. Francis, St. John's and Findlay all headed into the TRAC tournament with 12 points earned by identical 6-1 regular-season league records. St. Francis would make it a memorable season though, by winning two head-to-head doubles finals with the Trojans on Saturday. Findlay lost two singles finals as well – both to players from Toledo St. John's. When the smoke had cleared from Saturday's tournament, St. Francis had accumulated 26 points from its regular season record and TRAC tournament placings. St. John's ended up with 24 points and Findlay with 22. Had Findlay won any one of the four finals matches the Trojans appeared in, the top three teams all would have had 24 points and the 2023 title would have been split three ways. Toledo Central Catholic (16), Fremont Ross (12), Toledo Whitmer (8), Oregon Clay (4) and Lima Senior (0) completed the final standings for the 2023 season. It was the first boys tennis title for St. Francis. Either Findlay (2019, 2022) or St. John's (2012-2018, 2021) had won the other 10. It was also the last TRAC boys tennis tournament. The league will be disbanding at the end of this school year, with Findlay, Toledo Whitmer, Oregon Clay and Fremont Ross re-aligning into the Northern Lakes League. Toledo Central Catholic, all-boys schools St. John's and St. Francis and all-girls schools St. Ursula and Notre Dame will be joining the Detroit Catholic League; Lima Senior has been accepted into the Toledo City League. Findlay's doubles teams both beat St. John's players in the semifinals, but fell to St. Francis in the championship matches. At No. 1 doubles, Findlay's Aaron Miller and Luke Williams opened with a 6-1, 6-3 win over Zach Bishop and Bakari Scott of Fremont Ross, then beat Miles Green and Adam Darwich of St. John's 7-5, 6-2. St. Francis got its first pivotal finals victory when Aaron Levine and Owen Little topped Miller and Williams 7-6 (2), 6-4. Mason Greenawalt and Ben Mayle opened play at No. 2 doubles with a 6-1, 6-0 decision over Oregon Clay's Nick Nonekowski and Xavier Lockart, then earned Findlay another key second-round victory when they outlasted St. John's Garrett Ody and JB Minnear 6-4, 2-6, 7-6 (5) in a marathon three-set match. St. Francis would defeat Findlay win that final, too, with Quinn Bernath and Lucas Toma winning 6-1, 7-5. Losses to St. John's in two of the three singles finals also hurt Findlay's chances of defending its league title. Following first- and second-round wins over Lima Senior's Alex Bennett (6-0, 6-0) and Toledo Central Catholic's Noah Rife, Arda Dastan dropped a 6-0, 6-0 decision to St. John's Jack Oswald in the No. 2 singles final. At No. 3 singles, Sam Swisher fell 6-2, 6-0 to St. John's Nathan Tam in the final after posting earlier wins over Lima Senior's James Sturgeon (6-0, 6-0) and Central Catholic's Tyler Hegedus (6-1, 6-1). Findlay's Austin Asada finished third at No. 3 singles. Asada opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Whitmer's Luke Jurrus, then dropped a 6-4, 6-2 match to Nick Miller of St. Francis, who would go on to win the championship at No. 1 singles. Asada followed his loss to Miller by doubling up Fremont's Cole Kinsey 6-1, 6-1 in the consolation final. Findlay will host Sylvania Southview today in the first round of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association team tournament, and will host Division I sectional tournament play Thursday and Saturday at the FHS Courts.