Columbus North celebrates its 4-1 semistate win against Cathedral Saturday at Center Grove.
Zayne Spangler | For The Republic
GREENWOOD — Fifth-ranked Columbus North is headed back to the Boys Tennis State Tournament.
The Bull Dogs knocked off No. 20 Cathedral 4-1 Saturday to advance to next weekend’s elite eight. North will play South Bend St. Joseph in the quarterfinals on Friday at North Central. The semifinals and final are Oct. 19, also at North Central.
“Very proud of these guys and team,” North coach Kendal Hammel said. “Looking forward to next week’s state rounds.”
Parth Shah had the easiest time for the Bull Dogs (19-1) on Saturday, beating Chris Wojalic 6-0, 6-1. Hank Lin topped Charlie Coleman 6-3, 6-2 at No. 1 singles.
North’s Yoki Murabayashi and Vince Sasse pulled out a 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 win against Zach Hanchar and Ryan Wernke at No. 1 doubles. Sashu Sabapathy and Michael Crossman defeated Coner Berce and Tanner Wernke 6-0, 6-2 at No. 2 doubles.
“The whole team played well today,” Hammel said. “I felt like everyone was focused on the plan and what our results could be. We were pushed in some spots and raised our level of play. A coupld of spots, we won fairly easy. It went like we thought it might.”
Teddy Littrell won his first set against James Langfeldt at No. 3 singles 6-4 and dropped the second set 4-6 before retiring because of injury.
“Unfortunately, Teddy got hurt, but we had won the match by then,” Hammel said. “Hope he can be ready next weekend.”
