The Trenton High School boys tennis team competed in the individual portion of the Class 1, District 16 Tournament in Cameron on Thursday. Following the tournament, Trenton still had a doubles team playing as Isaiah Swann and Alex Davis combined to finish second in the doubles bracket, advancing to sectionals in the process.
Swann and Davis began the day with a bye and saw their first action in the quarterfinals of the doubles bracket. The Trenton duo dropped the opening set to their Maryville opponents, 6-4, but battled back to win the second set 6-4 and then scored a decisive 7-6 win in the final set to advance.
In the semifinals, Swann and Davis battled a Cameron team in another three-set match. This time Davis and Swann took the opener 6-4 before falling 6-4 in the second set. In another tiebreaker finish, Swann and Davis advanced with a 7-6 third-set victory.
In the championship match of the doubles bracket, Swann and Davis again found themselves going three sets. The team won the opening frame 6-4, but fell 7-5 in the second. In the third set, Swann and Davis’ ninth set of the day, the Trenton duo came up just short, falling 7-6 to Chillicothe’s Garrett Peterson and Nate McKiddy in another decisive tiebreaker. The loss was their first of the day and left the Bulldog tandem with a second-place finish at districts. As a result, the team moves to sectionals next week in Cameron, where they will face the district 15 doubles champions. The Chillicothe duo that topped Trenton in the championship will face the District 15 runners-up. The winners of the make-shift semifinals will face off in the sectional championship with both teams in the championship advancing to the state individual tournament.
The Bulldogs had one other doubles team and two individuals in action at the tournament as well. Wilson Utley and Chanse Houghton were in the doubles bracket as well, but were eliminated in the quarterfinals after a first-round bye. Utley and Houghton fell 6-2, 6-1 to the Chillicothe squad that eventually won the doubles tournament. Singles action saw Leighton Fletchall and Jacob Marlay in action. Marlay was eliminated with a 7-6, 6-3 loss in the first round and Fletchall fell 6-2, 6-1 in the quarterfinals after a first-round bye.