Cougars finish fourth at loaded 5A State Tournament

Jeff Cali, The Ada News, Okla.
·4 min read

May 16—OKLAHOMA CITY — On a day filled with a little controversy and a lot of good tennis, the Ada High School boys team finished fourth at the Class 5A State Tournament Saturday at Oklahoma City.

The Cougars were the lone team in the Top 5 that was not a private school. Ada finished with a public-school-best 21 team points.

Heritage Hall won the 5A State championship with 32 points, followed by Cascia Hall at 25 and Holland Hall right behind in third place with 24 points. Bishop McGuinness was fifth with 15 points and Carl Albert followed with 14 points.

It was Heritage Hall's 23rd state championship. The Cougars were searching for their 15th state crown.

"The boys had an incredible season, and every single one of them showed up and competed at an extremely difficult state tournament," Ada head coach Terry Swopes told The Ada News. "Every player medaled and made the podium at the state tournament, including a state runner-up at No. 2 Doubles. This year, competing against the teams we faced, that was not an easy task."

Ada's No. 2 Doubles team consists of Anthony Towers and Drew Lillard. They squared off against the Heritage Hall combo of McLoud Buergler and Charlie Zeiders in the finals in a battle of unbeaten teams. The Chargers came away with a hard-fought 7-5, 6-3 victory. Towers and Lillard finished the spring with a 12-1 overall record.

In No. 1 Doubles, the Ada team of Jackson Swopes and Tate Danielson met the Bishop McGuinness combo of Carl Amaya and Matthew Dell'Osso in a rematch of a Class 5A Regional Tournament championship battle from earlier in the week at the Ada Tennis Center. Swopes and Danielson won that match 6-4, 7-6 but the Fightin' Irish turned the tables on the Ada pair on Saturday. Dell'Osso and Amaya defeated Swopes and Danielson 6-3, 6-1 for third place.

Danielson and Swopes ended the spring with a 25-5 overall record.

The best match of the night might have been in the No. 2 Singles third-place battle between Ada junior Brady Bacon and Landon Nickell of Casica Hall. Nickell finally survived the marathon matchup 7-5, 4-6, 7-5. However, the match didn't go smoothly throughout.

"It was a thriller, but we had a little bit of an issue with an official," Swopes said without elaborating.

Bacon ended the year with a 16-3 record.

And in No. 1 Singles, junior Halston Redwine won three straight matches after dropping a 6-3, 6-4 decision to Owen Fellrath of Heritage Hall in the quarterfinals. Redwine defeated Keegan McLaughlin 6-3, 6-2 to capture fifth place.

Redwine ended up 29-5 this spring despite playing against the state's top players in the No. 1 Singles division.

The Cougars finished with a combined overall mark of 82-14.

"They won 85% of their matches on the season. They all worked incredibly hard and, more importantly, were amazing young men off the court," Swopes said. "I am extremely proud of all of them and can't wait to get back to work this summer."

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BOYS

Class 5A State

May 12-13

At OKC Tennis Center

Team Standings

1. Heritage Hall 2

2. Cascia Hall 25

3. Holland Hall 24

4. ADA 21

5. Bishop McGuinness 15

6. Carl Albert 14

7. Claremore 6

8. Durant 5

9. Duncan 4

10. Ardmore 1

tie McAlester 1

Did not score: Altus, Grove, Guthrie, Lawton Ike, Lawton Mac, Piedmont, Pryor, Shawnee, Southeast, Tahlequah and Tulsa Edison.

Ada Individual Results

No. 1 Singles

Halston Redwine (Ada) def. Dylan Wickerson (Durant) 6-0, 6-1, First Round

Owen Fellrath (Heritage Hall) def. Halston Redwin (Ada) 6-3, 6-4, Quarterfinals

Halston Redwine (Ada) def. Zale Coleman (Guthrie) 6-1, 6-2, Consolation Quarterfinals

Halston Redwine (Ada) def. Rhylan Ridell (McAlester) 6-0, 6-2, Consolation Semifinals

Halston Redwine (Ada) def. Keegan McLaughlin (Carl Albert) 6-3,6-2, 5th Place

Landon Nickell (Cascia Hall) def. Brady Bacon (Ada) 7-5,4-6,7-5, 3rd Place

No. 2 Singles

Brady Bacon (Ada) def Noah Berrett (Tahlequah) 6-0, 6-0, First Round

Brady Bacon (Ada) def. Tyler Shaw (Carl Albert) 6-3, 4-6, 6-3, Quarterfinals

Larson Vanhorn (Heritage Hall) def. Brady Bacon (Ada), Semifinals.

Landon Nickell (Cascia Hall) def. Brady Bacon (Ada) 7-5,4-6,7-5, 3rd Place

No. 1 Doubles

Tate Danielson/Jackson Swopes (Ada) def. Jacob Morales/Gabe Olsen (Ardmore) 6-0, 6-1, First Round

Tate Danielson/Jackson Swopes (Ada) def. Luke Fouquette/Ben Sutterfield (Carl Albert) 6-1, 6-4, Quarterfinals

Aaronson/Mahan (Holland Hall) def. Tate Danielson/Jackson Swopes (Ada), Semifinals

Carl Amaya/Matthew Dell'Osso (Bishop McGuinness) def. Tate Danielson/Jackson Swopes (Ada) 6-3,6-1, 3rd Place

No. 2 Doubles

Anthony Towers/Drew Lillard (Ada) def. Nathan Aller/Eddie Martin (Piedmont) 6-2, 6-4, First Round

Anthony Towers/Drew Lillard (Ada) def. Conner Nunez/Caleb Strickland (Altus) 6-0, 6-0, Quarterfinals

Anthony Towers/Drew Lillard (Ada) def. Herny/Stallings (Cascia Hall) 6-4, 6-1, Semifinals

McLoud Buergler/Charlie Zeiders (Heritage Hall) def. Drew Lillard/Anthony Towers (Ada) 7-5,6-3, 1st Place