This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.
06/02/2013 12:00 AMAfter two straight seasons as a bridesmaid at the Class L State Tournament, the Hand boys’ tennis squad got to at least share the spotlight as a bride this time around.
Following second place finishes in 2011 and 2012, Hand earned a share of the 2013 Class L State Championship with Fairfield Warde on June 1 at Amity with both squads earning 22 team points when the dust finally settled. The Tigers did not have any representation on the final day of play, yet clinched the co-title when the Mustangs’ Ted Berkowitz lost the singles final in straight sets.
“After coming in second the last two years, it was nice to get over that hump,” said Rubinstein, who also earned All-State honors. “I got by the first few rounds pretty easily [only surrendering one game point in three matches], but in the quarterfinals, my match got us ahead on points. It was a near four-hour match, and I lost the first set [nearly 90 minutes]. I started cramping in the heat and took an injury timeout. But I came back and hit some aces, forced some errors, so that was huge. It was a great tournament for me overall.”
The Tigers were led to the share of the crown in the singles bracket by junior co-captain Scott Rubinstein. As the No. 2 seed in the draw, Rubinstein recorded four victories on the way to a semifinal berth before a loss to Berkowitz (3-6,7-5,2-6) in a three-set marathon.
“I am so excited for this,” said Coach Dawn Fagerquist, whose Tigers also shared the runner-up spot with the Mustangs in 2012. “It’s nice to win this and show the guys that hard work does pay off. We have worked so hard with so many practices all season. All the work seemed to come together for this. I had a vision from beginning of the season that we were going to work and practice hard and that I wanted SCCs. But to also win states shows we have a deep team that works so hard.”
Rubinstein began his final four run by first making quick work of Fitch’s Jesse Moroyoqui (6-0, 6-0) before another 6-0, 6-0 shutout of Chris Gerarde in the second round. The two-set triumphs continued in the third round when he bested Farmington’s Kyle Dopp (6-1, 6-0). Rubinstein’s biggest test in a winning effort came with his quarterfinal duel against Tommy Worcester of New Canaan. Rubinstein lost the first set 6-7 on a 5-7 tiebreak prior to rallying in the next two 6-2, 6-3.
“Scott is a different type of player; he is much disciplined and always has a game plan in his mind,” said Fagerquist on Rubinstein. “I had to help him with his cramps, but he turned it around. He knows how to pace himself. He just thinks and makes his job simpler.”
Elsewhere in the singles bracket, Rieger was seeded No. 8 and advanced into the third round prior to his defeat to Wethersfield’s Jake Zapatka (2-6, 2-6); while No. 12-seeded junior David Schultz also earned a third-round spot before a loss to Eyad Nagori of Fairfield Warde (1-6, 6-1,4-6). Sophomore Andrew Goldfeder saw the second round prior to his 6-0, 6-0 loss to Berkowitz.
Rieger earned a first round victory over Kryshan Appalaraju of Pomperaug (6-0, 6-0) prior to a second round sweep of Fairfield Warde’s Kevin Mercado (6-1, 6-3), while Schultz took down E.O. Smith representative Jacob Hall (6-1, 6-0) in his opener and Kanji Hosokawa of Norwalk in a two-set second round win (6-4, 6-2). Finally, Goldfeder’s first round triumph came after besting Fitch’s Srini Srirangam (6-1, 6-0).
On the doubles side, the Tigers had a pair of quarterfinalists with the tandems of No.7-ranked junior Louis Rogers and sophomore Collen Nelson plus No. 11 seed freshman Andrew Pace and senior Cameron Thomson. Rogers and Nelson fell to No. 2-seeded Dan Adajian and Mason Jennings of Fairfield Ludlowe (4-6, 0-6), while Pace and Thomson battled through three sets with Kanav Kumar and Devon Pulton (6-3,2-6,3-6) of Fairfield Warde.
In the first round, Nelson and Rogers took care of Will Baldwin and Matt Pastor of Fitch (6-2, 6-0) before another win over Conard’s Ericsson Bissell and Joseph Howard in a 6-1, 6-1 second round victory. The main test would come in the third round when the duo advanced over Fairfield Warde’s duo of Jack Mappa and Conor McGuiness after a 7-6 (7-2),6-1 decision.
Pace and Thomson saw first round victory in the form of a 6-1, 6-0 win over Fitch’s Hunter Gillen and Peter Houser prior to the tandem’s second round win against Charles Denegar and Ethan Fulton of E.O. Smith (6-1, 6-0). The two would lose a second set to Darien’s Dominic Hansford and Nicholas Howe in the third round, but in the end earned a 6-2, 3-6, 6-4 victory.
“It’s a great way to end my time at Hand,” said Thomson, who also took home SCC Most Outstanding Player honors the week prior. “I never expected to win Most Outstanding Player, and we just came off the SCC win, so to get to the quarterfinals and win a share of the state title is so cool. I had so much fun playing with Andrew; he plays so consistently. We had a bunch of three-set matches and it’s never easy in the heat. A lot of the time we discussed about what side each of us wanted to play based on where the heat and wind were. But it’s just a great way to end senior year.”