Goffstown boys tennis team wins 34th straight match, second straight Div. II title; Bedford repeats in Div. I

HUDSON — Before doubles play began, the Goffstown High School boys tennis team had won its second straight NHIAA Division II title and 34th straight match.

The Grizzlies completed their 16-0 season by earning a 6-3 victory over second-seeded Hollis-Brookline — the same score as last year’s final between the programs.

Goffstown senior co-captain Tyler Dionne and teammates Liam O’Brien, Peyton Campbell, Cole Osburn and Skyler Lyman all won their singles matches to clinch the championship for Goffstown on Thursday at Alvirne High School.

Dionne, the Grizzlies’ No. 1 singles player, said the Grizzlies had more depth this spring than they did when they won it all last year.

“Our singles lineup this year is a lot more consistent throughout the lineup than last year,” Dionne said. “Singles last year was a lot of the same players winning. This year I was even more confident in winning than last year because we had six guys who I knew could win their match each match.”

Dionne had the closest singles victory among the Grizzlies, defeating Hollis-Brookline senior Arjun Inakollu 8-6.

A three-sport athlete at Goffstown, Dionne got out to an early 3-0 lead before Inakollu won the next six games.

Trailing 6-3, Dionne won the final five games by disrupting Inakollu’s rhythm, pinning his opponent deep and occasionally taking pace off the ball.

Dionne is admittedly more of an athlete than a tennis player while Inakollu is a dedicated tennis player, which Dionne felt played to his advantage. Dionne began playing competitive tennis when he joined Goffstown as a freshman.

“That’s definitely one of my strengths is just being athletic, having endurance and taking advantage of the tennis-player mentality of needing rhythm and stuff,” said Dionne, who defeated Inakollu 8-3 and 8-6 over Goffstown’s two regular-season wins against the Cavaliers.

O’Brien and Osburn, both seniors, won their matches by 8-0 scores.

Grizzlies coach Gary Walsh considers Campbell, a freshman, and Lyman, a junior, to be the team’s most improved players over the course of the season. They learned to keep balls in play, became more consistent and didn’t focus on always hitting winners, Walsh said.

Hollis-Brookline’s lone singles triumph came from No. 2 player John Torpey, who defeated Goffstown senior co-captain Coen Soucy 8-6 in an hour-plus match.

With the title decided, both teams changed their doubles pairings to give other players experience.

The Cavaliers won 14 matches and all three of their losses came against Goffstown.

“They just came out top to the bottom of the lineup today and outplayed our players,” Cavaliers coach Celestino Sepulveda said of the Grizzlies. “We thought we had a chance just based on previous matchups, but they just came out and were the better team.”

The Grizzlies’ playoff run also included a 5-0 quarterfinal triumph over ninth-seeded Oyster River and 6-3 semifinal win over fourth-seeded Portsmouth.

Goffstown’s only other state championship in boys tennis besides these past two came in 1992.

“I did not expect to even win one title when I was a freshman,” Dionne said. “It’s been awesome and I wouldn’t take it back for anything.”

Division I: Bedford 6, Hanover 3

In the fifth straight Division I final between Bedford and Hanover, the Bulldogs swept in doubles to repeat as champion on Thursday at Southern New Hampshire University.

Bedford has won three of the past five championship meetings with Hanover.

In the closest match of the final, the Bulldogs’ No. 3 doubles team of Braden Skilton and Samarth Bhat earned an 8-6 triumph over Hanover’s Nate Holt and Wolfgang Wu.

Bedford’s No. 1 doubles team of John Prachar and Zac Engracia won 8-4 over the Bears’ Quinn O’Regan and Ben Pearson. Benjamin Lu and Nehemiah Chao, Bedford’s No. 2 doubles team, had the most convincing win, posting an 8-2 triumph over Hanover’s Ben Hannon and Sammy Bisnsbengel.

ahall@unionleader.com

NHIAA Division II boys tennis final

At Alvirne High School, Thursday

Goffstown 6, Hollis-Brookline 3

Singles: Tyler Dionne (G) def. Arjun Inakollu, 8-6; John Torpey (HB) def. Coen Soucy, 8-6; Liam O’Brien (G) def. Samuel Anthony, 8-0; Peyton Campbell (G) def. Samuel Pistor, 8-2; Cole Osburn (G) def. Greyson McSeveney, 8-0; Skyler Lyman (G) def. Eli Mazzola, 8-4.

Doubles: Campbell/Lyman (G) def. Inakollu/Anthony, 8-4; Torpey/Pistor (HB) def. Troy Napierkowski/Avery Berwick, 8-0; Dylan Legrow/Aidan Curley (HB) def. Nathan Mailloux/Brendon Neal, 8-3.

NHIAA Division I boys tennis final

At SNHU, Thursday

Bedford 6, Hanover 3

Singles: John Prachar (B) def. Quinn O’Regan, 8-5; Ben Pearson (H) def. Benjamin Lu, 8-5; Zac Engracia (B) def. Ben Hannon, 8-0; Nate Holt (H) def. Colin Fitzgerald, 8-3; Sammy Bisnsbengel (H) def. Nehemiah Chao, 8-2; Braden Skilton (B) def. Wolfgang Wu, 8-1.

Doubles: Prachar/Engracia (B) def. O’Regan/Pearson, 8-4; Lu/Chao (B) def. Hannon/Bisnsbengel, 8-2; Skilton/Samarth Bhat (B) def. Holt/Wu, 8-6.