Boys tennis sending four to state this week

The Guthrie boys’ tennis club will be sending four of their own to this week’s state tournament.

Josh Wehrenberg (pictured) will be joined with Barrett Porter at state this week.

The No. 1 doubles team of Barrett Porter and Josh Wehrenberg placed second to punch their ticket and the No. 2 doubles team of Andy Hartley and Seth Vicchio sneaked by with a fourth place finish to land their spot.

This is a big achievement for these players to advance into a state tournament and this could open up various other pathways for them in the tennis community. For some, making it to a professional playing level could be the ultimate goal and seeking out help from the NTRP, they could be matched with other players, as well as coaches who are currently working at a similar ability to them to help them advance through the stages. Getting to the state tournament is just the start for these young athletes.

Overall, the Jays finished fourth in the regional held at Oklahoma City Tennis Center on Monday. Carl Albert and Bishop McGuinness tied for the regional championship.

Porter and Wehrenberg defeated Capitol Hill 6-0, 6-1 in the opening round and in the next round were defeated by McAlester 7-5, 7-5. In the finals they lost to Carl Albert 6-2, 6-2.

For Hartley and Vicchio, they defeated Tulsa East Central in straight sets 6-0, 6-0, but in the next round lost to McGuinness 6-0, 6-1. In the third round, they took down Western Heights in a grueling three set match 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 before losing to McAlester 5-7, 6-4, 6-4 in another three set match in their final match of the day.

No. 1 singles player Dylan Walker placed seventh in the tough field. Walker faced the top seed from McGuinness in the first round and lost 6-0, 6-0. In the second round, he lost to Tulsa East Central 6-2, 6-3, but in the final round Walker rallied to get a win by beating his Western Heights opponent 6-4, 6-2.

Dalton Jones, who played No. 2 singles, placed fifth and medaled. He played Chickasha in the first round and lost 6-2 6-1. In the second round he played Carl Albert and lost 6-0, 6-1 and in the fifth place match he defeated Western Heights 6-0, 6-0.

The state tournament is this Friday and will be at the OKC Tennis Center, Guthrie’s first round begins at 11:45 and the second round is at 5:30.