Familiar teams on top
- Updated: March 6, 2020
Defending champions Oxford boys, Donoho girls take first-day lead in Red Wilder Invitational
By Jay Walker
Special to East Alabama Sports Today
OXFORD – Defending champions Oxford boys and Donoho girls continued where they left off from last year, taking commanding leads after doubles play in the Red Wilder Invitational Tournament Friday night.
The tennis tournament is essentially played for unofficial Calhoun County bragging rights, as all the county schools that field tennis teams participate.
The girls from Donoho are one of the top Class 1A-3A teams in the state, and it showed. The Falcons only dropped two total games out of seven matches played (eight-game pro-sets each round) to earn 27 points.
Oxford’s girls reached all three finals to earn 18 points, while Jacksonville won an opening round for three points.
Winning this year’s Red Wilder Invitational had to be gratifying for Emma Wiedmer and Virginia Hutto, the only seniors on the Falcons’ squad. The duo was not able to participate last year due to obligations to Donoho’s Intersession program. They made up for it by cruising to the top doubles title without dropping a game.
Oxford’s boys won the No. 2 and 3 doubles to take the first day’s lead on their side of the tournament. However, Donoho’s Cooper Montgomery and Jack Ballard are this year’s county champions, defeating Oxford’s Josh Whaley and Cade Hilbun 8-5 in the finals.
Jacksonville is missing from this year’s boys competition since the Golden Eagles did not have enough participants to field a team.
Singles play will be held Saturday beginning at 8:30 a.m. Each doubles victory earns three points, while each singles victory earns two.
Here are the complete results after doubles play:
Boys Team Scores:Oxford 15, Donoho 9, Faith Christian 3, Pleasant Valley 0.
No. 1 Doubles: Cooper Montgomery/Jack Ballard (D) d. Josh Goode/Brodie Yarbrough (F), 8-1; Josh Whaley/Cade Hilbun (O) d. Trent Findley/Dalton Estes (P), 8-1; Finals – Montgomery/Ballard (D) d. Whaley/Hilbun (O), 8-5.
No. 2 Doubles: Eli Mitchell/Gavin Randall (F) d. Joseph Johnson/Allen Johnston (P), 8-2; Blake Ramsey/Kye McEwen (O) d. Sam Ballard/Zach Cater (D), 8-2; Finals – Ramsey/McEwen (O) d. Mitchell/Randall (F), 9-7.
No. 3 Doubles: Anthony Pratt/Logan Swope (O) d. Cole Proper/Tristan Angles (P), 8-4; Cainan Stacks/Garrett Ortho (D) d. Cameron Calloway/Joshua Muse (F), 8-6; Finals – Pratt/Swope (O) d. Stacks/Orth (D), 8-4.
Girls Team Scores:Donoho 27, Oxford 18, Jacksonville 3, Faith Christian 0, Pleasant Valley 0.
No. 1 Doubles: Abby Reimer/Abigail Pratt (O) d. Meagan Ford/Kassidy Nix (F), 8-4; Reimer/Pratt (O) d. Andreca Trifas/Tyler Reyes (J), 8-0; Emma Wiedmer/Virginia Hutto (D) d. Maci Meadows/Rileigh Kirsch, 8-0; Finals – Wiedmer/Hutton (D) d. Reimer/Pratt (O), 8-0.
No. 2 Doubles: Claire Hillman/Lily Grace Draper (D) d. Kelsey Brown/Anna Kate Robertson (F), 8-0; Hillman/Draper (D) d. Bailey Schultz/Madi Hayes (P), 8-0; Kaelyn Albright/Caroline Rogers (O) d. Anna Duke/Winnie Lu (J), 8-2; Finals – Hillman/Draper (D) d. Albright/Rogers (O), 8-0.
No. 3 Doubles: Mikaela Watkins/Miniya-Grace Van (J) d. Anna Strautman/Serenity Pate (F), 9-8 (7-5); Jasmine Brown/Channing Gallahar (O) d. Watkins/Van (J), 8-0; Claire Walker/Mary Marshall Perry (D) d. McKenzley Hulsey/Katie Munroe (P), 8-0; Finals – Walker/Perry (D) d. Brown/Gallahar (O), 8-2.
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