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The Winchester High boys tennis team started the Division 1 state tournament as the eighth seed with a 17-2 regular season record. They went on to win the postseason opener against Lowell (3-2, May 27), the 25th seed, before losing to Concord-Carlisle, the ninth seed, by the exact same close score in the Sweet 16 on June 1.
But the Patriots were then shutout by Lexington, the top seed, in the Elite 8, 5-0 on June 4. But the Minutemen ended falling to Newton North, the fourth seed, in the state semifinals, on June 10, 3-2.
When it was all said and done, it came down to a battle of crosstown rivals, when the Tigers took on Newton South, the sixth seed, for the state title at MIT on June 13. And those Tigers ended up outlasting their neighboring Lions, 3-2.
“We worked really hard to get the eighth seed in the tournament this year,” said Coach Mike Lauretano. “We were missing some key players, and so it was good for the team to pull together to win the first state tournament (matchup).”
In that win against Lowell, second singles sophomore player Henry May came out on top, while the two doubles teams also secured victories that clinched the overall match.
Juniors Umberto Manganaro and Evan Wei teamed up in first doubles to get their win over the Red Raiders. Seniors Kadhir Kumaran and Adhvay Karthikeyan were credited with the triumph in second doubles.
May picked up one of the team’s two wins against the Patriots. Manganaro and Wei won again in first doubles to keep this match close.
Lauretano singled out third singles player Ethan Tan after he took “an extremely tough (Concord-Carlisle) opponent to three sets,” before coming up short in the end.
The coach also praised his graduating seniors – Carl Stredicke, Guhan Shanmugam, Tommy Kowalczuk, Kumaran and Karthikeyan – saying that they will all be missed. Many of them, according to Lauretano, participated in the program all four years.
“They (together) will leave a legacy of hard work and determination for future members of the team,” he added.
Joe McConnell is a longtime, award-winning sports editor for numerous North Shore publications. He began covering Winchester sports for the News in November 2024 and is currently its Sports Editor. He can be reached at editor@winchesternews.org.
