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06/05/2017 12:00 AMWestbrook boys’ tennis had an amazing year that saw the team net a record of 20-0, after which the Knights put together an excellent performance in the postseason. Westbrook completed its campaign by finishing tied for third place at the Class S State Championship, with the tandem of senior captain Gus Marx and senior David Amendola winning the doubles tournament on their way to All-State honors.
Marx and Amendola, who were Westbrook’s top two singles players during the regular season, joined forces as the No. 1 seed in the Class S doubles bracket and sealed the title with a 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 victory against the 2nd-seeded team of East Catholic’s Troy Romano and Ben Adams at Conard High School on June 1.
“Going into states, we were pretty confident that we had a chance to win it all,” said Amendola. “We set a big goal for ourselves, and it feels great that we accomplished it.”
Marx and Amendola had a bye through the first round and defeated Cromwell’s Carter Newman and Nate Sousa, 6-0, 6-1, in the second round. In the third round, they claimed a 6-0, 6-2 victory over East Catholic’s Victor Alessi and Robert Costello to advance to the quarterfinals, where they faced the 8th-seeded team of Matthew Heller and Andrew Main of Granby Memorial. Marx and Amendola dropped the first set and faced an early challenge that reminded them how to play better as a unit.
“Freshman year, we played No. 2 doubles together. We thought it would be cool to try that again at states. It’s certainly a very different game,” said Marx. “When we played Granby, it was a wakeup call for us, because we were still playing individually, and we lost the first set. Once we realized we had to communicate and play off each other and play to benefit each other, that was how we were able to make it all the way and win.”
After losing the first set 1-6, Marx and Amendola won the next two by scores of 6-3, 6-2 to move on to the semifinals and a matchup with the No. 13 seed team of Brady Sheffield and Conner Wyman from Old Lyme, whom they defeated 6-0, 6-1. In the final, Westbrook’s duo squared off against last year’s doubles champion Romano and his new partner Adams. Both teams played a hard first set, with Marx and Amendola winning 7-6 (7-5). After that, they dominated the second set to the tune of a 6-1 victory.
Westbrook’s Head Coach Dan Shapiro saw Amendola and Marx outplay a strong East Catholic team, and he shared in their excitement when they walked off the court as Class S state doubles champions.
“Dave and Gus were able to frustrate them a little bit and use their power to pull away in the second set,” Shapiro said. “Their victory and the way they won together was one of the two or three most happy moments I’ve had as a coach ever.”
On June 3, Marx and Amendola finished their season by competing at the State Open Tournament, where they took a 6-1, 6-0 loss against Westhill’s team of Tyler Pomerance and Jordan Soifer.
In addition to Amendola and Marx, Westbrook sent its No. 1 doubles team of seniors Phil Hartzell and Austin Herzy to the Class S Championship, along with the duo of seniors Dylan Martinson and Jason Raunikar. Martinson and Raunikar won 6-0, 6-0 in the first round against Jonathan Garcia and Pramis Subedi of Windsor Locks. In the second round, they took a 6-1, 6-2 loss to Romano and Adams. Hartzell and Herzy were the No. 11 seed and had a bye through the first round. In the second round, they defeated Wamago’s Daniel DiMaria and Ben Frisbie, 6-1, 6-3. Then in the third round, Hartzell and Herzy took their only loss of the season by dropping a 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 contest against the 6th-seeded team of Adam Czarnecki and Jefferey Zhang from Old Lyme.
As for the singles bracket, sophomore Nate Comment represented the Knights and won 6-1, 6-1 against Liam Connolly of Canton for his opening match. He later he lost 6-3, 6-1 against 4th-seeded Ignasi Salles-Goula of Shepaug Valley.
Prior to the Class S State Championship, Westbrook competed at the Shoreline Conference Tournament, where Comment won the 3-5 singles bracket, while Hartzell and Herzy emerged victorious from the doubles tournament. Marx, Comment, Hartzell, and Herzy were all named to the All-Shoreline Conference First Team. Amendola, Martinson, and Raunikar received Second Team honors.
“Phil and Austin were the dominant doubles team in the conference all year,” said Coach Shapiro. “They turned an undefeated regular season into a Shoreline doubles championship with their hard work, their willingness to hustle after every ball, and their friendship. Super happy for them.”
Comment’s victory in the Shoreline final came on the heels of a semifinal win over Matt Newfield of Morgan that lasted nearly two and a half hours. Just one hour later, Comment scored a tough win against Old Saybrook’s Bailey Noack for the title.
“Nate played a terrific match,” said Coach Shapiro. “He’s a student of the game and followed our game-plan perfectly. I couldn’t be more proud of his effort and willingness to learn and improve.”
Taking in the season as a whole, Shapiro couldn’t feel more proud about how his team performed.
“Pretty much everything I could ever have hoped for: an undefeated regular season, a very strong Shoreline Tournament, and a state doubles championship,” he said. “This team was very close, was talented, worked hard, was willing to accept constructive criticism, and was super fun. That’s a really good combination.”
While Coach Shapiro is quick to credit his players for their hard work and dedication, Westbrook’s athletes believe that their coach was just as integral to their success.
“He brought a new level of intensity to our team. It was super helpful,” Marx said. “When we were sophomores, we graduated a lot of seniors. A lot of us were worried we weren’t going to have enough players for a team, and coach was able to get guys to come out for the team. A lot of the reason we were successful was because of him.”
Having had a chance to process everything following a long tennis season that began the day after an even longer basketball season, Amendola said that he’s happy to have been part of something special at Westbrook.
“Since it all ended, I kind of don’t know what to do with myself,” said Amendola. “Now, since it’s been over a couple of days, I get to look back at all the accomplishments and take it in. It’s the last team that I’ll play for in my high school career, and I think we ended it right. It was a great run.”