Waynflete’s boys’ tennis team shows off yet another championship trophy following Saturday’s 5-0 win over Mattanawcook in the Class C state final.

Waynflete’s Nick Wagg returns a shot during his victory at third singles during Saturday’s state match.

Waynflete’s boys’ tennis team has won yet another Class C state title.

It’s 11th in a row.

And this one was captured in perfect fashion.

The Flyers won all 12 of their regular season matches, eight by 5-0 scores, with only one close call, a 3-2 victory over visiting Freeport, the eventual Class B South champion, May 1.

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As the top seed in Class C South, Waynflete blanked No. 8 Lisbon (5-0) in the quarterfinals and No. 5 Madison (5-0) in the semifinals.

Last Thursday, at Bates College in Lewiston, the Flyers prevailed again, 5-0, over No. 2 Hall-Dale, as Thorne Kieffer won his first singles match, 6-0, 6-0, Jacob Greene prevailed, 6-0, 6-0, at second singles and Nick Wagg won, 6-1, 6-0, at third singles. Aidan Kieffer and Ben Adey won first doubles, 6-0, 6-1, and Shuhao Liu and Cooper Sherman won their second doubles match, 6-0, 6-1.

Saturday, for the first time since 2009, Waynflete met someone other than George Stevens Academy in the state match, as the Flyers took on Mattanawcook, and they prevailed again by a 5-0 score to make it 11 titles in a row.

Thorne Kieffer won again by a 6-0, 6-0 score at first singles, beating John Farrington.

Greene handled Alex Brown by a 6-1, 6-1 margin.

“I personally didn’t feel too much pressure,” Greene said. “But we definitely wanted to keep the tradition going.”

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Wagg beat Griffin Coburn, 6-2, 6-3.

At first doubles, Aidan Kieffer and Adey downed Keegan Dill and Branden Oliver, 6-0, 6-0, and Liu and Chris Register took care of Kristofer Milner and Tyler Arnold, 6-1, 6-2, at second doubles.

“They’re all fun,” said Waynflete coach Jeff Madore.. “Really great group this year. I’m just proud of how well they’ve stuck together and worked hard and trusted each other.”

Green, Lieu and Wagg graduate, but the Flyers will return plenty of firepower as they go for championship number 12 this time next year.

Bulldogs fall in regional finals

Both Portland teams got to the regional finals last Thursday before losing to eventual Class A champion Falmouth.

The Bulldogs boys, seeded second in Class A South, lost, 5-0, to the Yachtsmen in their first regional final since 1995 to finish 13-2.

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Quinn Clarke lost, 0-6, 1-6, to Nick Forester at first singles, Dana Hinchliffe fell, 1-6, 2-6, to Alex Klemperer at second singles, John Kovarik lost, 1-6, 1-6, to Matthew Ray at third singles, Sam Mermin and Ian McCallum fell, 0-6, 3-6, to Matt Adamowicz and Calvin Spencer at first doubles and at second doubles, Nicola Sacco and John Moran lost, 3-6, 6-3, 0-1 (10) to Jacob Leavitt and Nick Shapiro.

“It was a good run,” said Portland coach James Siegel. “For a team that has no year-round players, I think we did quite well.”

The Portland girls won just six of 12 regular season matches, but caught fire and won three postseason matches before losing, 4-1, to Falmouth, becoming the Yachtsmen’s 172nd straight victim, as their season ended at 9-7.

Lauren Paradise won her first singles match, 7-6 (3), 6-2, over Meredith Kelley, but Karina Booth lost, 6-4, 3-6, 0-1 (8), to Sarah Fallon at second singles, Leshka Jankowski fell, 1-6, 1-6, to Alston Armstrong at third singles, Ashley Chadbourne and Hannah Smith lost, 1-6, 2-6, to Maddy Joyce and Grace Dimick at first doubles and Erin Chadbourne and Rose Watson lost, 2-6, 3-6, to Emma Cohen and Sydney Pearl at second doubles.

“(Falmouth’s) just so good,” said Ashley Chadbourne. “Their shots are so much better than what we’re playing, so it raises our competition level. It makes it more fun to play.”

“It was such a rewarding season because the girls’ skills and confidence improved steadily as the season progressed,” said Portland coach Bonnie Moran. “Ending the season at 6-6 certainly didn’t reflect the ability and potential of our team and we showed it in the playoffs. We beat two teams who had beaten us in the regular season, Cheverus and TA, to reach the Class A South final against Falmouth and for Lauren Paradise to win against Meredith Kelley and Karina Boothe to reach a third set match tiebreak was icing on the cake.

“We’ll see what next year brings. We’re losing Leshka and Ashley Chadbourne. Lauren and Karina will return to keep us strong at the top, as well as some talented doubles players. I’m much happier when we have some depth at doubles, so we’ll need to continue to develop some inexperienced but athletic players who joined us this year.”

Press Herald staff writer Glenn Jordan contributed to this story.

Sports Editor Michael Hoffer can be reached at mhoffer@theforecaster.net. Follow him on Twitter: @foresports.


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