THE LHS boys’ tennis team advanced to the Div. 4 Final Four with a 4-1 win over Cohasset on June 5 at Lynnfield High. The No. 1 Pioneers played No. 4 Hamilton-Wenham on Tuesday after press time. The winner will meet the winner of No. 3 Manchester-Essex vs. No. 2 Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion in the State Finals on Saturday at MIT. (Dan Tomasello Photo)

 

 

After press time:
Lynnfield defeats Hamilton-Wenham 3-2 in the Final Four (June 11)
Falls to Manchester-Essex in the D4 State Finals (June 15)

 

Published June 12, 2024

By STEPHEN MARTELLUCCI

LYNNFIELD — In the MIAA Division 4 Quarterfinals on June 5 at Lynnfield High, the Pioneer boys’ tennis team beat Cohasset, 4-1. This is the third year in a row that Lynnfield has beaten the Skippers in the State Tournament. 

The top-seeded Pioneers improved to 18-1 with the victory as they took on Hamilton-Wenham in the state semifinals at St. John’s Prep in Danvers on June 11 (results not available at press time).

Ninth-seeded Cohasset, meanwhile, ended the year at 14-5.

“It was closer than the final would indicate,” said Pioneers head coach Joe Dunn. “They have a very good team.”

At first singles, senior captain Dan Levin lost to Charlie Lankow, 6-1, 6-3.

“Dan beat him last year in the tournament but Charlie was like a backboard in this match and he is quick as a cat,” said Dunn.

Junior captain Shea McCarthy defeated Will Wildfire at second singles, with matching 6-2 scores.

Third-singles player, junior Shlok Kudrimoti, beat Eamon Maxwell, 6-1, 6-1.

“That was the clinching match,” pointed out Dunn. “Shlok played great.”

In doubles action, the team of senior Brendan Sokop and senior captain Russ Kasdon won in three sets over Matt Crews and Tye Rudhill. They won the first set, 6-3, but lost the second one, 2-6. In the rubber set, they won 6-2.

“That was a very competitive match,” said Dunn.

The second team of junior Matt Reinold and senior Kurt Rothermund beat Tyler Henry and Blaine Basile, in straight sets 6-2, 6-3.

The day before the Cohasset win, the Pioneers blanked Leicester, 5-0, also at home in the Round of 16. With that loss, the 17th-seeded Wolverines ended the year at 16-4.

Levin beat Mason Griffiths, 6-2, 6-3, while McCarthy defeated Connor Parke in shutout fashion, 6-0, 6-0. Kudrimoti beat Ryan Delage, 6-2, 6-2, at third singles.

Sokop and Kasdon defeated William Panepinto and Patrick Harrington, 6-1, 6-0, at first doubles while senior Slate LoPilato and junior Raffi Arkun beat Vincent Lopez and Shawn Blonrasz, 6-4, 6-3.

“It was a good match and the fact that we won each match in two sets helped us for playing Cohasset the next day,” said Dunn.

If the Pioneers beat Hamilton-Wenham, they will play for the Div. 4 state title on Saturday, June 15 at MIT in Cambridge. They will play the winner of Manchester-Essex vs. Pioneer Valley Chinese Immersion.

Lynnfield lost to Weston in the last two Div. 4 state championship matches but Weston was bumped up to Div. 3 this year.