BOYS TENNIS

WALLINGFORD, CT--Rain forced the annual scrimmage with the neighbors from New Haven indoors. All matches were abbreviated to eight-game pro-sets. Choate swept the doubles handily and won four of the six singles contests that followed against an improved Hopkins squad.

WEST HARTFORD, CT--The Wild Boars took their third KITT team title in four years, with a commanding 32 of 36 possible points in the tournament. Mauricio Osorio '04, Eliot Jia '06, and Karl Blunden '04 earned singles titles in the top three flights and Angelo Coclanis '05 lost a close final at #4. In the doubles competition, the Jia/Osorio combination won the #1 championship while the tandem of Blunden and Ben Gettinger '07 dropped a tight three-set final in the #2 bracket. Hopkins School finished in second place in the team scoring with 20 points, followed by Westminster (19), Lawrenceville (16), Hotchkiss (10), Kingswood-Oxford (6), Deerfield (4), and the West Hartford public schools (1).

WALLINGFORD, CT--The Choate boys opened the dual match season at home with a convincing victory over the Pelicans, to post their 32nd consecutive dual match win in Founders League competition. The home team secured the doubles point and then took all but one of the singles matches, dropping a close baseline slugfest in the top position, but winning the remainder of the contests in straight sets. Ben Gettinger '07 won his debut singles match for the Wild Boars with a rare "double bagel" at #5.

EXETER, NH--The Blue and Gold hit the highway on this holiday weekend, making the three-hour trek to seacoast New Hampshire to face Phillips Exeter. The visitors leapt out of the starting blocks impressively, with a dominating performance in the doubles pro-sets. The singles matches that followed were considerably more competitive, but the Wild Boars were sharp enough to grab them all. To their credit, the Exonians battled hard; only at #5 did Choate really cruise through a match. This was a satisfying team win, followed by the biennial pilgrimage to Hampton Beach--the fried dough capital of America!

WALLINGFORD, CT--The Wild Boars assembled their second shutout victory in a span of three days, besting the Martlets to extend an impressive streak of wins over Founders League opponents dating back to the beginning of the 2000 season. Choate posted quick victories at #2 and #3 doubles to secure the first point in team scoring before rain forced the action indoors. On the fast courts of the Johnson Athletic Center, the home squad swept the singles without the loss of a set.

WATERTOWN, CT--Choate trekked to the Taft campus on a warm spring afternoon for a League match against a much improved--and heretofore undefeated--Rhinos squad. As always, Taft was a wonderful host, and there was a friendly and enthusiastic crowd on hand for the contest. Despite a slow start in the doubles, Choate swept the three pro-sets to lock up the critical team point. The Wild Boars then secured a trio of straight-set victories at #3, #5, and #6 singles to ensure the win. With the team result decided, the remaining matches got complicated. Eliot Jia was outplayed at #1, falling in straight sets, and Mauricio Osorio and Angelo Coclanis were engaged in dogfights with tenacious opponents (and their own demons) at the #2 and #4 positions, respectively. The two schools ended up splitting this pair of matches for a 5-2 final outcome. Taft was nice enough to agree to a slate of extra matches, so four additional players saw action in both singles and doubles, and Matt Novick, Peter Fromson, and Carr Lanphier posted singles wins--the latter in a three-set, two-tiebreak marathon concluded in the gloaming!

PAWLING, NY--The Wild Boars completed the first half of its 2004 Founders League schedule with a shutout of Trinity-Pawling on the road.

WALLINGFORD, CT--The Wild Boars swept neighboring Cheshire Academy in a match at the Hunt Tennis Center to raise the squad's record to 6-0.

WALLINGFORD, CT--The Choate doubles tandems posted quick wins to secure the first team point of the afternoon and then the hosts cruised to victory in four of the singles matches without the loss of a set. The remaining two matches featured high drama and tiebreak action and eventually fell the Bruins' way as night fell.

DEERFIELD, MA--The Big Green hosted their rivals from Wallingford on a beautiful spring afternoon; an enthusiastic parents weekend crowd was on hand to cheer for the home team. As they have all season long, the Wild Boars established control of the match by capturing the doubles point in decisive fashion. The visitors then posted straight-set wins in five of the singles contests.

KENT, CT--With raindrops falling, this Founders League match was started indoors, where Choate clinched the doubles point quickly. The top four singles matches were played in Kent's indoor facility, too, and the Blue and Gold cruised to straight-set victories in each, as well as in the #6 match outdoors. A heretofore undefeated Ming Ong-- playing up a spot at #5--ran into some trouble on the rain-soaked red clay courts, on the other hand. As his big-serving, net-rushing style is better suited to faster courts, Ming looked like Sampras at Roland Garros: a talented player somewhat out of his element on the dirt. He rallied from a set down before falling 5-7 in the third to the ultimately steadier fellow across the net. Special kudos to freshman Ben Gettinger, who was perfect on this day, not dropping a game in singles or doubles!

WALLINGFORD, CT--The Choate boys were in sharp form, dispatching the Wyverns on the warmest day of the year to extend their record of consecutive victories against Founders League opponents to 37.

WALLINGFORD, CT--The Wild Boars showed fine form in fending off a wonderfully sportsmanlike and talented Andover squad. A trio of doubles wins was highlighted by a shutout at #1 by Messrs. Jia and Osorio. The first sets of the singles round were more competitive, but gradually each match shifted in Choate's favor. Some unfortunate confusion marred the end of a very good contest at #1 singles, wherein Eliot Jia had stormed back to take the second set. As this was the last match on court, the coaches agreed to a tiebreak in lieu of a third set. The Choate fans in attendance were thrilled when Eliot clinched it at 7-5, but it quickly became apparent that the Andover contingent was expecting a super-tiebreak--to 10 points--to resolve the match. (Playing in different regions of New England, the two teams had played two divergent formats in these situations thus far this season.) Understandably, Eliot was deflated to have his apparent hard-fought victory seemingly snatched away and lost the considerable momentum he had been building since the end of the first set, and ultimately he dropped the super-tiebreak, 9-11. Still, this was a good afternoon of tennis. Playing without team captain and #3 singles/#2 doubles stalwart Karl Blunden in the line-up, the Choate boys stepped it up in what was a good test for them as a team.

LAKEVILLE, CT--Choate locked up the 2004 Founders League championship in boys' tennis--its fifth consecutive title--on a warm spring afternoon in Lakeville. The lads in Blue and Gold kicked things off with a dominating demonstration of doubles prowess and quickly snared four singles matches in straight sets for the win. Coach Gallagher's report: "Hotchkiss always forces us to earn our victories, even in seasons when we seem to have the edge in experience and talent. This year was no different. A few of our guys had some late-season aches and pains to deal with and we opted to rest our normal line-up for the weekend ahead, but the Bearcats were tenacious competitors who pushed us hard today." Choate brings an 8-0 record against Class "A" opponents into this weekend's New England team tournament.

WALLINGFORD, CT--Choate completed its dual match campaign with an undefeated record of 13-0 by fashioning a 5-2 win over the Winged Beavers. This victory ensured sole possession of the 2004 Founders League championship--a fifth straight title--and was the 39th consecutive win for the Wild Boars over League opponents since 1999, an extension of their own record.