Franklin Regional’s Colin Stalnaker, Sanshiro Ogawa advance to WPIAL singles tournament

By: Paul Schofield
Saturday, April 5, 2025 | 11:01 AM

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Franklin Regional’s boys tennis team has put itself in good position to qualify for the WPIAL Class 3A playoffs.

The Panthers (4-1, 4-4) are in second place in Section 1-3A behind Gateway. They still have matches against Norwin, Penn-Trafford and Plum.

They have defeated Connellsville, Hempfield, Latrobe and Kiski Area. Gateway is the returning WPIAL runner-up.

Franklin Regional’s top singles players, sophomore Colin Stalnaker and junior Sanshiro Ogawa, qualified for the WPIAL Class 3A singles tournament this week at North Allegheny for the first round and Bethel Park for the finals.

Stalnaker rebounded from a tough loss to Gateway’s Zidean Hassan, 3-6, 6-3, 3-6, in the semifinals to defeat Ogawa, 6-2, 6-2, in the third-place match. It was the second consecutive season Stalnaker finished third in the section. Ogawa fell to Gateway’s Adam Memije, 6-1, 6-0, in the semifinals.

Memije went on to defeat Hassan, 6-1, 6-1, in the section finals.

“I’m happy to finish third again, but I was hoping to reach the finals,” Stalnaker said. “Third place is still good. Now the goal is to qualify for the PIAAs.”

Stalnaker said he was pleased with his volleys and the way he was able to move his opponents around.

“My serving was good,” Stalnaker said. “I was making more serves, and it helped me. We had some long points.”

Stalnaker said his goal is to make it to the WPIAL semifinals.

Ogawa and Stalnaker are good friends, even when playing each other.

“I made too many mistakes around the net,” Ogawa said. “I need to finish quicker and be more consistent.”

Franklin Regional coach Kevin Fisher was pleased with how his two players performed. He said both have bright futures.

“Colin’s ground strokes are very good,” Fisher said. “He needs to work his confidence. Once he gets the experience, he’ll be better.

“Sanshiro has a powerful serve. He too needs to be more consistent.”

Stalnaker said he hopes the team makes noise in the WPIAL playoffs and gets another shot at Gateway.

Paul Schofield is a TribLive reporter covering high school and college sports and local golf. He joined the Trib in 1995 after spending 15 years at the Daily Courier in Connellsville, where he served as sports editor for 14 years. He can be reached at pschofield@triblive.com.

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