Latrobe’s Chad Kissell & Carlynton’s Luke Phillps Win WPIAL Tennis Titles

The first WPIAL championships of the spring sports season were captured Wednesday with a pair of top-seeds going the distance to win district boys singles tennis crowns. Latrobe senior Chad Kissell added to his families golden case by winning the AAA title while Carlynton sophomore Luke Phillips won straight set gold in AA. Here are ALL of the results from the 2015 WPIAL Boys Singles Tennis Championships.

2015 WPIAL Boys Singles Tennis Class AAA Championship Match:

Chad Kissell (Latrobe) over Chris Gladden (Canon-McMillan) 6-2, 6-2  (MSA)

Latrobe senior Chad Kissell came close to WPIAL gold last year, losing in the Class AAA championship last year.  This year, he made sure that he was the one on top as the Valparaiso recruit rode a strong serving performance to top Canon-McMillan junior, Chris Gladden in straight sets.  Both players came into the match ranked in the top-100 in their grad year nationally but Kissell was just too strong for Gladden, who won the Section 4 championship this year.  Kissell used a 100mph+ serve and excellent ground strokes to wear down Gladden.  In both sets, Gladden started the set by winning on his serve to take a 1-0 set lead.  But, in both sets, Kissel would break Gladden’s 2nd service game in each set and would cruise from there.  Kissell felt that the championship match was the best tennis he’s played all year.  Both Kissell and Gladden will advance to play in the PIAA state tennis championships next month.

WPIAL CLASS AAA Consolation:

Sid Rajupet (Fox Chapel) over Fernando Escribens (Upper St. Clair) in walk over (Escribens injury)

WPIAL CLASS AAA Semifinals:

Chad Kissell (Latrobe) over Sid Rajupet (Fox Chapel) 6-3, 6-2

Chris Gladden (Canon-McMillan) over Fernando Escribens (Upper St. Clair) 6-0, 2-1 (retired)

WPIAL CLASS AAA Quarterfinals:

Chad Kissell (Latrobe) over Dane Bendel (Mount Lebanon) 10-4

Sid Rajupet (Fox Chapel) over Josh Raymundo (Mars) 10-0

Fernando Escribens (Upper St. Clair) over Jared Isaacs (North Allegheny) 10-8

Chris Gladden (Canon-McMillan) over Ben Vinarski (Pine-Richland) 10-8

WPIAL CLASS AAA First Round:

Chad Kissell (Latrobe) over Logan D’Angelo (Moon) 10-1

Dane Bendel (Mount Lebanon) over Eric Grubbs (Shady Side Academy) 10-7

Josh Raymundo (Mars) over Derek Chen (Shady Side Academy) 10-7

Sid Rajupet (Fox Chapel) over Scott Russell (Upper St. Clair) 10-0

Fernando Escribens (Upper St. Clair) over Carson France (Plum) 10-2

Jared Isaacs (North Allegheny) over Rochan Ramesh (Franklin Regional) 10-7

Ben Vinarski (Pine-Richland) over Natoli Farber (Pittsburgh Central Catholic) 10-4

Chris Gladden (Canon-McMillan) over Kevin Lee (Penn-Trafford) 10-0

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2015 WPIAL BOYS SINGLES TENNIS CLASS AA CHAMPIONSHIP MATCH:

Luke Phillips (Carlynton) over Sam Sauter (Sewickley Academy) 6-0, 6-3  (MSA)

Top-seeded Luke Phillips played nearly flawlessly to win the Class AA Boys Tennis Championships.  Phillips, only a sophomore, used a powerful and accurate first serve to win the first set over Sewickley Academy’s Sam Sauter without surrendering a game.  Sauter was able to recover in the 2nd set and was on serve, down 3-2, when Phillips broke Sauter’s service to go up 4-2 and went on to win the match, 6-0, 6-3.  Phillips credited his strength and conditioning, working out to get stronger, to his success and achieving his goal of winning the WPIAL Championship.  Phillips breezed through the tournament winning in the 1st and 2nd rounds by a 10-0 total and then defeated Noah Cenkner 6-1, 6-3 in the semifinals to get to the championship.  Both Phillips and Sauter will advance to play in the PIAA state tennis championships next month.

WPIAL CLASS AA Consolation:

John Moore (California over Noah Cenkner (Mount Pleasant) in walk-over (Cenkner illness)

WPIAL CLASS AA Semifinals:

Luke Phillips (Carlynton) over Noah Cenkner (Mount Pleasant) 6-1, 6-3

Sam Sauter (Sewickley Academy) over John Monroe (California) 6-3, 6-1

WPIAL CLASS AA Quarterfinals:

Luke Phillips (Carlynton) over John Appolonia (Indiana) 10-0

Noah Cenkner (Mount Pleasant) over Max Pollack (Winchester Thurston)  10-3

Sam Sauter (Sewickley Academy) over Jonah Cooper (Blackhawk) 10-5

John Monroe (California) over Brian Rosario (Sewickley Academy) 10-4

WPIAL CLASS AA First Round:

Luke Phillips (Carlynton) over Matt Kern (Springdale) 10-0

John Appolonia (Indiana) over Tyler Squicquero (Riverside) 10-3

Noah Cenkner (Mount Pleasant) over John Tetick (Beaver) 10-2

Max Pollack (Winchester Thurston) over Nick Corona (Greensburg Central Catholic) 10-1

Jonah Cooper (Blackhawk) over Josh Denham (Valley) 10-3

Sam Sauter (Sewickley Academy) over Devin Dikec (Beaver) 10-1

Brian Rosario (Sewickley Academy) over Ryan Hartz (Brownsville) 10-4

John Monroe (California) over Eli Loncar (Hopewell) 10-1

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