D2 TENNIS: Western Wayne's Maiocco wins third Class 2A crown
May 13—WILKES-BARRE — Lenny Maiocco is the king of boys tennis, again.
Now a three-time gold-medal winner, after enduring a season away from the sport because of the coronavirus pandemic, the Western Wayne senior played with poise, power and precision and dominated the District 2 Class 2A Singles Championship Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Kirby Park.
Maiocco defeated a pair of up-and-coming talented players on his way to the title. He beat Dallas freshman Tucker Chesman, 6-0, 6-0, in the final and earlier topped Riverside newcomer Tony Ghigiarelli, 6-2, 6-0, in the semifinals.
"It feels great, because to be honest, I was nervous," Maiocco said. "I won two times and I really wanted to win it again. I put a lot of pressure on myself, so to come out and do this was very exciting and I was thrilled with how I played."
His final District 2 tournament resembled his first two as a freshman and sophomore. He won those two championships with 10 wins and faced only one three-set match. That came in the 2018 final against Scranton Prep's Jack Habeeb.
As a sophomore, Maiocco also earned a bronze medal at the PIAA Championship Tournament.
This season, he played only 10 matches in the regular season as Western Wayne navigated through the coronavirus pandemic. He won four matches in the tournament and lost only three games. His win over Chesman is his second straight shutout in a district final.
He will open the state tournament against the District 6 champion May 28 at 8 a.m. with a 14-0 mark and a career record of 56-3.
"It's really just awesome to play a sport that I love and to see the results when you put in the hard work and constantly train," said Maiocco, who hopes to walk-on to the tennis program at the University of Pennsylvania.
Bigger and stronger than his smashing debut as a freshman, the imposing 6-foot-1, 195-pound Maiocco maintained control of the match with a stunning serve that rocketed off his racket.
He racked up double-digit aces and his sweeping forehand consistently sliced unreachable shots down the line.
"I have been lifting weights, riding the Peloton a lot, doing the treadmill, doing everything I could to be in shape," Maiocco said. "My coach (Joe Fialko) and I talked about a game plan and I stuck to it. I made sure that I was focused on every shot and keeping my footwork good.
"Obviously, it worked."
To his credit, Chesman battled. He put together several rallies against the seasoned champion giving a glimpse into the future of the Class 2A tournament.
A week after leading Dallas to the district team championship, he earned a win over Scranton Prep's Matt Tressler, 6-7 (4), 6-3, 1-0, in the semifinals. Tressler fought through cramps and couldn't finish.
"I think throughout the tournament, I knew I would have to play well and work hard to get to this match and I did," Chesman said. "I had to get through the quarters and the semis and both of those matches were tough. After I got through those, I knew that if I somehow wanted to have a shot, I would have to play amazing.
"He is something else."
In the Class 3A tournament, Crestwood's Ben Ziegler captured the championship with a straight-sets win over Wilkes-Barre Area's Michael Hamel.
"This feels awesome," Ziegler said. "Being a district champion in my first year of varsity tennis, because last year COVID canceled the season and as a freshman I was JV. I think I played pretty decently. I had a tough start in the semifinals, but I came back.
"Against Hamel, I won in the regular season, and it was close, but I had some confidence."
Ziegler, the No. 3 seed, dropped the first set in the semifinals by a score of 6-1 to Abington Heights' Sam Christman, who rolled into the final four as an unseeded player. He then rebounded to tie things up with a 6-3 win in the second set. In the third, however, he faced elimination down, 4-2, before rallying to win the next four games to advance into the final.
There, he played relaxed and executed on his way to a 6-0, 6-3 victory.
"I definitely knew that I had to win the next points and the rest of the games (in the semifinal)," Ziegler said. "I knew that I had a chance, so I took advantage of it. I just played more consistently and he was getting tired."
Hamel, the first Wilkes-Barre Area representative in boys tennis, reached the championship match with an upset win over top-seeded John Sinclair of West Scranton. He also won a three-set battle, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-4.
"I think I played pretty well overall," Hamel said. "Obviously, not to the best of my ability in the final, but as well as I could. I am very proud to represent the Wolfpack here in the final. It feels good."
CLASS 3A Semifinals
4-Michael Hamel (Wilkes-Barre Area) over 1-John Sinclair (West Scranton, 6-1, 6-7 (6), 6-4; 3-Ben Ziegler (Crestwood) over Sam Christman (Abington Heights), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.
Final
Ziegler over Hamel, 6-0, 6-3
CLASS 2A Semifinals
1-Lenny Maiocco (Western Wayne) over 5-Tony Ghigiarelli (Riverside), 6-2 6-0; 2-Tucker Chesman (Dallas) over 3-Matt Tressler (Scranton Prep), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 1-0 Injury Default.
Final
Maiocco over Chesman, 6-0, 6-0.
District 2 doubles
Both Maiocco and Ziegler, as singles champions, are ineligible for the doubles tournament.
The seeded teams and pairings were announced. In Class 3A, Abington Heights' team of Sam Weis-Sam Christman earned the No. 1 seed.
That tournament starts Saturday at 9 a.m. at North Pocono Middle School.
The team from Dallas, Chesman-Dan Flynn, grabbed the No. 1 seed for the Class 2A tournament that starts Saturday at 9 a.m. at Kirby Park.
Semifinals and finals are scheduled for Monday at Kirby Park.
DISTRICT 2 DOUBLES CLASS 3A at North Pocono Middle School Saturday's first round
Harrison Kubilus-Jake Jordan (Scranton) vs. Brennan Burnside-Antonio Evanosky (West Scranton); Ryan Kostiuk — Brayden Fenwick (Crestwood) vs. Jack Filip-Peter MacDonough (Wallenpaupack); Scott Sussman — Gavin Buckley (Delaware Valley) vs. Graham Marshmen-Caden Reader (Berwick); Anthony Marie — Sam Filip (Wallenpaupack) vs. Kittrick Danzeisen-Cameron Zynel (Hazleton Area).
Saturday's second round
1-Sam Weiss — Sam Christman (Abington Heights) vs. Kubilus-Jordan/Burnside-Evanosky winner; Patrick Cawley — Noah Budnovich (North Pocono) vs. Giovanni Molina — Stephen Plaza (Wilkes-Barre Area); 5-Jack Moniak — Griffin Kowal (Delaware Valley) vs. Maxwell Hsiao — Jakob Narrow (Hazleton Area); Kostiuk-Fenwick/J. Filip-MacDonough winner vs. 4-Brendan Turowski-Dylan Smith (Berwick);
3-John Sinclair — Sawyer McHale (West Scranton) vs. Sussman-Buckley/Hazleton Area winner; Alex Ni — David Wojnak (North Pocono) vs. 6-Adam Vale-Ryan Salony (Abington Heights); Om Patel — Dhruvraj Patel (Scranton) vs. Alex Covelens — Julien Lacoste (Crestwood); Marie-S. Filip/Danzeisen-Zynel winner vs. 2-Michael Hamel — Stanley Shimko (Wilkes-Barre Area).
CLASS 2A at Kirby Park Saturday's first round
1-Tucker Chesman-Dan Flynn (Dallas), BYE; A. J. Tomassoini — Connor Peters (Valley View) vs. Adam Brzozowski=Damien Chmielewski (Mid Valley); Zak Keiser-Aidan Edwards (Tunkhannock) vs. Ryan McNelis-Peter Walko (MMI); Stephen Parinisi — Carter Dolowey (Montrose) vs. 8-William Wolfgang-Matthew Schuler (Holy Redeemer); 5-Wu Keefer-Vaughn Kutixh (Wyoming Seminary), BYE; Connor Tone — Dhiraj Baniya (Holy Cross) vs. Adam Wisnewski-Jacob Nelson (Wyoming Area); Nicky Chiaro-Calvin Zhang (Dunmore) vs. John Christiansen-John Rodriguez (Honesdale); 4-James Cawley-Will Aldrich (Scranton Prep), BYE;
3-Dan Dudick-Lucus Carver (Dallas), BYE; Artur Gilicinski — Amin Ali (Wyoming Seminary) vs. Caleb Hurley-Hunter Wesolowki (Holy Redeemer); Derek Muller-Ryan Kedlecik (Montrose) vs. Gibby Goodenough-Drew Hazen (Honesdale); 6-Luke Kotcho-Liam Harrison (Valley View), BYE; 7-David Day-Billy Portanova (Dunmore) vs. Anthony Nelson — Charles Alfano (Wyoming Area); Noah Long — Thomas Mayernick (MMI) vs. Tejpal Kishore-Devin Lombardo (Mid Valley); David Huester — Christopher Martinez (Holy Cross) vs. Chris Mirabelli — Kaleb Gruver (Tunkhannock); 2-Matt Tressler — Ethan Borick (Scranton Prep), BYE.
Contact the writer: jbfawcett@timesshamrock.com; 570-348-9125; @sportsTT on Twitter
