Williamstown boys tennis team captured state runner-up | News, Sports, Jobs

Williamstown’s Austin Bosgraf returns the ball during a high school tennis match. (Photo: Jay W. Bennett)

CHARLESTON – A busy day on the courts for both the Williamstown boys and girls in the second of three days at the high school state tennis meet.

In Class AA/A, Williamstown’s top-ranked boys tennis team opened the morning event by playing third-ranked Charleston Catholic for the team championship. Charleston Catholic went 4-1 at the NMCA Indoors.

The rest of the day focused on AA-A and AAA singles and doubles.

The Yellowjackets advanced to Saturday’s Class AA-A boys individual semifinals. In the opening round of the boys tournament, second-seeded Austin Bosgraf defeated Cardin Beal of Berkeley Springs 8-0, then fell to seventh-seeded Ethan Bastin of Charleston Catholic 8-5 in the quarterfinals.

The Yellowjackets were represented in a total of three contests in the boys field, with eighth-seeded Tyler Fenton beating Weir’s Justin Velegol 9-7 before losing 8-2 to top-seeded Charleston Catholic’s Nick Giatris in the quarterfinals. No. 12 seed Gavin Hill lost 8-2 in the opening round to No. 5 seed Corey Waybright of Charleston Catholic.

For the WHS girls, fifth-seeded Claire Strobl beat North Marion’s Fluharty 8-1, then lost 8-2 in the quarterfinals to fourth-seeded Jillian Blevins of Chapmanville.

Strobl and doubles teammate Ashtyn McIntire, as the fourth seed, kept their season alive for one more day after defeating Logan’s team.

The singles semifinals begin at 8 a.m. Saturday, while the doubles semifinals begin at noon.

In addition to singles, Bosgraf is one win away from the championship match with partner Fenton in doubles. The Yellowjacket pair advanced to the quarterfinals with an 8-1 victory over the Berkeley Springs team.

WHS’s sixth-ranked duo of Hill and Woodard lost 8-1 to Winfield’s team in their quest for the semifinals.