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Tiger tennis duo to district

Francesca Elisco and Kate Li of the Howland girls tennis team will try to back up their top-seeded billing in doubles in the Division I sectional today at Solon.

The pair has already qualified for the district tournament, which is Oct. 15 and 17 at Springside Racquet and Fitness Club in Akron. Elisco and Li have reached the semifinals and the top four finishers in singles and on doubles courts qualify for district.

Elisco and Li had a first-round bye and defeated Brush’s MeKiera Williford and Destiny Dixon 6-0, 6-1, and Shaker’s Katie Cronin and Isabella Glinzler 6-0, 6-2, to reach a quarterfinal, where they topped Kenston’s Anna Marthe and Katelyn Torres 6-2, 6-1.

The pair will play Solon’s Ava Maersch and Lindsay Lebowitz in one semifinal, while the other semifinal pits second-seeded Eliana Chelnick and Sasha Gorbacheva of Solon against third-seeded Kelsi Currington and Lily Peelman of Kenston.

Howland’s other doubles team of Malorie Fluent and Madison Fluent defeated Eastlake North’s Megan Panchula and Vrunda Patel 6-0, 6-0 in the first round before losing to Chelnick and Gorbacheva 6-1, 6-0 in the second round.

Results have not been reported for the Division I sectional at Canton, nor the Division II sectional at Boardman.

GOLF

Cardinal Mooney junior Alyssa Rapp, Poland senior Luke Nord and West Branch senior Aiden Wiesemann will represent the Mahoning Valley in their respective Division II state golf tournaments on Oct. 16-17 at Ohio State.

On Tuesday, in the girls district tournament at Sable Creek in Hartville, Rapp earned the third and final individual state qualifying berth by edging out Poland junior Sophia Yurich in a playoff after each had carded an 82. They tied for fourth overall in a field of 71 competitors.

The state tournament will be played on Ohio State’s Gray Course.

Salem’s Kelly Hutton tied for ninth with an 86, Crestview’s Emily Hill (94) was 19th and Chalker’s Bella Woods (95) finished 20th.

Poland just missed advancing via a team berth, finishing fourth with a 391, two shots behind Canton Central Catholic for the final spot. It was the final prep rounds for Kristen Shaw (99), Jackie Grisdale (104), Hannah Ogden (106) and Laurel Zarbaugh.

Columbiana (433) finished ninth, East Palestine (438) was 10th and Garfield (450) 11th.

Also competing as individuals at the district were Bristol’s Katie Webb (101, tied for 29th) and Kennedy’s Samantha Calderone (114, tied for 57th).

Nord was district runner-up, winning a playoff against Chippewa’s Ben Ellis to earn the top individual state qualifying position after each logged 76 at Windmill Lakes in Ravenna. They finished behind medalist Caden Scarbrough of Cuyahoga Valley Christian Academy, which took team honors with a 323.

Wiesemann fired a 78 for the final state berth, finishing one stroke ahead of Firelands’ Jackson Talbott.

The boys state tournament will be played on Ohio State’s Scarlet Course.

West Branch placed fourth as a team with a 344, seven shots behind Notre Dame-Cathedral Latin for the final state team berth. Poland finished 11th with a 373.

Also competing for West Branch, J.D. Brain registered an 82 to tie for 13th in a field of 73 competitors.

Other area individuals in the field were Struthers’ Chaz Ekoniak (81, tied for ninth) and Mooney’s Turner Rocco (85, tied for 23rd).

The boys Division I sectional at Tannenhauf in Alliance was contested Tuesday.

Canfield earned the fourth and final district qualifying berth with a 337, finishing behind champion Green (320), Massillon Jackson (325) and Uniontown Lake (327). Boardman (360) finished seventh in the 16-team event.

The Cardinals were buoyed by Bryce Daggett (79, tied for third) and Connor Daggett (80, tied for fifth). They were followed by Nick Beistel (86, tied for 19th), Nolan Williard (92, tied for 33rd) and Simon Kovass (96, tied for 47th).

Ryan Sam (86, tied for 19th in a 77-player field) and Luke Ryan (87, tied for 23rd) led the Spartans.

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