Lincoln East wins Papillion-La Vista Tennis Invitational, Hunter Nelson shines in singles final
Hunter Nelson made sure Monday's match against Owen Brown didn't go down the wire.
Nelson, the two-time defending Class A No. 1 singles state champion from Lincoln East, had to rally for a 9-7 victory over the Lincoln Southeast freshman in their match last Friday.
But in the singles final of Monday's 24-team Papillion-La Vista Tennis Invitational, Nelson won 14 of the first 15 points to bolt to a 3-0 lead and that paced the way to an 8-1 victory.
"That's probably the best he's played this year," East coach Chris Stock said. "He's kind of getting thing back in order with the way he wants to play."
Lincoln East rolled to the team title with 58 points as the Spartans won three of the four divisions. Lincoln Southeast and Creighton Prep each finished with 41.5 points, while Lincoln Southwest was fourth. Southwest had the other division winner as Brady Hung and Edin Mujagic won an 8-5 decision over East.
Nelson said an illness didn't help matters during Friday's match. Brown led 7-6 and then Nelson got sick during the changeover. Nelson was able to win the final three games.
"It was tough for me to move, but I think he also played a lot better Friday than he did today and I definitely played more solid," Nelson said. "I rely on my movement."
Brown won four straight points to hold his serve and cut Nelson's lead to 3-1, but Nelson never lost momentum.
Stock said Nelson wants to add more power to his game, "but he's got such a foundation of consistency that he doesn't want to lose that."
Added Nelson, "I think I'm doing everything a little better than last year. Better serve. Faster, more consistent serve."
Nelson played in national tournaments this summer in Michigan, Oklahoma and Texas. He said facing top competition has helped sharpen his game.
"I lose a lot of those matches, so I learn from those losses," he said.
Nelson's teammates who also won divisions were Samarth Sajeesh and Joe Bucknell at 1 doubles and Simon Johnson at 2 singles.
Sajeesh and Bucknell have been paired in the past week as senior Caden Haar, a two-time state champ at 1 doubles, is out with an injury.
But Sajeesh and Bucknell cruised to Monday's title, winning their semifinal and final by 8-1 counts. They defeated Prep's Ben Clausen and Rowan Lunning in the final. In the 2 singles final, Johnson defeated Omaha Westside's Troy Shefsky 8-2.
Due to construction at Koch Tennis Center, Monday's invite took place at four sites around Papillion. Most of the matches were played at Papio and Papio South high school courts.
Team scores
Lincoln East 58, Lincoln Southeast 41.5, Creighton Prep 41.5, Lincoln Southwest 38.5, Millard North 30, Elkhorn South 25, Omaha Westside 20.5, Papillion-La Vista 17, Millard West 16.5, Lincoln High 15.5, Gretna 14.5, Kearney 14.5, Columbus 13, Lincoln Northeast 12.5, Millard South 12.5, Lincoln North Star 12, Lincoln Pius X 11, Papio South 8.5, Norfolk 5.5, Fremont 3.5, Omaha Burke 2.5, Omaha Bryan 1.5, Omaha Central 1.5, Omaha Benson 1.
Individual results
No. 1 singles: 1, Hunter Nelson, LE, def. Owen Brown, LSE, 8-1. 3, Alex Liu, CP, def. Max Kline, LSW, 8-4. 5, Jackson Mu, MN, def. Jason Dubrow, ES, 9-8 (1). No. 2 singles: 1, Simon Johnson, LE, def. Troy Shefsky, OW, 8-2. 3, Blake Gocken, CP, def. Ian Brown, LSE, 8-4. 5, Austin Gong, MN, def. Cooper Auxier, LSW, 8-5. No. 1 doubles: 1, Samarth Sajeesh-Joe Bucknell, LE, def. Ben Clausen-Rowan Lunning, CP, 8-1. 3, Ruyter Jamison-Jackson Figard, LSE, def. Barrett Warner-Linkin Dush, LSW, 8-4. 5, Jake Smiley-Miles Mollring, MW, def. Kyler Eklund-Drew Welch, Ky, 8-5. No. 2 doubles: 1, Brady Hung-Edin Mujagic, LSW, def. Kayden Le-Alex Chan, LE, 8-5. 3, Teddie Kirkland-Thomas Bryson, LSE, def. Patrick Bosilevac-Matt McGill, CP, 8-6. 5, Sumanas Reddy-Anuraag Ganti, MN, def. Jackson Skiko-Bennett Schulte, MW, 8-2.
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