Fliers send two entries to semifinals

PORT CLINTON – Clyde’s Hiroki Kawai and the doubles team of David Murphy and Caleb Prunty advanced to the semifinals on the first day of the Division II sectional tournament. Action resumes at 9 a.m. Saturday. The top four in singles and doubles move on to the district tournament. Kawai, the top seed in the singles bracket, breezed into the semifinals. He blanked Huron’s Brodie Sennish and Perkins’ Anthony Visci 6-0, 6-0 in the first two rounds before beating Port Clinton’s Ellis Adolph 6-2, 6-1. Kawai faces third-seeded Jake Guerrero in Saturday’s semifinals. Murphy and Prunty weren’t nearly as dominant as Kawai, but still proved more than ready. The duo upended Huron’s Deryk Wray and Nick Swope 6-3, 6-2 and Port Clinton’s Will Mercurio and Steven Kast 6-1, 6-4 to reach the semifinal round. Murphy and Prunty, the third-seeded doubles team, square off Saturday against Perkins’ Sean Bower and Dhanush Kota in the semifinals. No other area entries will move on. Clyde’s Jacob Roach and Noah Prunty fell 6-1, 6-1 to top-seeded Nader Hamad and Yu Hang Chen of Perkins in the doubles quarterfinals. Nathan Strudthoff of Clyde also fell in the quarterfinals, losing 6-3, 6-1 to fourth-seeded Carl Riems of Edison. Calvert’s Anthony Traxler and Isaac Best lost 6-3, 6-2 to Oak Harbor’s Caleb Dornbusch and Holden Pelz, while fellow Senecas Danny George and Phillip Boes fell 6-0, 6-0 to Perkins’ Sean Bower and Dhanush Kota. Fostoria’s Cruz Bentancourt and Jarrett Lorenzen lost 6-1, 6-2 to Sandusky’s Eddie Fleck and Wyatt Wade, and teammates Kasey Finsel and Kashata Johnson lost 6-2, 6-0 to Sandusky’s Austin Slater and Darmo Reed. In singles play, Calvert’s Ryan Gase lost 6-2, 6-1 to Adolph while Connor Kwiat fell 6-0, 6-0 to Guerrero. Gase opened with a 1-6, 7-5, 6-1 win over Fostoria’s Noah Kitchen. Fostoria’s Isaiah Brough lost 6-1, 6-4 to Oak Harbor’s Ryan Johnson, and teammate Savian Arana lost 6-2, 6-3 to Fremont St. Joe’s Austin Underwood. Calvert’s Jack Burtis fell 6-1, 3-6, 6-0 to Edison’s Andrew Dunnavani. Klepper back in sectional finals SANDUSKY – Sophomore Ben Klepper qualified for the district tournament for the second year in a row Thursday to highlight Columbian’s effort on the first day of the Division I tournament. Klepper had a first-round bye before blanking Mansfield Madison’s Jake Clark 6-0, 6-0 to reach Saturday’s semifinals. The top four finishers in each category advance to the district. Klepper will be joined at district by fellow Tornadoes Tyler Hawk and Zack Gaietto, who will play Saturday for third in the doubles bracket. The duo also had a bye in the opening round before dropping fourth-seeded Jacob Deiderick and Jacob Coe of Norwalk 6-1, 7-5. They then fell 6-2, 6-2 to Ashland’s Tim Sprunger and Andy Elderbrock in the semifinals. Columbian’s Dustin Digby lost 6-0, 6-0 to top-seeded Caleb Sinchok and Hayden Stone fell 6-3, 6-2 to fourth-seeded Joey Thomas. In doubles play, TC’s Nate Wise and Jared Anderson lost to Ashland’s Scott Frazee and Tommy Glazier. Rams’ season ends at sectional SHELBY – None of Upper Sandusky’s entries advanced to the second day after Thursday’s competition at the Division II tournament. Evan Scheck had the lone win for the Rams, opening Thursday’s play with a 6-3, 6-1 singles win. He then fell 6-2, 6-2 in the next round. Sam Duress lost 6-0, 6-1 and Tommy Martin fell 6-5, 7-5. Both doubles teams for the Rams had a first-round bye but lost after that. Norah Frey and Drew Barth lost 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 while Turner Dilley and Nate Henzel lost 6-0, 6-0.