Cedar Rapids Xavier, Iowa City West boys win state team tennis titles

DES MOINES — They were aware of what they were chasing.

The Cedar Rapids Xavier boys’ tennis team had a date with history on Tuesday and they more than met the challenge.

Coach Jim Potts’ team became the 10th team in state history to complete the state's triple crown of tennis. The Saints downed Pella, 5-2, to win their third consecutive Class 1A state championship at the Waveland Tennis Courts in Des Moines.

The team win allowed the Saints to become the first team since Iowa City West in 2017 to have the state singles champion (Brady Horstmann), state doubles champ (Declan Coe and Hugh Courter) and the team champion in the same season.

In Class 2A play at Ankeny, Iowa City West made Coach Marshal Moellers a state champion in his first season with a 5-1 win over top-seeded Pleasant Valley.

The Trojans (17-0) rolled to a 5-1 win over Waukee Northwest in the semifinals before winning their seventh team title in the last 10 years.

Xavier (16-1) was as dominant on Tuesday as it has been throughout the season. It needed just about 90 minutes to dispatch No. 4 Spencer in the semifinals. The Saints had to endure a long wait as Wahlert and Pella split in the singles before the Dutch won two doubles matches to set up the final.

After Horstmann was upset in the No. 1 singles bout — losing 6-4, 6-4 to Pella’s Caleb Briggs — Coe, Courter, Trenton Link and Quincey Johnson won singles matches for the Saints. Link and Ryan Schmit sealed the deal with a 6-4, 7-5 win in doubles.

West went 5-1 in singles matches against Pleasant Valley with No. 1 player Luca Chackalackal outlasting Jake Dolphin, 6-1, 5-7, 7-5. Seth Smigel, Jayden Shin, Samir Singh and Shivy Mannengi also won singles matches.

Chackalackal lost in the semifinal win, but Smigel, Shin, Singh, Mannengi and Jonathan Fan came through against Northwest.