Dominant district title for Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Rami Hemaidan

CEDAR RAPIDS – Call it a Rami repeat. Or to be more accurate, a Rami rout.

At a boys' tennis district meet Thursday at Veterans Memorial Tennis Center, Cedar Rapids Kennedy sophomore Rami Hemaidan surrendered just two games in three resounding victories and won a district singles title for the second year in a row and advanced to the Class 2A boys' tennis state tournament.

'I thought I was hitting my shots pretty well,” Hemaidan said. 'I was moving pretty well. It was kind of windy, so I had to move extra. It worked out in the end.”

After a first-round bye, Hemaidan clinched the state berth with a pair of 6-0, 6-0 wins in the second round and semifinal. The top seed – now standing at 6-feet tall after a significant growth spurt – backed up the district forecast in a 6-1, 6-1 ouster of Linn-Mar's Shane Skvor in the final.

'My serve has improved a lot,” Hemaidan said. 'I thought I served really well that last match. I was taller, so I have to start bending more.”

The runner-up singles finish earned Skvor – who competed in doubles at state last year – a return to the state tournament. Skvor won the semifinal, 6-1, 6-0 over Briton Bauerly of Dubuque Hempstead.

Defending state champion Linn-Mar continued an impressive rebuilding year by winning the district team title with 23 points. The Lions clinched a bye in Saturday's preliminary substate round, where second-place Kennedy (16 points) will host Dubuque Senior (14).

'It was a solid performance,” Linn-Mar Coach Chris Wundram said. 'I don't think a lot of people had high expectations for our team and I think we surprised a lot of people around the conference and around the state.”

Linn-Mar sophomores Ben Hediger and Lucas Huffman earned a berth in the doubles state tournament with a 6-1, 6-1 semifinal victory over Cedar Rapids Prairie's Evan Gaskill and Joseph Schmitt.

The first-year doubles partners dropped the district championship match, 7-5, 6-3, to last year's returning third-place state doubles team – Gus Zuccaro and Jacob Mozena of Dubuque Senior.

At other district sites, Iowa City West and Cedar Rapids Washington both qualified three players for the state tournament.

Defending singles state champion Jiung Jung and the doubles team of Cole Schneider and Jack Wenzel won district championships for the team champion Trojans at the Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Center.

Washington won the Pleasant Valley district as freshman Rami Scheetz claimed the singles crown and doubles partners Jackson Hoyt and Parker Muller placed second.

As district runner-up in Iowa City, Joe Hoff clinched a singles state tournament berth for third-place City High.

Cedar Rapids Xavier placed third overall at a 1A meet in Camanche.

CLASS 2A DISTRICT MEET

At Veterans Memorial Tennis Center

Teams -

Linn-Mar 23; 2. Cedar Rapids Kennedy 16; 3. Dubuque Senior 14; 4. Dubuque Hempstead 11; 5. Cedar Rapids Prairie 6, 6. Western Dubuque 5.

Singles

First round -

Ryan Fair (DS) def. Jackson Healey (WD), 6-2, 6-2; Nathan Tauke (DH) def. Chase Larsson (CRP), 3-6, 6-2, 6-2; Zach Amsler (CRK) def. Drake Oswald (DS), 0-6, 6-2, 6-4; Jared Hefel (WD) def. Jason Niccolls (CRP), 6-2, 6-2.

Quarterfinals -

No. 1 Rami Hemaidan (CRK) def. Fair (DS), 6-0, 6-0; No. 2 Shane Skvor (LM) def. Hefel (WD), 6-0, 6-3; No. 3 Briton Bauerly (DH) def. Amsler (CRK), 6-2, 6-2; Tauke (DH) def. No. 4 Kathir Pandian (LM), 6-3, 6-7 6-2.

Semifinals -

No. 1 Hemaidan (CRK) def. Tauke (DH), 6-0, 6-0; No. 2 Skvor (LM) def. No. 3 Bauerly (DH), 6-1, 6-0.

Third place -

Tauke (DH) def. No. 3 Bauerly (DH), 6-4, 6-4.

Championship -

No. 1 Hemaidan (CRK) def. No. 2 Skvor (LM), 6-1, 6-1.

Doubles

First round -

Alex Ahlrichs/Luke Ellert-Beck (DH) def. Graham Vaughan/Tanner Donahue (WD), 7-6, 6-4; Zach Glanz/Jack Albert (LM) def. Brandon Bruhn/Nathan Harder (CRP), 6-3, 6-2; Grant Finneman/Jakob Waack (CRK) def. Joe Gourley/Grant Kincaid (DS), 6-4, 6-4; Alex Meyer/Beau Kramer (WD) def. Mitchell Rubie/Riley Donovan (DH), 6-0, 6-1.

Quarterfinals -

No. 1 Gus Zuccaro/Jacob Mozena (DS) def Ahlrichs/Ellert-Beck (DH), 6-1, 6-0; No. 2 Lucas Huffman/Ben Hediger (LM) def. Meyer/Kramer (WD), 6-0, 6-0; No. 3 Evan Gaskill/Joseph Schmitt (CRP) def. Finneman/Waack (CRK), 6-0, 6-1; Glanz/Albert (LM) def. No. 4 Connor Crippes/Brad Zimmerman (CRK), 6-1, 4-6, 6-3.

Semifinals -

No. 1 Zuccaro/Mozena (DS) def. Glanz/Albert (LM), 6-3, 6-0; No. 2 Huffman/Hediger (LM) def. No. 3 Gaskill/Schmitt (CRP), 6-1, 6-1.

Third place -

Glanz/Albert (LM) def No. 3 Gaskill/Schmitt (CRP), 6-4, 2-6, 10-8.

Championship -

No. 1 Zuccaro/Mozena (DS) def. No. 2 Huffman/Hediger (LM), 7-5, 6-3.

OTHER BOYS' TENNIS DISTRICT MEETS

CLASS 2A

At Hawkeye Tennis and Recreation Complex

(Top three teams qualify for substate)

Teams -

1. Iowa City West 28, 2. Bettendorf 19, 3. Iowa City High 11, 4. Muscatine 8, 5. North Scott 6, 6. Burlington 3.

Championship Matches

(Top 2 qualify for state)

Singles -

Jiung Jung (ICW) def. Joe Hoff (ICH), 6-2, 7-5.

Doubles -

Cole Schneider/Jack Wenzel (ICW) def. Isaac Luebke/Yash Singh (BET), 6-2, 6-1.

At Pleasant Valley

Teams -

1. C.R. Washington 27, 2. Pleasant Valley 21, 3. Davenport Central 17, 4. Clinton 5, 5. Davenport North 3, 6. Davenport West 2.

Championship Matches

Singles -

Rami Scheetz (CRW) def. Joseph Shie (DC), 6-3, 6-2.

Doubles -

Charlie Humes/Sriram Sugumaran (PV) def. Jackson Hoyt/Parker Muller (CRW), 6-2, 6-2.

CLASS 1A

At Camanche

(Top three teams qualify for substate)

Teams -

1. Davenport Assumption 23, 2. Dubuque Wahlert 16, 3. C.R. Xavier 12.5, 4. Marion 10, 5. Camanche 9, 6. Maquoketa 5, 7. Independence 2.

Championship Matches

Singles -

Jack Thomas (DA) def. Dev Patel (CAM), 6-3, 6-3

Doubles -

Thomas Resnick/Luke Fennelly (DA) def. Jackson Takes/Jack Lucy (DW), 6-1, 6-2

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