Iowa City West’s Jiung Jung ousts friendly rival, repeats as boys’ tennis state champion

CEDAR RAPIDS — Last season he faced a teammate.

This time, it was one of his best friends.

Iowa City West junior Jiung Jung capped his second-straight undefeated season with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over friend and crosstown rival Joe Hoff of Iowa City High and won the singles state championship for the second year in a row Saturday at Coe College's Clark Racquet Center.

'His forehand and his serve are probably the best in the state,' Jung said. 'That's always hard. I try my hardest to keep it towards his backhand, but that sometimes doesn't work out. Today I had the edge.'

Jung (23-0) is the first back-to-back boys' singles state champion since Charlie Caris of Des Moines Roosevelt won the last of his three titles in 2009. Coupled with his title over West teammate David DiLeo in 2015, Jung is the first Trojan to win consecutive championships since Patrick Callaghan in 2005-06.

'This year, mentally, was a lot tougher than last year,' Jung said. 'Even though last year I was the one-seed, I hadn't proven anything yet. This year, there was a lot more pressure.'

Saturday was the third meeting this season between Jung and Hoff, who have played against each other since the seventh grade in both United States Tennis Association tournaments and with the Hawkeye Tennis Academy in Iowa City.

Had Hoff not had the misfortune of being assigned to the same district as Jung, he likely would have been seeded for the state tournament. Widely recognized as one of the two or three best players in the state, Hoff validated that claim by running through third and second-seeded foes to reach the final.

'Playing against him is always tough emotionally,' Jung said. 'But I have to put that aside.'

The West doubles team of junior Cole Schneider and freshman Jack Wenzel advanced to the state championship match with an impressive 6-1, 6-1 defeat of last year's third-place team from Dubuque Senior, Gus Zuccaro and Jacob Mozena.

In the title match, Schneider and Wenzel pushed top-seeded Charlie Humes and Sriram Sugumaran of Pleasant Valley in the first set, but closed a fantastic first season as doubles partners with a state runner-up finish, 6-4, 6-0.

'I try to match complementary games and Cole's all power and Jack's got good finesse,' West Coach Mitch Gross said. 'Cole likes to be a leader and I think it's good for him to have somebody to coach on the court a little bit and Jack's been very receptive to that. I saw some possibilities and some potential at the beginning of the season. I'm not sure I'd have written up that they'd end up in the state championship final, but I'm really pleased with how they performed and they should feel very proud of their accomplishment.'

Another first-year doubles pair – Linn Mar's Ben Hediger and Lucas Huffman – placed sixth in the consolation bracket after splitting a pair of matches against Mason City and West Des Moines Dowling.

Cedar Rapids Washington freshman Rami Scheetz finished seventh in his first appearance in the singles state tournament after a 6-4, 2-6, 10-7 victory over Cedar Falls senior Vineel Mallavarapu.

CLASS 2A BOYS' TENNIS STATE TOURNAMENT

At Cedar Rapids

(Veterans Memorial Tennis Center and Clark Racquet Center)

SEMIFINALS

Singles —

Jiung Jung (Iowa City West) def. Yasha Litvak (West Des Moines Valley), 6-2, 6-4; Joe Hoff (Iowa City High) def. Jonny Bowser (Fort Dodge), 6-2, 2-6, 7-5.

Doubles —

Charlie Humes/Sriram Sugumaran (Pleasant Valley) def. Isaac Luebke/Yash Singh (Bettendorf), 6-3, 6-2; Cole Schneider/Jack Wenzel (Iowa City West) def. Gus Zuccaro/Jacob Mozena (Dubuque Senior), 6-1, 6-1.

CHAMPIONSHIP

Singles —

Jung (ICW) def. Hoff (ICH), 6-4, 6-0.

Doubles —

Humes/Sugumaran (PV) def. Schneider/Wenzel (ICW), 6-4, 6-0.

l Comments: douglas.miles@thegazette.com