DENNIS SILVA II | STAFF WRITER
Jack Wang was not nervous. He had every reason to be with a Class 6A state tennis tournament bid on the line.
Instead, Wang was excited. Thrilled.
“I gave it my all,” Wang said of his 6-2, 6-0 Region IV-6A playback second-place win Wednesday over San Antonio Clark’s Zach Frisbie. “Starting since August, I knew that this year I had to go to state and I had to do whatever it takes.”
The McAllen Memorial junior, along with the Mustangs’ boys doubles team of brothers Alan and Daniel Magadan, heads to the state tournament May 16 at Texas A&M University.
Also heading to state is Sharyland High’s mixed doubles team of Sebastian Arizola and Emilia Ramos, Sharyland Pioneer’s boys doubles team of Stevan Guarneri and Gabriel Martin, and Pioneer’s Joaquin Delgado. They will compete at the Class 5A state meet, also May 16 at Texas A&M University.
In his first year playing singles, Wang said he has played more consistent this season. He has placed balls where he wants them and has worked on his forehand to where it has become more of a weapon.
Against Frisbie, Wang knew he had an advantage from a stamina standpoint.
“He had a match before ours that went long, and I had finished a bit earlier,” Wang said. “I was well-rested. I knew he was tired, so I tried to move him around the court a lot.”
Wang’s win was not a surprise. What was a shocker was the Magadans’ victory over a dominant New Braunfels duo of Zach Haynie and Alejandro Caviedes.
Haynie and Caviedes have been regulars at the state tournament recently, but freshman Alan and senior Daniel prevailed 6-2, 5-7, 6-2.
“They had really good hands, so the thing that helped us is dominating the net,” Alan said. “I was excited. It’s an opportunity to go to state with my brother, so it was great motivation.”
The Magadan brothers have played tennis since they were 4 years old.
“Being brothers, it helps a lot because we can tell each other things that can motivate us,” Alan said. “We have more trust in each other.”
McAllen Memorial coach Rhodora Elizondo said the boys’ spirit was crystal clear.
“When you watched, I felt our team had more passion,” Elizondo said. “Those are seniors at New Braunfels that have been going to state consistently, and this is the first time they were upset.”
In their first season as a doubles team, the Rattlers’ Arizola and Ramos took down Vandegrift’s Roy King and Danielle Cuteri, 5-7, 7-5, 7-6.
“In the first set, we were evaluating everything, finding out their weaknesses,” said Arizola, who qualified for state last year on the Rattlers’ boys doubles team with Carlos Ramones. “We served everything to their backhands and we started executing. It won us some close points.”
Coach Yvette Vela saw better focus the last two sets.
“There were a lot of pressure points and they managed to execute them,” Vela said. “We won 10-8 in a tiebreaker to 7 and it was incredible. They had opportunities and we had opportunities and we managed to pull through.”
Pioneer’s Guarneri and Martin placed second, falling 4-6, 6-0, 4-6 to Vandegrift’s Zach Delmonico and Chris McKenzie in the championship match. Pioneer’s Delgado beat Austin LBJ’s Naveen Yarlagadda to advance.
“We had a talk after they had won the district meet that we believed we honestly had a shot at state,” Pioneer boys coach Rick Rivera said. “It wasn’t a surprise. They worked hard and this was expected. This means everything.”
Delgado, a junior, re-aggravated a stress fracture in his foot last season that forced him to withdraw during district play. He rebounded to have a healthy and rewarding year.
“He has a very big serve, he’s very consistent and he has excellent ground strokes,” Rivera said. “He’s the entire package.”
Martin is a freshman and Guarneri is a junior. It took a while for them to build chemistry as a doubles duo, but Rivera said they have only gotten stronger as the season has gone on.
“They’re a phenomenal team now,” Rivera said. “In the beginning, it was tough, but they’ve played through it. Gabriel is aggressive, energetic. Stevan is controlled, more steady. They balance each other out very well.”
This is the first time Pioneer sends anyone to the state tennis tournament. The program is in its second year of competition.