“There was so much growth from last year,” Springboro coach Troy Holtrey said. “When things got tough, they continued to battle back. I was really proud of that.”
The Springboro duo had already checked off a bucket list item as the first Dayton-area D-I team to claim the district doubles title in close to two decades.
“The competition in this part of the state is just so good,” Holtrey said.
Teamwork came up big for the Baumgartner, a recent graduate, who played first singles all season and Nelson, a sophomore, who split his time between second singles and first doubles.
“One of the things that really jumped out to me was that they did a great job of picking each other up,” Holtrey said. “Multiple times they put themselves in difficult situations and they never gave up.”
Division II: Northwestern senior Aiden Yeager doubled his previous state win total with two wins in the D-II singles competition this season. Yeager closed out his high school career with a fourth-place state finish and a 118-12 record.
“He’s much more experienced playing high quality matches,” Northwestern coach Geoff Springer said. “He really upped his USTA schedule over the past year.”
That experience paid off for the now Warriors graduate as the third-seeded Yeager beat second-seeded Jacob Khvalsky of Gahanna Columbus Academy, and first-seeded Chase Young of Sandusky Perkins, enroute to the semifinals.
There was little time to celebrate his fourth-place finish as Yeager was quickly on the road with his school graduation ceremony the same night. Arriving just five minutes before the ceremony began, the Warriors four-year No. 1 singles player had a little extra bling with the state medal around his neck.
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