NK wins districts, sends players to state with BHS

By Nicholas Zeller-Singh Kitsap News Group • October 29, 2023 1:30 am

North Kitsap continued its dominant season on the tennis courts with a district championship over the weekend.

The Vikings will send three doubles teams and a singles player to state in the spring of 2024.

Mason Chmielewski and Spencer Gillespie will return to state after winning the doubles division.

On the first day of districts, Chmielewski and Gillespie swept Enumclaw’s duo 6-0, 6-0, and Franklin Pierce’s pair 6-0, 6-1.

On the second day, they beat Enumclaw’s top doubles team 6-0, 6-1, and then another NK doubles team consisting of Owen Wilkinson and Grady DeVries 6-4, 6-3.

Wilkinson and DeVries got to the final by defeating White River 6-1, 6-1, Port Angeles 6-7, 7-6, 6-2 and yet another Viking doubles team in Justin Gallant and Mason Repp 6-3, 6-2.

Gallant and Repp finished third with a 6-0, 6-4 victory over Sammamish, 6-1, 6-1 victory against Foss and a three-set victory over Enumclaw.

In singles, Indigo Gallagher-Zapf will represent the Vikings after finishing fourth at districts.

He won 6-0, 6-0 against Highline and 6-1, 6-1 against Franklin Pierce.

Dayshawn Harper of NK finished as an alternate again with a 6-2, 6-1 win against Enumclaw, 6-1, 6-1 victory against Franklin Pierce and 6-2, 6-1 against Sammamish for seventh place.

Meanwhile, the Bainbridge Spartans will send its top doubles team to state.

Aidan McLennan and Charlie Combs finished first at the 3A districts and completed the fall season undefeated. McLennan and Combs defeated Auburn Mountainview 6-0, 6-1, Central Kitsap’s Landon Frandsen and Nate Lander 6-4, 6-0, Capital 6-3, 6-3 and Lincoln 6-1, 6-1.

The Olympic League Boys Tennis Tournament occurred at North Kitsap High School Oct. 20-21 and the Vikings excelled, sending three singles and three doubles teams to district.

In singles, Gallagher-Zapf finished second. Gallagher-Zapf won his first match against Olympic’s Cam Guess 6-1, 6-1 and Port Angeles’ Kaden Lancaster 1-6, 6-3, 6-2. He lost in the finals 6-1, 6-1.

Harper finished third. He failed to drop a game against Bremerton’s Steven McIntyre and defeated Knight Joseph Cao 6-3, 6-1. After falling to the eventual winner, Harper defeated Cao again for the bronze medal 3-6, 6-0, 7-6.

Cao’s fourth-place path included victories over two Roughriders, Olympic’s Ryan Flatley and Lancaster.

Lancaster finished fifth with a victory over Olympic’s Jonah Panting.

On the doubles side, Chmielewski and Gillespie won over Repp and Gallant 6-2, 6-1 in the finals.

Chmielewski and Gillespie also defeated Kingston’s Riley Leibold and Aiden Matteson, Vikings’ Aiden Reister and Matthew Tan, and a Port Angeles duo.

Repp and Gallant’s path to the finals included victories over Olympic’s Levi Caldwell and Dylan Williams, a PA team, and Vikings DeVries and Wilkinson.

DeVries and Wilkinson bounced back with a third-place finish.

NK’s sixth doubles team, consisting of Greysen Pritchard and Jonas Funston, came in as the 16th seed. However, the two were a district alternate after finishing sixth. The squad lost its first match to DeVries and Wilkinson 6-3, 6-4. Yet, it won three straight before falling to DeVries and Wilkinson again 7-5, 6-2.