At the beginning of the season Lexington tennis player Mason Dragos said his goal was to still be alive on Saturday in the state tournament and he is after winning both of his matches on Friday.
Dragos beat Alexander Warstler of Cincinnati Indian Hill in the first round 6-3,6-2 and then knocked off Joel Montgomery of Worthington Christian 6-4, 4-6, and 6-2 in quarterfinal action. He will play J.J. Wolf of Cincinnati Country Day in the semi finals on Saturday morning at the courts at The Ohio State University.
Coach Ron Schaub says in Columbus you have to be at the top of your game and Dragos was on Firday. “In the individual tournament you are only talking about the best players in the state. He has got a kid (Saturday) who is very, very good in J.J. Wolf of Cincinnati Country Day. Mace is playing really, really strong and hopefully he will be able to continue on (Saturday),” he said.
This is the third straight state tournament appearance for Dragos, a junior, and Schaub says he has improved his power game and that has made him a better player. “I was worried about the number three player out of Cincinnati. Cincinnati is a hot bed for tennis. I thought Mace’s power was just a little more than that kid had. It was a close match even though the scores were 6-3, 6-2, it was a lot closer than that. Joel Montgomery is a very good player, a good ball striker. Mace got the first set, Montgomery dug deep and got the second set. He is a little bit stronger than he was last year and that is what helped him through,” said Schaub.
Dragos and Wolf have played twice already this year and Schaub looks for as an excellent match come Saturday morning. “The kid he plays is very, very strong. Mace has beaten that kid one time and that kid has beaten Mace one time. Hopefully he will be on his game and ready to play. J.J. Wolf doesn’t have any weaknesses. Hopefully it will come down to a couple of big points and it will be Mace’s day,” he said.
The Lexington doubles team of Matt Youse and Tommy Barkett won their first match Friday by beating Jacob Stavsky and Henry Chavez of Cincinnati Seven Hills 6-4,6-1, but lost in the quarters to Brett Dubin and Karan Gill of Beachwood 7-6 (7-4) and 6-4.
Schaub says those two kids are hard workers that are only going to get better as players. “They are two great kids. Matt Youst is a very, very hard worker. Tommy Barkett is a very hard worker. We got the first match and it was doable in the second match. We just couldn’t quite get over the hump. They will be back next year and they will work hard,” he says.
Lexington, the third seed, plays Columbus Academy, the second seed, in the semi finals of the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association team tournament on Sunday.