The Bedford High School boys’ tennis team fell one match short of the MIAA Division 3 state championship on Saturday morning.
The crown again goes to Weston High School – its seventh in a row, most of which were Division 4 championships. Weston and Bedford were seeded first and second in the MIAA power rankings all season long.
Coach John Geilfuss said it was no secret that Weston would be tough to beat. And even with the disappointing loss, he said, “I think we were the best ‘team’ in the Dual County League. By that, I mean the kids all played for each other, they really worked together.”
The deciding showdown on Saturday at MIT’s duPont tennis complex was between Bedford junior Dillon Denny-Brown and the Dual County League Player-of-the-Year, Max Ding.
Denny-Brown started out on fire, breaking Ding’s serve and dominating play to go up 4-2. Ding then raised his level and the battle was on through the end of the set with multiple deuce games and spectacular points. But with his consistency and excellent shot placement, Ding was able to come back and break Denny-Brown’s serve in the final game to squeak out the first set at 6-4.
By the second set, the team score was tied at two, and players, coaches, and fans from both sides gathered to watch the final match. And the high level of play between Ding and Denny-Brown continued for a while.
Ding held serve first, and then broke Denny-Brown’s serve, but Denny-Brown broke right back to get back on serve at 1-2. At that point, Ding’s consistency won out over Denny-Brown’s shot-making, and he took the final games and set, 6-1, sealing the championship for the Wildcats.
“We knew we needed to win one of the singles, and we had some momentum going,” Geilfuss lamented.
Bedford’s first doubles combination of Leo Natalizio and Charles Demeo started strong and continued their excellent teamwork and impressive reflexes at net and attacking style throughout the match. They won in convincing fashion in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
Also starting out strong was the second doubles team of Logan Cox and Rylan Nichols, winning the first set 6-2. Their opponents battled to a five-all tie late in the second set, and then Nichols and Cox hit several key shots to take the last two games and match.
Weston dominated the singles competition. Bedford’s Jeremy Gu continued his high-energy play, but ran into one of the best second-singles players in the state, Peter Chen, and lost in straight sets 6-2, 6-0.
At third singles, junior co-captain Spencer Goss, who switched with Nichols for the championship match, faced off against experienced, towering, and high-level senior Magnus Starrett, one of the top players in the state for some time. Despite many great and entertaining points, Goss ran into buzz-saw and lost 6-2, 6-1.
Reviewing the 2024 campaign, the Bucs’ camaraderie got stronger through the season, as did their play. The schedule featured excellent matches against many of the best Division 1, 2, and 3 teams in the state, which helped secure a high power ranking.
The Bedford boys are a deep team with only one senior, Jeremy Gu, so another fun season next year likely awaits.
Two years ago, the Bucs lost 3-2 in the Division 3 finals to Wayland, now competing in Division 2.
Doug Denny-Brown contributed significantly to this report.
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