The Canadian Wildcats and Lady Cats swept their competitors last week in the District 1-3A meet held at Amarillo’s Tascosa High School. The Varsity and Junior Varsity boys and girls teams simply dominated the overall team championships: Canadian’s Varsity players piled up 71 team points over Spearman’s 22 and Dalhart’s 12, while the Junior Varsity boys and girls collected a total of 71 points versus Spearman’s 20 and Dalhart’s 19.

Canadian’s Varsity brought home championship trophies in Mixed Doubles, both Boys and Girls Doubles, and in Girls Singles. The Junior Varsity teams also made a haul, with championships in Mixed Doubles, Girls Doubles, and both Girls and Boys Singles.

Altogether, Coach Tim Fletcher will take a dozen varsity players to the regional tournament April 11-12, including Tessa Ash and Anderson Perkins, and Clara Pulliam and Isay Ramirez in Mixed Doubles; Jaxtyn Valenzuela in Boys Singles; Nathan Wagner and Teagan Ash in Boys Doubles; Kelsey Dockray in Girls Singles; Brooklyn Cochran and Audrey Abraham, and Berkleigh Baileys and Alise Jacquez in Girls Doubles.

Regionals will be held at the Rose Park Tennis Center in Abilene.

VARSITY MIXED DOUBLES

Tessa Ash and Anderson Perkins fended off teammates Clara Pulliam and Isay Ramirez in mixed doubles to claim championship medals, having defeated Tulia’s Lopez/Rodriquez 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, and felled Spearman’s Quezada/Riggins 6-1, 6-0 in the semi-finals. Pulliam/Ramirez started by toppling Dalhart’s Quiroz/Garcia 6-3, 6-0, and won the semis against Spearman’s Varrela/Barrett 6-1, 6-3, before dropping the all-Canadian final in a 7-6 (5), 6-1 bout. Varrela/Barrett claimed third in a 6-0, 6-4 win over their teammates Quezada/Riggins.

VARSITY BOYS SINGLES

Canadian’s Jaxtyn Valenzuela settled for silver following a 6-1, 6-2 championship loss to Spearman’s Jeb Garnett, after opening with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Spearman’s Sloan Knowlton, and a tougher 7-6 (4), 7-5 semi-final victory over Dalhart’s Benjamin Meyer. Teammate Victor Meraz won his first-round versus Dalhart’s Corbin Carnesecca 6-3, 6-4, was defeated by Garnett 6-0, 6-0 in the semis, and fell 6-2, 6-3 to Meyer in a bid for third-place.

VARSITY BOYS DOUBLES

Canadian’s Nathan Wagner and Teagan Ash were undaunted in their path to the championship, knocking off Tulia’s Hernandez/Abeja 6-1, 6-0 in the opening bout, besting Dalhart’s Forry/Sukhain in the semis 6-3, 6-1, and putting away Spearman’s Whiteley Pipkins 6-1, 6-1 for the gold. Max Dumbauld and Trace Mitchell opened with a 6-0, 6-2 win over Dalhart’s Drew/Kelso, dropped their second round versus Whiteley/Pipkins 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, then gutted it out versus Dalhart’s Forry/Sukhain for the bronze medal in a 3-6, 7-6 (10), 6-4 prize fight.

VARSITY GIRLS SINGLES

Lady Cats Kelsey Dockray claimed the gold in her singles quest, eliminating Spearman’s Landrie Black in the semis 6-0, 6-0, following an opening round bye, and defeating Dalhart’s Emily Gaines 7-6 (4), 6-4 in the championship round. Canadian's Abi Voorhees opened with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Tulia’s Jaylei Height, lost her semi-final 6-1, 6-3 to silver medalist Gaines, then defeated Spearman’s Landrie Black 6-1, 6-1 to take the bronze.

VARSITY GIRLS DOUBLES

Canadian’s Brooklyn Cochran and Audrey Abraham handily won their first two rounds 6-0, 6-0 versus Tulia’s Alvarez Briones and Dalhart’s Moore/Stady, advancing to the finals versus Berkleigh Baileys and Alise Jacquez, where they edged out their teammates 6-4, 6-4 for the gold. Baileys/Jacquez eliminated Tulia’s Williams Mojica in a 6-0, 6-2 opener, and beat eventual bronze medalists Ball/Jurajda of Dalhart 6-1, 6-0 to get to the championship round and clinch the silver.

JV GIRLS SINGLES

Lady Cats Ainsley Cook and Brooklyn Beedy claimed the top two spots in their singles competition. Following a first-round bye, Cook bested teammate Yessica Martinez 8-1 in the semis, then Beedy 8-6 to win gold. Beedy opened with an 8-2 win over teammate Perla Vigil and won a semi-final round versus Dalhart’s Kirsten Bezner 8-6, before losing to Cook in the finals and collecting a silver medal. Martinez defeated Dalhart’s Abigail Amaya 8-5 in round one, fell to Cook 8-1 in the semis, then lost the medal round 8-5 to Bezner.

JV GIRLS DOUBLES

This competition was all Lady Cats, from start to finish. Canadian flooded the court with black and gold and claimed all three top spots. Gold medalists Kinlee Dunbar and Bralee Crossland eventually claimed the championship in a hard-fought 9-8 (5) win over teammates and silver medalists Mallory Poe and Addi Wall, who advanced to the finals with an 8-1 victory over teammates and bronze medalists Paula Castaneda and Iris Mondragon. Poe/Wall claimed victories over teammates Garcia/Cedillo (8-5), Beedy/Bass (8-6), and Castaneda/Mondragon (8-1). Castaneda/Mondragon opened with an 8-1 win over Tulia’s Brown/Barajas, then an 8-2 victory over Canadian’s Rodriguez/Levya, who had beaten Spearman’s Munoz/Kelsey 8-1 in round 1. Saldivar/Gonzales had a first-round win over Tulia’s Castellon/Nolan 8-2, and an 8-6 bout versus Dalhart’s Garcia/Quiroz, before losing to Dunbar/Crossland 8-3. Lady Cats Antillon/McLanahan eliminated teammates Aragon/Boyd 8-1 in their opener before losing 8-3 to Dunbar/Crossland.

JV BOYS DOUBLES

Two Canadian doubles teams—Mondragon/Meraz and Vargas/Herrera—lost their opening bids in that competition.

JV BOYS SINGLES

Collier Cook was the sole Wildcat in his division, and made it count. Following a first-round bye, Cook faced off against two Dalhart players—bronze-medalist Matthew Lees of Dalhart for an 8-5 victory, and in the championship round, silver-medalist William Schnierderjan 8-5.

JV MIXED DOUBLES

The Wildcat JV had only themselves to beat in this competition. Lacking any challengers from other schools, the Cats won all three medals. The winners faced off head-to-head bouts, with ties determined by the least amount of games lost. Baileys/Santoyo won a 9-7 bout versus Osornio/Rivera, then lost to Morales/Powell 8-3. Osornio/Rivera fell to Morales/Powell 8-6. Morales/Powell won first-place, followed by Baileys/Santoyo in second and Osornio/Rivera third.