Sehome sophomore Zach Chai captured his second-consecutive 2A District 1 singles tennis championship on Oct. 17. The Mariners were guaranteed at least one district champion, as Chai had to defeat senior teammate Nathan Gruman for the title.
“I don’t really know the words for it, but it feels good,” Chai said. “I’m really happy.”
Chai stormed out a to 4-0 lead in the first set. Gruman responded, picking up the next two games to slim the deficit. Locking back in, Chai won the next two games to take the set 6-2.
It was a similar beginning for Chai in the second set, as he took a 3-0 lead over his fellow Mariner. The players split the next two games before Gruman won two consecutive games to make it 4-3. Chai quickly readjusted, winning heated rallies to close out the match with a 6-3 win in the second set.
Chai said no matter who his opponent is, he is focused on winning the match.
“Even if I’m playing a friend, or someone I don’t know, I always separate friendship from competition,” Chai said. “Competition will always be different for me than playing on the court with a friend.”
It’s an interesting experience facing a friend and teammate for a bid to state, Gruman said. Both of them were nervous before things got going.
“I wanted to beat him really bad. Part of me — a very small amount of me — did not want to because I’ve played with him for so long,” Gruman said. “I tried to fight that part away, and just focus on my tennis. At the end of the day, I played the best that I could.”
Chai advanced to the 2A state tournament for the second year in a row. He finished sixth last season after being knocked off in the quarterfinals. The state tournament will take place May 26–27, 2023, at the Nordstrom Tennis Center in Seattle.
Gruman will have another shot to advance to state on Oct. 18 when he faces Bellingham’s Jacob Kuhn in a loser-out, winner-to-state singles matchup at 2:30 p.m.
Sehome’s Calvin Kraynak and Whitt Gresham also competed in a district championship match, falling 7-5, 6-3 against Archbishop Murphy’s Cole and Sean Balen in the 2A District 1 doubles title contest.
Gresham and Kraynak declined to comment following the loss.
The pair will also have a shot to advance to state when they face Anacortes’ Matthew Rutz and Sawyer Nichols in a consolation final match on Oct. 18 at 2:30 p.m.
Kuhn’s path to the consolation final was a difficult one. He defeated Squalicum’s Liam Oscarson 6-4, 3-6, 6-0 to advance to the semifinal. Kuhn then took down Anacortes’ Colton Hong in a two-set match to advance to the consolation final against Gruman.
Squalicum’s Trevor Lackey and Michael Woo lost a hard-fought three-set match to Anacortes’ Sam Davis and Fletcher Olson. Lackey and Woo dropped the first set 6-1 before battling back and winning the second 6-0. The pair were unable to keep up their momentum in the third, falling 6-1 and being eliminated from the tournament.
Bellingham’s Henry Sheldrup and Lucas Malnor lost Rutz and Nichols in another loser-out doubles match-up on the day, falling by scores of 6-3 and 6-0.
