Max Manthou stayed at the top of the ladder.
And Matt Overland impressively climbed another rung.
Kentwood high junior Manthou made it three straight Class 4A boys singles state championships this past Saturday afternoon, downing Overland, his fellow junior from Kentridge, 6-2, 7-6, in the finals at the Tri-City Court Club.
Manthou thus became the ninth boy at all classification levels to put three state tennis titles into the books. And he’s now in position to join a current group of five who have four championships if he can finish his prep career with another one next spring.
Winning for a third time proved meaningful, Manthou said.
“This was probably my most special state championship because I had most of my friends there,” he said.
Matter of fact, those friends were nice enough to dump Manthou in a nearby swimming pool 10 minutes after winning the third title.
On a day that reached nearly 100 degrees, it was the perfect capper to a flawless tournament for Manthou.
“My friends kept telling me, ‘We have a surprise for you by the outdoor tennis court and (my friend) wouldn’t let me go into the bathroom to change,” Manthou continued. “Then another one of my friends picked me up, carried me on his shoulders, dangling through the private club — it was kind of embarrassing — and tossed me in the pool.
“Once I was in, I didn’t want to get out.”
As impressive as Manthou was, Overland was almost as good.
Overland didn’t even make state as a freshman, but qualified last year as a sophomore and went home with the third-place medal and a sportsmanship award. He and Manthou met in the state semifinals in 2008, with Manthou prevailing, 6-3, 6-1, and also played for the West Central District crown last Saturday, a 6-0, 6-4 decision for Manthou.
Despite falling to Manthou, Overland carries strong respect for his Kentwood counterpart.
“When I face him on the court, I think of him as a rival and I want to beat him,” said Overland. “But we like each other.”
Kentridge coach Bob Armstrong was impressed with Overland’s performance.
“Matt is tough,” the coach said. “Max leans more toward finesse and has all the strokes. Matthew almost has all the strokes.”
It was nice, however, to see a familiar face across the net for the final, Manthou conceded.
“I was happy to see Matt, for sure,” Manthou said. “He’s a friend of mine. There were a couple other guys who he had competition with and I wasn’t sure if he was going to make it.
“It was definitely a friendly final.”
The title is just another piece to the bigger picture, Manthou noted.
“It’s just another stepping stone to all four,” he said.
Overland’s big performance keyed Kentridge’s team push. The Chargers collected 11 total team points, taking second just behind Richmond, which claimed the state title with 13 points. Kentwood wasn’t far behind, either, racking up 10 team points — all of which came from Manthou — in tying Wenatchee for third place.
Manthou, who has made a verbal commitment to the University of Washington, now is 12 for 12 in state matches, not losing so much as a set. The 11th match on that list was Saturday’ morning’s 6-2, 6-0 semifinal victory against Stanwood’s Kyle Koetje.
Overland had all he could handle from Richland’s Troy Zuroske in the first set of their semifinal, but was in command of the second set to finish off a 7-6, 6-0 victory.
Manthou and Overland were the only Kent-area players who made it to state Saturday in Kennewick. Kentridge senior Kim Quach and Kentwood freshman Tess Manthou exited the girls singles bracket on Friday, and KR’s boys doubles combo of Paul Yi and Vineeth Omkaram also were sent to the sidelines on the first day.
Yi and Omkaram did win one of their three matches, as did Quach.
3A STATE: Thorp brothers just miss doubles medal
Down south in Vancouver, Kent brothers Connor and Mitchell Thorp, who attend Kennedy High in Burien, came within one victory of a boys doubles medal.
The Thorps, after surviving a marathon match against fellow Seamount Leaguers Malik Keval and Jeff Nguyen of Highline in a consolation quarterfinal on Friday, fell short against Seattle Prep’s Taylor Hunt and Garrett Vincent on Saturday, 6-4, 7-5. Garrett and Vincent wound up taking the fourth-place medal.
Through their four matches in two days, the Thorps got in more action than anyone else in the boys doubles draw, playing 99 games plus a tiebreaker. That included a pair of three-setters on Friday: a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3 quarterfinal loss to Mercer Island’s Max Franklin and Andrew Smith, and a 7-6 (7-5), 5-7, 7-5 victory against Highline’s Keval and Nguyen in the consolation quarterfinals.
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