Carpico, Uppu among group advancing to state semis
Thursday, May 25, 2023
By Jarrod Ulrey
julrey@cbussports.com
Pickerington North’s Pavan Uppu hits a shot during his first-round 6-0, 6-0 win over Toledo St. John’s Jesuit’s Tyler Wood in the Division I state tennis tournament May 25 at Ohio State. Photo: John Hulkenberg
During the opening day of the state boys tennis tournament Thursday at Ohio State, the Central District’s top two singles players in Division I, along with two Division I and two Division II doubles teams, all kept their seasons alive.
The state semifinal round will be held Friday in the Ty Tucker Tennis Center, with OSU-signee Brandon Carpico of Gahanna Lincoln among the remaining players in Division I singles. Carpico was the 2021 state champion and last year’s state runner-up.
Pickerington North senior Pavan Uppu, who lost two matches this season to Carpico but is undefeated otherwise, survived to beat Springboro sophomore Rishi Dore 7-6 (7-5), 3-6, 7-5 in a quarterfinal to set up a matchup with Cincinnati Sycamore junior Nick Choo in a state semifinal.
“I’m tired and I’m a little upset with how I played, but I won and hopefully I can play better tomorrow,” Uppu said.
The other Division I state singles semifinal will pit Carpico against Sycamore junior Nick Meyers after Carpico won both of his matches in straight sets.
Carpico’s 6-3, 6-1 win over Solon senior Nikolai Romanov in the first round was the 100th of his prep career.
“I don’t think I served very well today, which made things a little interesting, but overall I’m feeling pretty confident about my game,” Carpico said.
New Albany’s Jackson Clements hits a shot during his 6-2, 6-2 win over Avon’s Logan DeHaven in the first round of the Division I state tennis tournament May 25 at Ohio State. Photo: John Hulkenberg
Also in Division I singles, New Albany sophomore Jackson Clements lost in the second round and Upper Arlington senior Ethan Samora lost in the first round.
In Division I doubles, the Olentangy Orange duo of senior Kallan Arledge and freshman Nikil Bhimireddy and the Olentangy Liberty pair of juniors Jayanth Ramakkagari and Hummza Ali advanced to semifinals.
The New Albany doubles team of junior Ben Bilenko and freshman Tyler Thomas and the Olentangy doubles team of senior Mitchell MacDowell and junior Sujan Sriram lost in the second round.
In Division II doubles, sophomore Rowen Lo and freshman Nason Lo of Columbus Academy and senior Stefan Schiff and sophomore Sam Lessard of Bexley each advanced to semifinals.
In Division II singles, Wellington junior Sanjan Shanker and Academy sophomore Lucas Xue both lost in quarterfinals.