BEAVERTON – Lincoln freshman Cayden Laughton handled being the No. 1 seed like a seasoned pro in the OSAA/OnPoint Community Credit Union 6A boys tennis tournament Saturday at Tualatin Hills Tennis Center.
One day after surviving a three-set semifinal – dropping a set for the first time this season – Laughton buckled down to dispatch Mountainside junior Arnav Arora 6-1, 6-4 in the championship match.
“It's a lot, freshman year, getting into it, having to get used to a new environment,” Laughton said. “It helped a lot with everyone cheering and supporting me. It means a lot to win the first year, and just to carry on the Lincoln streak.”
Laughton not only kept the singles title at Lincoln, where Will Semler won it the last three years, but his win in the final gave the Cardinals the 6A team title. Lincoln outscored runner-up West Linn 18-17 for its second championship in four seasons.
Cardinals coach Stuart Allen said that Laughton looked right at home on the big stage.
“Most players I've seen have to make an adjustment to the crowd, and they have to visualize what it's like to deal with all this pressure,” Allen said. “He rolled in today, and every match he was like, 'Yeah, bring it on.' The bigger the crowd, the better he played. I think he really enjoys the crowd, way more than I've seen any other player.”
Laughton, rated as the No. 15 freshman in the nation by Tennis Recruiting Network, said he got some advice from Semler, now playing in college at San Diego.
“He wished me luck this morning, and he told me just to have fun out there and enjoy the moment,” Laughton said.
In Friday's semifinals, Laughton fought off fourth-seeded Jesuit junior Tristan Hernandez 7-5, 4-6, 6-2. It set up the final against the third-seeded Arora, who pushed Semler to the limit in last year's semifinals before falling 7-5 in the third set.
“It made me extra focused for today, in a way, but it also gave me confidence and just an inner belief that I can win,” Laughton said. “And even if it goes to three sets, it's OK.”
Arora also had a difficult semifinal, needing more than three hours to overcome second-seeded West Linn senior Zach Steinberg 3-6, 7-5, 7-5.
Laughton had faced Arora once this season, beating him 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Jesuit Tournament, and knew he couldn't afford to let down. Arora had his moments in the second set but Laughton responded to close him out.
“You never know on any given day what's going to happen,” Laughton said. “I know how good of a player Arnav is. That second set there, I was just trying not to stress out too much because I know I have confidence in myself.”
West Linn's top-seeded doubles team of senior Rhyson Chiang and junior Perin Huberty won the title, defeating Sunset's sixth-seeded duo of senior Ian Arnold and junior Zane Moore 6-4, 6-3.
Chiang, who won the title last year with Keyan Fernando, initially planned to team with Steinberg this season. But when Steinberg preferred singles, he turned to Huberty.
“I've always been pretty good friends with him, so it wasn't hard to train together every day,” said Chiang, who has committed to play at Point Loma. “We had sort of a different strategy, so it was difficult to start off. It worked out pretty well.”
5A
In a rematch of last year's 5A singles final, Crescent Valley senior Richard Wang turned the tables to defeat La Salle Prep sophomore Kaiden Harris 6-3, 7-6 (2). Last year, Harris won 6-4, 5-7. 6-3.
“I stayed confident. Last year, I was just nervous,” Wang said. “I beat him once last season – he beat me at state – so I knew it was possible. I believed in myself.”
Wang said the thought of last year's finals loss was “sickening” to him.
“I wanted to get my get-back,” Wang said. “So it was exciting. I knew it was my last chance, so I gave it all I've got. … I played more aggressive. I came to the net.”
Summit seniors Alex Lindsay and Nolan Rife, seeded second, captured the doubles title with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Caldera's top-seeded team of senior Thijs Van Kuik and sophomore Max Voige.
In the final of the Intermountain Conference district tournament, Van Kuik and Voige beat Lindsay and Rife 2-6, 7-5, 6-4.
“We played a lot better today,” Rife said. “We kind of adjusted. We knew their game going into it this time. So we had a different game style to try to counter theirs.”
It was redemption for Lindsay, who lost in the doubles final last year with partner Austin Berg, a singles semifinalist this season.
“I just played horrible in the final last year,” Lindsay said. “I finally played good. It's awesome.”
La Salle Prep repeated as team champion, scoring 15 points to edge Summit (14.5) and Crescent Valley (14).
4A/3A/2A/1A
Behind an all-Roedl singles final, Marist Catholic won its third consecutive 4A/3A/2A/1A team title at the OSA Tennis Complex.
Junior EJ Roedl, the reigning champion and No. 1 seed, defeated his freshman brother, fourth-seeded Ryan Roedl, 6-3, 6-0 in the championship match.
EJ went 3-0 against his brother this season, also beating him in the Oregon Episcopal Tournament and the district final.
“Obviously, it's a bigger stage, so I was a little nervous,” EJ said. “But as soon as we started playing, the nerves kind of slipped away. But I had a great time. We both played really hard. He's a great sport.”
It is the last high school match in Oregon for the Roedls, who are moving to Philadelphia this summer.
“It hasn't quite registered yet,” EJ said. “For now, I'm just enjoying the state championship.”
The Spartans piled up 37 points to beat St. Mary's (26) for first place. Catlin Gabel and Oregon Episcopal tied for third at 15.
St. Mary's got a doubles title from its second-seeded team of sophomore Ben Smith and freshman Henry Smith. They came back to beat the No. 3 seed, Marist Catholic seniors Will Barsotti and Burkeley Knight-Sheen, 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the final.
Girls
6A
West Linn freshman Leah Lup, the No. 6 seed, completed an undefeated season by defeating fourth-seeded Nelson sophomore Sofia Sorokina 6-3, 6-4 in the 6A championship match. She is the Lions' first singles champion.
“It's always been my dream,” Lup said. “To win as a freshman, it's great. I'm super happy. … Seeding doesn't really mean anything to me. When I walked into the first match, I was of course super nervous, but I knew I had what it takes.”
Lup knocked out the top seed, Westview junior Nikhitha Suresh, 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals. That set up a match against Sorokina, who she defeated in straight sets in the quarterfinals of a junior tournament in Eugene last month.
“I knew it was going to be super tough today,” Lup said. “I knew she was going to adjust. I just had to be ready for whatever was going to come my way.”
Lup said she got “super tight” in the second set, especially when she double-faulted twice on championship point. But she was able to calm herself and put the match way.
“I was like, 'Oh man, I just have to close it out here. I don't want to go into a third,'” Lup said.
Lup and Sorokina grew up playing tennis together.
“One of the reasons I started wanting to compete was because of her,” Lup said. “She's always an inspiration to me. So being able to share the court in the finals with her is unbelievable.”
Westview's second-seeded doubles team of junior Malavika Rahul and senior Tessa Rozendal outlasted Jesuit's top-seeded team of juniors Sabrina Larsen and Lucy Hasle 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 for the title.
It was the third match this season between the Metro League rivals. Rahul and Rozendal won the first one in straight sets April 9 and Larsen and Hasle won in split sets in the final of the district tournament.
Rozendal said she and Rahul were too defensive in the district final.
“Going into this, we were like, 'No matter what happens, we have to stay aggressive,'” Rozendal said. “'We have to play our game and not let what they do affect us.'”
Westview captured its second team title in four seasons, scoring 19 points to overcome West Linn (16) and Jesuit (14).
5A
Summit sophomore Kate Bonetto, the No. 2 seed, denied a fourth title for La Salle Prep senior Kennedy Harris, the No. 1 seed.
Bonetto defeated the University of Portland-bound Harris 6-3, 6-2 in the 5A championship match to complete the season undefeated. Entering the match, neither player had dropped a set this season.
“Kate was on top of it today,” Summit coach Quinn McAndrews said. “She's been on top of it all season. There's been a different look in her eye these past two months. She was ready for this moment, and she went out there and took it.
“They've had a lot of good battles in the past in USTA. She was excited to play a good opponent.”
Bonetto, a semifinalist last year, becomes the second Summit girl to win a singles title, joining Laura Krull (2007). She lost only one game in the first three rounds, rolling over fourth-seeded Crescent Valley sophomore Keira Lin 6-0, 6-0 in the semifinals.
Bonetto's brother, Ben, won the 5A boys title for Summit in 2023 and is playing in college for the Coast Guard Academy. Her older brother, Nate, did not play at state due to an injury but had a college career at Florida.
Seniors McKenzie Larsen and Cecilia Gonenne became Churchill's first individual champions by taking the doubles title. Larsen and Gonenne, seeded fourth, defeated La Salle Prep's top-seeded team of senior Avalon Donnelly and junior Kaitlin Carter 6-3, 6-4 in the final.
“We didn't start off playing doubles this year, but we finished it off together, and it just means a lot,” Gonenne said. “The last two days have been the best tennis that we've ever played. Over the last four years, the exponential growth has been amazing to witness.”
They surprised themselves with the title.
“I think it's pretty accurate that both of us didn't think we'd win the title, but we're really excited,” Larsen said.
La Salle Prep and Summit tied for first place with 12 points each.
4A/3A/2A/1A
North Bend junior Raegan Farm had to dig deep to repeat as 4A/3A/2A/1A champion at the OSU Tennis Complex.
The top-seeded Farm subdued second-seeded Marist Catholic sophomore Whitney Hedden 6-3, 7-6 (8-6) in the final, coming back from down 4-1 in the second set.
“Raegen was playing OK, finding some things that were working against Whitney, and the second set, she just kind of went to the well a little too much,” North Bend coach Corey Goll said. “Overall, she outlasted her.
“I think they both played amazingly well. I think I saw Whitney play some of her best tennis. Raegan definitely got pushed.”
In her last two matches against Hedden, Farm won 6-2, 6-1 in last year's semifinals and 6-3, 6-4 last month.
A year ago, Farm denied Klamath Union's Patricia Dougherty a fourth state title by beating her 6-3, 6-1 in the championship match.
Catlin Gabel juniors Jiya Mehta and Amanda Perez, seeded second, won the doubles title. They defeated the third seed, St. Mary's senior Sydney Holdermann and sophomore Alison Olson, 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 in the final.
Perez won the doubles title in 2023 with Lily Wand. Perez made the singles quarterfinals last year.
St. Mary's won its first team championship, scoring 18.5 points to top Marist Catholic (17.5), Oregon Episcopal (14) and Catlin Gabel (12).
jerryu@osaa.org
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