The Wyoming Seminary doubles team of Stefan Zecar and Billy Hall (far right) finished in third place in the PIAA Class 2A doubles championships on Saturday.
Courtesy of Wyoming Seminary
The Wyoming Seminary doubles team of Billy Hall and Stefan Zecar capped off a remarkable run through the Class 2A state playoffs with a bronze medal, winning the state third-place match on Saturday afternoon.
Hall and Zecar defeated the Wyomissing team of Truman Peters and Aaron Andrews 7-6 (4), 6-7 (6), 6-3 to win the bronze medals.
The Wyoming Seminary duo went 3-1 in total over the course of the two-day state tournament, advancing to the state semifinals in the process.
On Friday, Hall and Zecar started out the playoffs with a 6-0, 6-2 win over the District 6 team of Brett Hoffman and Sebastian Masterson from Westmont.
Hall and Zecar followed up with a win over the Valley High School team of Landon Harclerode and Tyler Quinn in the quarterfinals, defeating the District 7 team 6-3, 6-4.
The Seminary team’s quest for gold was ended in the state semifinals on Saturday as Hall and Zecar lost in straight sets to Armaan Malik and Jio Garcia from Conrad Weiser.
Malik and Garcia would go on to win the state championship later on Saturday.
Hall and Zecar were the only Wyoming Valley Conference representatives competing in Hershey this weekend, and their third-place finish was tied for the furthest run by any District 2 competitors across the singles and doubles tournaments.
In Class 2A singles, Scranton Prep’s Akihlesh Velaga also won a bronze medal, winning his third-place match 6-1, 7-5 over Saucon Valley senior Deven Pandey.
In Class 3A singles, Praneel Mallaiah was defeated in the first round by Conestoga’s Michael Gao.
Mallaiah’s Abington Heights teammates Brady Comstock and Liam Farrell met a similar fate in Class 3A doubles, falling in the first round to the team of Nathan Dolgushev and Charlie Bittinger from Lower Merion.
Local journalism matters, and your support makes it possible. You can help sustain this work by making a donation or choosing one of our subscription options. Subscribers enjoy valuable benefits, including full access to our e-edition, a reduced ad experience on timesleader.com, and more.
Your support helps ensure independent, high-quality local news remains available today and for future generations. Thank you for standing with local journalism.