Argylls Claim First County Tennis Title by Rob Hunt at The Herald Bulletin
FAIRMOUNT — It was fitting Madison-Grant’s three singles players, so instrumental in the Argylls’ 2022 sectional championship, were the first three off the courts with wins Friday night in the Madison County title matches against Pendleton Heights.
The trio of Luke Gilman, Christopher Fox, and Clayton Hull were able to withstand some early pressure, dominated their matchups, and made more M-G history with a 4-1 victory — the first Madison County title in program history.
For long-time Argylls coach Tony Pitt, there were plenty of smiles after the matches were concluded but not much surprise. After what his team accomplished a year ago, he expected it to take care of business this week and claim a trophy that had been in the possession of Lapel for nine straight years.
“It’s only been 18 years, but who’s counting?” Pitt said. “I was pretty calm going into it. This wasn’t their first rodeo as far as big matches. Last year with conference and sectional, I had complete faith in them.”
Gilman put the first point of the evening on the board with a 6-3, 6-0 win over Austin Perny, and Fox followed shortly thereafter with a 6-2, 6-1 win over Cove Ritchey.
Gilman has been dominant this week, dropping just 11 games in sweeping his Elwood, Frankton, and PH opponents during the tournament. His coach said the junior has been on a mission this season.
“I believe that’s 14 games he’s given up in eight matches this year,” Pitt said. “He’s coming out for business from the beginning.”
Meanwhile, Hull — after trailing 3-2 in the first set against Owen Kean — roared back to win 12 of the next 13 games for a 6-3, 6-1 victory, closing out the PH sophomore on his third match point.
Gilman and Fox were watching Hull and knew they had notched another milestone for their team and their coach.
“We’ve been close, but we came up short,” Fox said. “It feels great for that to not happen and finally pull this win across.”
Pitt was happy to see the school’s first county tennis title clinched by the three singles players — Fox and Hull are seniors, Gilman a junior — who have led the recent resurgence of Argylls tennis.
“They lift each other up on courts next to each other, too,” Pitt said. “They’ve been doing this for a few years now, so it was a great way for them to finish as the first three.”
Gilman pointed to last year’s Central Indiana Conference and first sectional championship as valuable experience heading into Friday’s final. Winning those high-pressure matches helped prepare the Argylls for the early push from the Arabians, who took early leads in several matches.
Pitt advised his players to weather the early storm.
“We were embracing the energy,” Gilman said. “They brought the energy, and we just kind of took it from them, and they didn’t have an answer.”
The M-G No. 2 doubles tandem of Jacob Moore and Brogan Brunt defeated Jaxton Bush and Isaac Haugh 6-4, 7-5 shortly after Hull’s match wrapped up for a 4-0 Argylls lead.
The Arabians salvaged one point as Ivan Chen and Garrett Morgan stormed back to defeat Ben Pax and Ty Evans in three sets, 3-6, 7-5, 10-8. The Arabians also trailed in the second set before forcing the third set, which was played as a 10-point tiebreaker as the outcome of the overall match had been decided.
The Argylls won their first championship in their third title match appearance — they fell to the Bulldogs in 2019 and 2020 — while the Arabians were runners-up for the third straight year and for the seventh time overall.
“There are more obstacles and great teams down the road, but there’s not another team I’d want than this group right here,” Pitt said.