Green Devils secure title

By JOHN C. COTEY
Published April 19, 2006

CLEARWATER - Note to whoever plays Nick Gallauer next:

Shhhhhhhhh.

Prodded by a little pre-match banter, Gallauer put an exclamation point on St. Petersburg's district championship Tuesday with a thorough 6-0, 6-0 victory at the McMullen Tennis Center.

Gallauer said his victory over Palm Harbor University's Andy Fisch was fueled by some comments suggesting his 8-4 win in last week's regular-season finale wasn't quite as dominant as people may have thought.

"I heard he was saying he played me tough and the score was 8-6 - it wasn't - so I wanted to leave no doubt this time," Gallauer said. "I made sure I didn't mess around and kept it serious out there."

"I think the other kid tugged at Superman's cape a little bit," St. Petersburg coach Alan Turnquist said.

St. Petersburg and PHU were tied coming in and met in four of five singles finals. The Green Devils cruised to straight-set wins in each, dropping only 10 games to finish with 19 points. PHU was second with 12, and Pinellas Park was third with 8.

At No. 1 singles, 2004 Times Player of the Year Sheh Wali beat Alonso's Tyler Snook 6-3, 6-2, then teamed with Gallauer - the 2005 Player of the Year - to win at No. 1 doubles.

TARPON SPRINGS - It wasn't easy but Matt Herrock is the newest and youngest state tournament entry, as the East Lake freshman No. 1 will join his girls counterpart, Tara Vafadari. Behind those wins, and the gutsy team play of the rest of the Eagles, East Lake won both the boys and girls team competitions. Fabio Pagani, who let go of the Eagles' top position with Herrock back in form, graciously won his No. 2 match, and Mike Groom won the No. 5 match to give the Eagles a 17-15 edge over Osceola, who came into the day tied with East Lake.

"We pretty much have to babysit him," Groom said of Herrock. "But tonight I think he's buying dinner."

- ERIC MUSKATEVC, Times correspondent

ST. PETERSBURG - Lacking a top seed in any of the singles or doubles brackets, Lakewood had to scrape and claw for the tournament title. The Spartans (9-5) did that and wound up runaway champs at the St. Petersburg Country Club.

On the strength of singles titles from second seeds Robby Nichols (No. 2) and Ryan Richardson (No. 3), Lakewood tallied 17 points, six more than second-place Northeast.

By the time Nichols, a wiry freshman, teamed with Mike Taylor to win the No. 2 doubles title, the Spartans already had clinched.

"I'm thrilled with the way the boys played," first-year Lakewood coach Beth Brubaker said. "For them to get everyone to the finals is just awesome. They really worked hard for that."

Jorge Guerra, Northeast's hotshot freshman, earned a state pass by routing Lakewood's Mike Fronduto 6-0, 6-0 for the No. 1 singles title. Guerra, 15-0 in singles, also teamed with Jon Walters to capture the No. 1 doubles championship.

- EMERY SKOLFIELD, Times correspondent

VALRICO - When Jesuit and Newsome faced off for the district championship, both came in with 10 points and head-to-head meetings loomed in all five singles matches.

The Tigers won four of the singles. Jesuit also took both doubles finals for 19 points, followed by Newsome with 15.

"During the regular season of 15 matches, we played some of the best teams I could schedule," Jesuit coach Joe Curtis said. "We placed fourth last year at state, but I hope we can improve on that this season."

St. Petersburg Catholic was third with six points and Robinson finished with one.

- TERRY JONES, Times correspondent

CLEARWATER - By the time the boys singles championships were completed, Shorecrest knew it had clinched its fifth straight team title.

Michael Kopelman, Alexander Saltiel and Matthew Smith all won singles titles, and Brett Apter and Andrew Smith were both runnerups. The Chargers were represented in all five singles finals and had 18 points before doubles began. Indian Rocks Christian was the next closest opponent with 11 points, but had no chance of passing Shorecrest in doubles.

This will be the second trip to regionals for Kopelman, a sophomore.

Senior Nick Berning of Clearwater Central Christian was the first singles champion and automatically qualifies for state. Berning will be making his first trip as a singles player. He previously qualified in doubles.

"I had my goal. I wasn't going to let anyone stop me," Berning said. "I'll have to be a little more focused at states and be more consistent."

Berning also teamed with Kirk Kucin to defeat Apter and Kopelman 3-6, 6-1, 7-5. At second doubles, Saltiel and Matthew Smith defeated Todd Schooler and Kyle Woodbury of Indian Rocks Christian 6-2, 6-1.

- DOUG KATES, Times correspondent

[Last modified April 19, 2006, 01:59:13]