Apr 7, 2015 2 min read

Chris Gladden captured his second straight section title and advanced to this week’s WPIAL singles championships for boys’ tennis.

The Canon-McMillan senior outlasted Fernando Escribens from Upper St. Clair, 6-2, 7-6 (7-5), to claim the Section 4-AAA title. After receiving a first-round bye, Gladden dispatched Hogan Altman of Trinity, 10-4, and Bethel Park’s Aaron Coplan, 10-1, to reach the Final Four. In the semifinals, he dispatched USC’s Scott Russell, 6-0, 6-1.

Escribens’s road to the finals was paved with victories against Trinity’s Nathan Bazant, 10-0, BP’s Adam Ackerman, 10-1, and Dane Bendel of Mt. Lebanon, 7-5, 6-2.

Bendel defeated Russell, 6-4, 6-1, in the third-place consolation match and earned a spot in the WPIAL tournament, which featured first-round action April 7 and championship play April 8 at Norwin (weather permitting).

Bendel made his way through the section tournament with opening-round triumphs against Luke Vollmer from Canon-Mac, 10-1, and Ryan Farrell of Peters Township, 10-1, before falling to Escribens in the semifinals.

Russell had beaten Lebo’s Christian Vietmeier, 10-5, and PT’s Miguel Ascencio, 10-1, in his opening matches.

Chartiers Valley had two participants in the tournament. Kevin Rectenwald and Nick Calla won first-round matches before being eliminated.

Justin Nedzevsky from Seton-La Salle and the Keystone Oaks duo of Richard Novak and Mike Meyer advanced to the quarterfinals of Section 4-AA play before being ousted.

Noah Weiss and Devin Stolar represented South Park in the Section 1-AA tournament.