Tradition never graduates.
Covington Catholic once again won the boys singles and doubles titles in the 9th Region tournament on Wednesday at Covington Catholic High School. It was the Colonels sixth straight season doing so.
Blake Hussey, already a doubles champion last year and a last name that has claimed many tennis titles from Park Hills, won the singles title with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Villa Madonna’s Shayaan Ahmad. Hussey didn’t drop a set in the tournament and lost just six games in four matches. He joins his brothers Brady and Austin as singles champions. He lost to Brady his freshman year in the region championship when Brady was a junior and won a doubles title last year as a sophomore with Kalei Christensen, who graduated last year.
Third time was the charm for the Covington Catholic doubles team of Jacob Kramer and William Tribble, who also claimed a title. They defeated Beechwood’s Neel Reddy and Andrew Dunaway in three sets, 6-3, 3-6, 10-4. Kramer and Tribble were finally able to break through after reaching the region finals the prior two seasons and losing to teammates in the championship match. Last year they lost to teammates Hussey and Christensen. In 2024, they had lost to Christensen and Alex Yeager.
Despite the roster turnover with players moving on to the next stage of their life, one thing remains constant…CovCath’s next man up continues to get the job done in Northern Kentucky.
The four semifinalists in each of the singles and doubles tournament automatically qualify for the state tournament that begins on May 20 at Sayre High School. Outside of Hussey and Ahmad, Ryle’s Navneeth Selvaraju and Highlands Dylan Fortner also qualified for the state tournament as semifinalists.
In doubles, outside of Kramer and Tribble and Reddy and Dunaway, Highlands’ Lukesh Muzumdar and Daniel Beasey and Villa Madonna’s Drew Gray and Andrew Kramer also qualified as semifinalists.
PHOTOS: Slideshow of the 9th Region boys tennis tournament provided by Charles Bolton
In the boys 10th Region tennis tournament at Mason County, Campbell County’s doubles team Cameron Wells and Christopher Wells lost in the semifinals as did Camels singles player Sebastian Niemeier, with all three advancing to the state tournament.
In the 8th Region boys tournament at Collins, Walton-Verona’s Finley Mackay reached the championship match before falling to North Oldham’s Samuel Gurevich, 6-1, 2-0 (retired).
In the 8th Region girls tournament also at Collins, Simon Kenton’s doubles team of Gabrielle Browning and Annika Derks reached the semifinals before falling to North Oldham’s Chloe Gerber and Gabriela Ajkay in three sets, 5-7, 6-1, 10-6.