Boys tennis: Highland's Conlan Wright, Alex Horton celebrate senior day with win in sweep of Medina

GRANGER TWP. — Conlan Wright and Alex Horton celebrated senior day in style, winning 6-4, 6-1 at second doubles Monday as the Highland boys tennis team downed Medina 5-0 in a non-league match. Two of the three seniors on the Hornets' 25-man roster — Jimmy Duffy played in an exhibition doubles match — Wright, who started at first doubles as a junior, is ninth on Highland's player rankings, while Horton is 16th. Both have been a part of the program for four years, with Wright also playing two varsity matches as a sophomore and another earlier this season. It was Horton's first time playing in the seven-player varsity lineup. "I just came to play with a friend," Horton said. "I was having fun. I thought we were going to win. I had a good partner and I felt like I had been playing well." Medina's Aiden Yaworski and Stefan Murea battled in a close first set, but Highland's senior duo pulled away in the second behind consistent forehands and some overhead winners at the net. Wright entered the season expecting to play in the top seven, but due to doubles matchups ended up spending most of his time with the varsity "B" team. "It was difficult, for sure, at the start," he said. "All the work I put in didn't amount to anything, but I got to pick my partner (junior Cooper Lutz on varsity "B"), so that made it beneficial and a lot of fun." Highland (10-2) dominated the Bees (2-9) on the singles courts, losing just two of 38 games in a meeting of schools that will move into the Suburban League National Conference to start the 2026-27 school year. Sophomore Ani Katta won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1, as did junior Sawyer Sulzener at No. 2, while freshman third singles player Aaron Davis posted a double bagel. The Hornets' Jared Bryan and Keaton Jones, who normally play second doubles, dropped just three games at the No. 1 position. "It's definitely been different than last year," Katta said of moving up from second singles. "The competition is better, but I've gotten better as well." Katta and Sulzener are expected to play doubles in the postseason, where Katta hopes to qualify for the state tournament like he did a year ago with since-graduated two-time Gazette MVP Luke Butcher. "I hope to have the same success as last year," he said. "I feel confident in our abilities." First up for Highland is the SL American Tournament, which it will host Thursday. The Hornets won the regular-season title and are favored to repeat as tournament and overall SL American champion. "We just have to do the same as we did in the regular season," said Katta, who will enter as the second seed. "Our second and third singles and both doubles didn't lose, so if we just do the same we'll be OK." For Medina, a difficult season continued from a victory standpoint, but that's not due to a lack of effort. Two players who would have been at or near the top of the lineup elected not to play tennis, so everyone is playing up one or two spots. Though they didn't win many games, second singles player Malachi Pimpo and No. 3 Josh Zabka had some great rallies and decent games against quality opponents, as did first singles player Noah Welsh, who played third singles and first doubles last season as a sophomore. Welsh has just one win on the season, but he will have played three 2025 state qualifiers by the end of the regular season and several others who have a solid chance to make it this year. "You play a lot of hard people at first singles," he said. "I'm just trying to get better this season so I can be better next season." Contact Rick Noland at (330) 721-4046 or rnoland@medina-gazette.com. Highland 5, Medina 0 Singles — Ani Katta (H) d. Noah Welsh, 6-0, 6-1; Sawyer Sulzener (H) d. Malachi Pimpo, 6-0, 6-1; Aaron Davis (H) d. Josh Zabka, 6-0, 6-0. Doubles — Jared Bryan/Keaton Jones (H) d. Chase Martineau/Landon Janney, 6-1, 6-2; Conlan Wright/Alex Horton (H) d. Aiden Yaworski/Stefan Murea, 6-4, 6-1. Records — Medina (2-9), Highland (10-2).