CEDAR RAPIDS — It was far from a point of panic. A moment of legitmate concern, maybe.
The top-seeded doubles team, Rami Scheetz and Ty Sherman of Cedar Rapids Washington were a point away from a 5-3 second-set deficit in their quarterfinal match at the Class 2A boys’ state tennis tournament Friday at the Veterans Memorial Tennis Center.
“We’ve been in situations like that before,” Sherman said. “We had to stay calm, like it was any other point.”
Scheetz and Sherman won that point to get back to deuce, the first of 11 consecutive points to close out the match as they got past Iowa City West’s Brad DiLeo and Eli Young, 6-3, 6-4.
Now juniors, the Washington duo have been playing together since third grade. They were runners-up last year and hope to surpass that Saturday.
“We probably have more experience than anybody,” Scheetz said. “We started a little slow (in the quarterfinals). We’ve got to clean that up tomorrow.”
All four of the singles seeds advanced to Saturday’s semifinals, along with three of the four seeded doubles tandems.
Semifinals are scheduled for 10 a.m., with the championships set for 2 p.m.
Scheetz and Sherman are 17-0 this season.
“We have good chemistry,” Sherman said. “We know how to build off each other’s chemistry.”
Cedar Rapids Kennedy’s Rami Hemaiden was the victim of a bad draw last year, finishing behind Iowa City West’s Jiung Jung and Iowa City High’s Joe Hoff at districts. Jung and Hoff went on to finish 1-2 at state.
They’ve graduated, and Hamaiden has sailed to a 16-0 singles mark this year. He is seeded No. 2, and dropped just one game in two matches Friday.
“The heat was starting to get to me a little bit,” Hemaiden said. “I was moving a lot, and it catches up to you. I didn’t want to waste any chances I got.
“Since I didn’t make it to state last year, I really wanted to prove myself. I trained really hard this offseason.”
Hemaiden will face No. 3 seed Justin Sehlin of Pleasant Valley in the semifinals; top-seeded Tim Ellis of Ames will meet No. 4 Sam Shin of Iowa City West.
In doubles, Scheetz and Sherman will meet West Des Moines Valley’s Moise Habinez and Roy Jensen, and No. 2 Linn-Mar (Ben Hedinger and Luke Van Donslear) takes on No. 3 Bettendorf (Yash Singh and Jozef Porubcin).
Boys' tennis: Class 2A state tournament
At Veterans Memorial Tennis Center
SINGLES
First Round
No. 1 Tim Ellis (Ames) def. Jacob Panjwani (Bettendorf), 6-2, 6-0
Will Blevins (Ankeny Centennial) def. Kyle Lassen (Cedar Rapids Jefferson), 6-0. 6-2
Chris Yao (Johnston) def, Neil Sura (West Des Moines Valley), 6-4, 6-4
No. 4 Sam Shin (Iowa City West) def. Alex Meyer (Western Dubuque), 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 Justin Sehlin (Pleasant Valley) def. John Kim (Ames), 6-0, 6-0
David Lu (West Des Moines Dowling), def. Noah Burmeister (Waukee), 5-7, 6-2, 6-0
Sasha Chackalackal (Iowa City West) def. Zach Glanz (Linn-Mar), 1-6, 6-3, 6-3
No. 2 Rami Hemaiden (Cedar Rapids Kennedy) def. Henry Schwob (West Des Moines Valley), 6-0, 6-1
Quarterfinals
Ellis def. Blevins, 7-5, 6-1
Shin def. Yao, 6-4, 6-2
Sehlin def. Lu, 6-4, 6-2
Hemaiden def. Chackalackal, 6-0, 6-0
Consolation First Round
Burmeister def. Kim, 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-7)
Glanz def. Schwab, 6-0, 6-0
Panjawi def. Lassen, 6-0, 6-1
Meyer def. Sura, 7-5, 6-4
Consolation Quarterfinals
Blevins def. Burmeister, 6-3, 6-2
Glanz def. Yao, 6-4, 6-1
Panjwani def. Lu, 6-3, 3-6, 1-0 (10-8)
Chackalackal def. Meyer, 6-1, 6-2
DOUBLES
First Round
No. 1 Rami Scheetz/Ty Sherman (Cedar Rapids Washington) def Jack Gertsen/Lucas Huffman (Linn-Mar), 6-0, 6-1
Brad DiLeo/Eli Young (Iowa City West) def. Eddie Bening/Jack Drey (West Des Moines Dowling), 6-4, 6-0
Moise Habineza/Roy Jensen (West Des Moines Valley) def. Tom Marino/Caleb Weber (Sioux City North), 6-3, 6-1
No. 4 Nick Weyers/Will Ecklund (Waukee) def. Muneeb Nadeem/Nathan Wong (Pleasant Valley), 6-4, 7-5
No. 3 Yash Singh/Jozef Porubcin (Bettendorf) def. Jack Wenzel/Mukudan Kasturirangan (Iowa City West), 6-2, 7-5
Nate Withers/Nick Matthews (Ames) def. Luke McKibben/Luke Smith (Marshalltown), 7-5, 6-3
Sam Marold/Ryan Lofgren (Ankeny Centennial), def. Jack Lucas/Ben Kreamer (Johnston), 6-3, 6-1
No. 2 Ben Hediger/Luke Van Donslear (Linn-Mar) def. Grayson Zylstra/Bennet Blumenthal (Cedar Rapids Washington), 6-0, 6-3
Quarterfinals
Scheetz/Sherman def. DiLeo/Young, 6-3, 6-4
Habineza/Jensen def. Weyers/Ecklund, 4-6, 6-4, 6-4
Singh/Porubcin def. Withers/Matthews, 6-0, 6-3
Hedinger/Van Donslear def. Marold/Lofgren, 6-1, 6-1
Consolation First Round
Wenzel/Kasturirangan def. McKibben/Smith, 6-1, 6-0
Zylstra/Blumenthal def. Lucas/Kreamer, 6-3, 4-6, 1-0 (10-3)
Gertsen/Huffman def. Bening/Drey, 6-1, 6-1
Nadeem/Wong def. Marino/Weber, 6-2, 6-0
Consolation Quarterfinals
DiLeo/Young def. Wenzel/Kasturirangan, 3-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6)
Weyers/Ecklund def. Zylstra/Blumenthal, 6-4, 6-0
Gertsen/Huffman def. Withers/Matthews, 6-3, 6-1
Marold/Lofgren def. Nadeem/Wong, 0-6, 7-5, 1-0 (10-6)
l Comments: (319) 368-8857; jeff.linder@thegazette.com