Bexley dominates first day of Division II district tennis tournament

Bexley tennis players dominated the first day of the Division II district tournament May 21, earning three of the four available berths to state. Lions senior Amiya Bowles – a three-time state champion on the girls side – and freshman teammate Harrison Lessard will square off in the boys final May 23, while in doubles Bexley senior Adrian Schiff and junior Henry Lessard will go for the championship against Columbus Academy junior Sujay Billakanty and freshman Arjun Satyapriya. The first two rounds were played May 21 at Academy.

The finals will be May 23 at Upper Arlington, coinciding with the Division I semifinals and finals . In Division II, only the district champion and runner-up in singles and doubles qualify for state, which is May 28 and 29 at Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason. Bowles, a Michigan State women’s signee, and Harrison Lessard both won two matches 6-0, 6-0 to set up their district final meeting.

Bowles’ wins came against Wellington junior Abbott Arthur and Academy sophomore Luke Poulos, and Lessard shut out Wellington sophomore Connor Kuttras and Marion Pleasant junior Alex Yancey. Henry Lessard , a Northwestern commit, and Schiff opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Pleasant seniors Griffin Gleespen and Luke Russell. They defeated Academy seniors Ian Chang and Jayden Tsao 6-2, 6-1 to qualify for state.

Henry Lessard is a defending state doubles champion, having won with older brother Sam a year ago . Sam Lessard now plays for Colorado College. Billakanty and Satyapriya opened with a 6-2, 7-5 win over Worthington Christian’s Noah Shemenski (junior) and Kaleb Farver (freshman) and qualified for state with another 6-2, 7-5 victory against Bexley junior Luke Hollo and freshman Hunter Weiland.