The Orange boys tennis team brought home two third-place finishes during the 2026 OHSAA Division II Boys Tennis State Tournament at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason.
Junior Ilya Shcherbakov continued his standout postseason run by finishing third in the Division II singles bracket. Shcherbakov defeated Waverly’s Carson Nibert and Ottawa Hills’ Henrique Marson before falling to eventual state champion Cooper Grim of Heartland Christian in the semifinals. He was awarded third place when his consolation opponent, Bexley’s Harrison Lessard, was unable to compete because of injury.
Orange also had sophomore Vivaan Moghekar qualify for the state singles tournament. Moghekar reached the quarterfinal round before being eliminated by Milton-Union’s Levi Brumbaugh, capping a strong sophomore season that included a state tournament appearance.
The Lions enjoyed even greater success in doubles, where sophomores Joseph DeMata-Hiciano and Zayd Adi captured third place in Division II. The Orange duo advanced to the state semifinals before rebounding with a victory in the third-place match to secure a spot on the podium.
Orange teammates Sam Tokmazeysky and Atreya Bhatt also reached the state tournament and finished fourth after advancing to the semifinals alongside DeMata-Hiciano and Adi, giving the Lions two of the state’s top four doubles teams.
Hawken was represented by two doubles teams at the state tournament. The duo of Nihal Gummadala and Erik Rosenlund qualified for the state field along with teammates Billy Beseth and William Henry, continuing a strong tradition of tennis success for the Hawks. Both teams earned their state berths by finishing among the top qualifiers from the Northeast District tournament.
