Granby wins second straight state championship

The Granby Memorial boys tennis won their second straight state championship Saturday with a 7-0 win over Shepaug.

MIDDLETOWN, June 4, 2022 – With eight of 10 starters returning from a squad that won the Class S championship a year ago, it wasn’t a surprise that the Granby Memorial boys tennis team was playing for another state championship on Saturday at Wesleyan University.

No. 5 Shepaug Valley made life difficult for the Bears but Granby’s experience and poise prevailed as the No. 2 Bears won their second straight Class S title with a 7-0 sweep of Shepaug.

“This was close,” long-time Granby coach Kevin Imbt said. “Our guys staved off match points in two of the matches. (The final score) is deceiving. Shepaug played it close.”

Granby (17-1, 10-0 NCCC) won two of four singles matches in three sets along with one doubles match.

It’s the fourth state championship banner for the Bears, who also won back-to-back Class S titles in 1979 and 1980 when the boys tournament was an individual singles and doubles tournament instead of a dual meet style event that began for the boys last year.

At No. 1 singles, Granby’s Noah Kroninger split the first two sets with Shepaug’s Lane Fa but prevailed in third set, 10-3. At No. 2 singles, Granby’s Andrew Giuliano split the first two sets with Shepaug’s John Wilt before prevailing in the third set, 7-5. Tyler Brown and Bryce Tomasino also won for Granby.

The Bears beat Westbrook, 6-1 in the semifinals but had a tough challenging quarterfinal bout, outlasting Stonington, 4-3, thanks to a win from Tomasino at fourth singles to secure the victory and advance.

Granby won the NCCC championship this spring and also captured the recent NCCC Tournament, placing a Granby player in the finals of all seven flights (four singles, three doubles).

Granby 7, Shepaug 0
At Middletown
Singles: Noah Kroninger (G) def. Lane Fa, 7-6, 3-6, 10-3 (pro set tiebreaker); Andrew Giuliano (G) def. John Wilt, 6-7, 6-2, 7-5 (pro set); Tyler Brown (G) def. Phil Ostrosky 6-1, 7-5; Bryce Tomasino (G) def. Myles Gronbach, 6-4, 6-3
Doubles: Liam Cramer/Tyler Kroninger (G) def. Kiap Faison/Charles Vanderbash, 6-2, 6-2; Jake Scott/Ethan Morton (G) def. Luis Missano/Owen Andrews, 4-6, 7-5, 6-1; Chase Alexander/Seth Mowry (G) def. Cam Goethner/Everett Gronbach, 6-3, 6-3
Records: Granby 17-1, Shepaug Valley 14-3

2022 NCCC standings