For third straight year, Avon will face Hand in Class M final

For the third straight year, Avon and Hand will play for the Class M championship in boys tennis on Wednesday.

Top-seeded Hand (20-3) will face No. 2 Avon at Amity High in Woodbridge beginning at 3 p.m.

Avon (15-3) advanced to the championship game for the sixth straight year with a 5-2 semifinal win over No. 3 Branford on Tuesday while Hand outlasted No. 5 Weston, 4-3 in their semifinal contest.

Sophomore Russell Lin secured a win at No. 1 singles on Tuesday along with Aarav Nohria at No. 3 singles. The Falcons swept all three matches in doubles against the Hornets.

A year ago, Hand beat Avon, 5-2 for the state championship. In 2024, the Falcons toppled Hand, 5-2 for their fourth straight Class M title. The Falcons also won in 2023, 2022 and 2021 with victories over Weston, Joel Barlow and East Lyme, respectively.

Avon will be seeking their tenth state championship in boys tennis while Hand is seeking their eighth crown.

Class M semifinals
Avon 5, Branford 2
At Avon (AOF)
Singles: Russell Lin (A) def. Schalper 6-4, 7-6 (6); Gaudreau (B) def. Charles Schaff 6-2, 6-7 (3), 10-2; Aarav Nohria (A) def. Bhawnani, 6-3, 7-6 (5), Akin (B) def. Nabeel Chamuswala, 6-1, 6-1
Doubles: Ethan Klotz/Harsha Lakamraju (A) def. Ferrara/Bhawnani 6-4, 3-6,10-4; Abid Syed/Eric Kim (A) def. Talmadge/Tran, 6-2, 6-3; Naveen Natchiappan/Advik Singh (A) def. Jayanetti/Fryer, 6-1, 6-2
Records: Avon 15-3, Branford 16-5

Hand 4, Weston 3
At Madison
Singles: Kung (W) def. Adrian Fernandez, 6-2,6-3; Andrew Seehausen (H) def. Barenberg (w) 6-4,6-4; Smith (W) def. Aiden Zhang, 6-4, 6-4; Harrison Hodge (H) def. Isaac Schickler (W) 6-1, 6-0
Doubles: Gavin Waterman/Marcelo Gonzalves (H) def. Ferguson/Will 6-0,6-3; Paul Fumex/Nathaniel Konstintino (H) def. Gnosh-Rao/Pather 6-1,6-0; Corleoni/O’Connor (W) def. William Reggio/Danny Wang (H), 6-1 6-1
Records: Weston 15-3, Hand 20-3