Rebels, Wolves place high in tourney

It was a relatively successful Midwest 2A Tournament for both the Lincolnton Wolves and West Lincoln Rebels.
The Wolves finished No. 2 in the tournament behind Shelby, while West Lincoln fell into the number No. 3 slot.
The senior duo from Lincolnton of John James and Devin High advanced to the semi-finals and a qualification to the the regional tournament.
James and High received a bye for being the No. 1 seeded team in the Midwest 2A. In the second round, they defeated Andy Pernell and Kaleb Unverfehrt from Newton-Conover 6-0, 6-1 on Tuesday.
On Wednesdday, the duo advanced to the finals by beating Matt Limone and Cole Wilson from West Lincoln 6-2, 6-0.
In the finals James and High were just as dominant beating East Rutherford’s Jeff Gehringer and Darrius Thompson 6-2, 6-2 thus becoming conference doubles champions.
The other doubles entry from Lincolnton, Adil Huselja and Brett Jarrett, lost in a three-setter. A slow start allowed Curtis Edwards and Stephen Williamson from Bandys to take a 0-6 lead.
But Huselja and Jarrett battled back to take the second set 7-5, before ultimately losing the third set 2-6.
In singles on Tuesday, Lincolnton senior Lee Campbell defeated East Rutherford’s Dean Nemechek 6-0, 6-3 in the first round.
In the second round, West Lincoln’s Josh Sain beat Campbell 6-1, 6-1. The loss placed Campbell in the consolation bracket in singles play.
Campbell’s opportunity to qualify for Regionals fell short when he lost to Newton-Conover’s Andy Schmidt 3-8 on Wednesday.
The Wolves finished second in the tournament primarily due to the conference championship of James/High in doubles.
West Lincoln finished third behind the strong play of Josh Sain in singles and doubles’ play of Limone and Wilson who advanced to the semi-finals.
Lincolnton will travel to North Henderson High School next Tuesday for the first round of the Dual Team Playoffs.by John Mark Brooks