MOSCOW – Every spring high school athlete in Pennsylvania who would have been active in 2020 lost a season to the pandemic.
Pittston Area’s Adam Musto essentially lost two.
Musto sat out the entire regular season when the Patriots could not field a team, but he got himself ready for his one shot at a high school season with an appearance in the District 2 Class 3A singles tournament Wednesday at the North Pocono Middle School.
The junior won one match and produced a competitive quarterfinal challenge to the tournament’s top seed before having his one-day season end.
Musto said he was unable to overcome nerves well enough to hit the ball as well as he is capable.
“I just tensed up every time I hit the ball because I was so nervous,” Musto said. “I felt like I was developing some kind of anxiety.”
Musto overcame those feelings to defeat Delaware Valley’s Maxwell Plotkin, 6-1, 6-0, in the second round after receiving a first-round bye.
“It’s been two years since I played a match, so it was a very different feeling,” Musto said.
West Scranton’s John Sinclair, the top seed, ended Musto’s tournament, 6-3, 6-2.
“In the first match, I was just getting the ball back and waiting for him to make errors,” Musto said. “Second match, I actually had to hit the ball and that’s when I started to tense up.”
Musto would normally play tennis tournaments outside of high school season, but those opportunities were limited as well during the pandemic. He hit with his father and against a machine in preparation for the district tournament.
As a freshman, Musto was the number-one singles player on the Patriots team. He won his first match in both the district singles and doubles tournaments, but in singles he followed a similar path, running into the top seed and eventual champion, Tomas Reese from Delaware Valley.
After one lost season, Musto was not entirely surprised by the second.
“I kind of saw it coming because there are not a lot of kids at Pittston who play,” he said.
With one more year of high school left, he will hope for a full season in 2022.
“I’ll be back next year,” Musto said. “I had a lot of fun at the end.”
Class 2A
Wyoming Area’s Adam Wisnewski won a first-round match Tuesday at Kirby Park before losing in the second round.
Wisnewski defeated Matthew Schuler from Holy Redeemer, 6-4, 7-5, then lost to third-seeded Matt Tressler from Scranton Prep, 6-2, 6-1.
Nick Winsock, the other Warrior entered in the tournament, was eliminated in the first round by Montrose’s Stephen Parinisi, 7-5, 6-2.
Wyoming Area also had two entries in the doubles tournament, which was scheduled to begin Saturday and play through to the four semifinalists, who will get together Monday to complete the tournament.
