WILKES-BARRE — A warrior-like effort from Wyoming Area tennis standout Luca Argenio to play through some severe cramping in his legs before his quest for a District 2 singles gold medal was brought to a premature end on a hot day inside Kirby Park.
Argenio, just about an hour removed from a three-hour semifinal marathon win, was forced to retire down a set in the Class 2A boys tennis singles final on Wednesday, with Scranton Prep’s Ethan Borick winning the Class 2A championship.
Both Argenio and Borick had to battle their way through intense semifinal matches to reach the final, but it was clear from the opening serve that Argenio’s legs were starting to go. He battled through a tight first set, dropping it to Borick 6-4, and then was forced to call it after the first three games of the second set.
“Mentally, I want to keep playing,” Argenio said. “I played until I couldn’t move my leg anymore.”
Argenio, formerly a member of the Scranton Prep tennis team before transferring to Wyoming Area, had to face two former teammates on Wednesday.
First, he outlasted Akhilesh Velaga in three sets in the semifinal, rallying back from a second-set tiebreak loss to put Velaga away with a 6-2 win in the third set.
For Borick, who won a District 2 doubles gold medal last year, it was Wyoming Seminary’s Bill Hall waiting for him in the semis.
Borick took a 4-1 lead on Hall in the first set, only for Hall to rally and win the set 7-5. Borick trailed early in the second set as well, but found the game that earned him the top seed in Class 2A to put Hall away over the final two sets.
The Scranton Prep senior gained the advantage in the final after a first set that saw plenty of serve breaks. With a 5-4 lead in the first, Borick was able to find his serve (and power through some exhaustion of his own) to win the set and earn a crucial advantage over Argenio.
“It’s great, this is definitely the best year I’ve ever played,” Borick said.
Argenio took a 2-1 lead early in the second set before he had to retire after trying to stretch himself out to serve.
The win puts another gold medal in Scranton Prep’s pile for the season, after the Cavaliers defeated Wyoming Seminary in the District 2 team championships.
Argenio defeated Velaga 6-4, 6-7 (5-7), 6-2 in the semifinals.
The second seed got to the second day of the tournament with two wins Tuesday. Following a bye, he defeated Nate Linnen from Dallas 6-0, 6-0, then downed Frank Limowitz from Holy Redeemer, 6-3, 6-3.
Aiden Edwards from Tunkhannock defeated Christian Abromavage, Wyoming Area’s other entry 6-0, 6-2 in the first round.
CLASS 3A SINGLES
Crestwood players knocked out Pittston Area’s two entries by 6-0, 6-0 scores Tuesday.
Sean Rossi defeated Zhi Lin in the preliminary round. Following first-round byes for each, Tommy Biscoitti eliminated Tanner Osborn.
DOUBLES
Wyoming Area’s Luca Argenio and Christian Abromavage are the second-seeded team for the District 2 Class 2A doubles tournament, which gets underway Monday at 9 a.m. at Kirby Park.
