BREMERTON — Two North Olympic Peninsula tennis players are headed for the Class 2A state tournament as Sequim’s Matthew Richards edged Port Angeles’ Janson Pederson for fifth place at the West Central District Tennis Tournament.
Richards topped Pederson 6-3, 6-2 in action Saturday at the Kitsap Tennis and Athletic Center.
“Janson had won against Matthew earlier in the season, but ran into a young man playing the best tennis I had seen him play all year,” Roughriders coach Gil Stockton said.
“Matthew had a terrific district [performance] from being seeded No. 12 at Districts and ending up No. 5 in singles.”
Now comes a long wait for each competitor as the boys tennis state championship will be held May 27-28 at the Nordstrom Tennis Center at the University of Washington.
Pederson opened with a 6-1, 6-0 sweep of Janrick Roces of Washington
High School.
He advanced to face Lindbergh’s Jeremiah Banya, falling 6-0, 6-2.
Facing elimination, Pederson knocked off Washington’s Serge Prokepovich in straight sets 6-0, 6-1.
Pederson qualified for state with a 6-0, 6-4 victory against North Kitsap’s Tyler Meek in an 8 a.m. match.
“It is nice to see two terrific young men from Clallam County move on to the state championships against tough competition from many schools with very different demographics,” Stockton said.
Pederson, who had never picked up a racquet prior to his freshman season at Port Angeles, has now qualified for two straight state championships.
“He worked hard and smart all year and certainly earned his berth this coming spring,” Stockton said.
“He is a great role model in tennis and all aspects of life for the young players playing for Port Angeles.”
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Compiled using coaches’ reports.
