After finishing as runners-up at the Findlay sectional, the Bowling Green doubles team of seniors Mathias Drumm and Theodore Bock began Division I district play on Thursday at Port Clinton High School.

A chance to reach the state tournament is on the line for the BG pair. The state tournament is May 25-26 at Ohio State University’s Ty Tucker Tennis Center.

At the sectional, Drumm and Bock were seeded second, so they got a first-round bye, but proceeded to defeat Wapakoneta juniors Gabriele Pepi and Gannon Casebolt in the second round, 6-0, 6-0.

In the semifinals, Drumm and Bock defeated Lima Shawnee junior Salah Mohammed and Seth Greishop, 6-3, 6-2, to reach the championship match.

“Drumm and Bock were able to use big serves and touch volleys to go out to a 6-3 first set win,” BG coach Andy Drumm said.

“In the second set they were able to get a couple of early breaks of serve to lead 4-1. Bock’s serve was broken late in the set, but Drumm was able to serve out the match 6-2.”

In the final, Drumm and Bock fell to Shawnee seniors Mason Stahl and Mac Davis, 6-0, 6-3. Despite the score, the BG tandem was able to take the Shawnee duo to the limit in every game but were unable to close it out.

“Drumm started serving the match and was up 40-15. Lima Shawnee fought back hard with great groundstrokes and deft volleys to break serve in the first game after three deuces,” coach Drumm said.

“All games in the first set went to deuce but Lima Shawnee was able to win the advantage points and win the set 6-0.

“In the second set Drumm and Bock were finally able to hold serve but still were down 5-1. They were able to break serve and hold but ultimately succumbed to the constant pressure and lost 6-3.”

The other BG doubles team of senior Jonas Kendrick and sophomore Robby Seifert won their first round match against Lima Senior sophomore Matt Holthouser and freshman J.J. Weber 6-0, 6-0, but lost in the quarterfinals to Stahl and Davis, 6-0, 6-0.

In singles, BG junior Aaron Hershberger, the No. 2 seed, defeated Shawnee junior Jackson Carpenter 6-2, 6-3, but Hershberger fell in the quarterfinals to Wapakoneta junior Aiden Bellman in a hard-fought match, 6-3, 1-6, 6-4.

Perrysburg junior Aiden Bielefeld defeated BG junior Zack Mangan, 6-2, 6-3, in the opening round, but Bielefeld lost in the quarterfinals to Shawnee junior Shashank Chanamolu, 6-4, 6-3.

Perrysburg sophomore Caleb Stein defeated Lima Senior senior Keegan Halliday, 7-6 (2), 6-1 in the opening round, but Stein lost to eventual district champion Shawnee junior Gabe Burke, 6-0, 6-0 in the second round.

Perrysburg sophomore Jevin Mullins also won his opening round match over Lima Senior sophomore James Sturgeon, 6-0, 6-0, but Mullins lost in the second round to eventual district runner-up, Wapakoneta senior Connor Coffey, 6-1, 6-0.

BG senior Paul Guo fell in his opening match to Coffey, 6-0, 6-0.