How J.L. Mann boys tennis worked through SCHSL rulings and weather delays to win state

Congratulations are still pouring in for J.L. Mann boys tennis coach John Armstrong after the Patriots won a third consecutive Class AAAAA high school state championship.

Armstrong wishes he could've been there to see it.

Mann beat Wando, 4-2, last Friday at River Bluff High School in a match ultimately delayed nearly a week by SCHSL rulings, venue changes and weather interruptions.

Finally, the Patriots finished on top again.

Armstrong was absent from the final and the Upper State championship against T.L. Hanna, punishment served by the SCHSL for not supplying proper documents prior to an Upper State quarterfinal win against Dorman.

“I really wanted to be there with the guys,” Armstrong said. “But we set a goal last year after we won a second straight and we accomplished it. Winning three in a row is incredible.”

Mann assistant Henry Walker coached the state semifinals and championship matches.

Dorman’s complaint to the SCHSL following a 6-0 loss to Mann in the Upper State quarterfinals resulted in an initial ruling of a forfeit. That was overturned unanimously by an executive committee, although the Patriots would have to finish without their coach.

Mann eventually won the Upper State championship after a couple of postponements by weather. But it was too late for the Patriots to be invited to the pre-championship news conference with the other finalists, and Mann didn’t finish up team competition until after the individual state championships held Tuesday and Wednesday in Florence.

Mann and Wando tried to play Monday, but weather pushed that to Thursday after individuals and it was delayed again until Friday.

“We were thrown off our historical pattern with chronological order of how things typically happen,” Armstrong said. “I felt like we were a little overshadowed, for sure. The community, guys I’ve coached in the past, parents, faculty of J.L. Mann and so many others send encouraging messages about finishing strong. We knew we had the team to do it.”

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Christian Holloway, Stefan Hyjek, Sebastian Hyek, Noan Curran and Aravind Lakshman made all-region. Hyjek and Lakshman are seniors, along with Nate Adams, Graydon Lucas, Sam Gilmer and Baptiste de Waubert.

Holloway, at the end of a grueling week, finished runner-up at the Class AAAA/AAAAA individual state championship, falling in a third-set tiebreaker to Leo Nedkov of Hilton Head.

“The guys went through a lot of adversity,” Mann athletics director Brian Mahan said. “But all sides worked through it, as we should, and the kids were great. They were ready to play wherever we got that chance. It turned out the way we had hoped.”

Todd Shanesy is a former award-winning writer who now covers high school athletics for the Greenville News, Spartanburg Herald-Journal and Anderson Independent Mail in the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at todd.shanesy@shj.com. Follow him on X, formerly called Twitter, at @ToddShanesySHJ.