Last summer, Josh Mayhew became the first Cedar Ridge men’s tennis player to ever advance to an individual state championship match.
Now, Mayhew has led Cedar Ridge to another unprecedented feat. The Cedar Ridge Red Wolves have won their first-ever conference championship as a 3A team.
The Red Wolves commemorated its Senior Night by sweeping two matches against Walter Williams at Red Wolves Tennis Courts on April 6. Cedar Ridge won each of the dual matches against the Bulldogs by identical 5-2 scores. During the post match celebration, the Red Wolves knew they had clinched a share of the Central Carolina Conference championship. They also knew that Northwood was ahead 5-2 in a match that started the day before in Hillsborough and was stopped due to rain. If the Chargers had completed that victory over Cedar Ridge and then won their subsequent three CCC matches, they would have tied Cedar Ridge for first place (Cedar Ridge won the earlier match against the Chargers 6-1 in Pittsboro). The match was supposed to resume last week.
Those plans were canceled when Williams defeated the Chargers 5-4 on April 8, ensuring that Cedar Ridge had won the outright conference championship.
Under head coach Steve Mayhew, the Red Wolves will take the #1 seed into the 3A State Dual Team Tournament, which begins next week. The field for the tournament will be unveiled on Monday, with the opening round Wednesday.
“I knew we could do this,” said Josh Mayhew after beating Williams. “I believe in my team. Everybody has put in so much work. I have never been more proud of my team. It’s just awesome.”
For the second straight year, Mayhew has advanced to the 3A State individual championships. Last Wednesday in the Central Carolina Conference Championships at the Burlington Tennis Center, Mayhew received the #1 seed after finishing the season 12-0 in singles play. Mayhew defeated Chapel Hill’s Ayan Patel 6-2, 6-2 on March 1. Of Mayhew’s 12 wins, he didn’t lose a game in seven of them.
At the conference championships, Mayhew received a bye into the second round. He defeated Orange’s Nathan Pavalonis to advance to the semifinals and secure a spot in the state tournament.
Sophomore Lev Bearman went 7-2 in singles play for the Red Wolves this season and also qualified for the state championships. Bearman held off Walter Williams’ Alex Brown 7-6, 6-2 in the CCC Tournament quarterfinals.
“Lev has impressed me the most this year,” Josh Mayhew said. “He’s going to be the #1 singles player when I’m gone. He’s going to be the best.”
Cedar Ridge also sent the doubles team of Eli and Holden Rachlin to the state championships. The Rachlins, who received the #4 seed at the CCC Tournament, defeated Northwood’s Tate Clark and Mason Erman 4-6, 6-2, 7-6, winning the third-set tiebreaker 7-2 in the quarterfinals.
“We always have a positive mindset going into each match,” Lev Bearman said. “Josh is like an assistant coach and he’s always cheering people on and supporting us.”
Cedar Ridge opened the season with seven consecutive conference wins, starting with a victory over Person on February 28 in Hillsborough. The Red Wolves, who are 9-4 overall, also faced stiff non conference opposition from Chapel Hill, Durham School of the Arts and Carrboro, who could potentially play Cedar Ridge again in the state team playoffs.
The championship will hold a special place for seniors Eli Rachlin (a co-Captain) and Derrick Stephens.
The individual state championships will take place at the Burlington Tennis Center on May 6th and 7th.
The last tennis team from Cedar Ridge to win a conference championship was the 2016 Red Wolves’ women’s team, which finished undefeated in a Big 8 Conference that included Chapel Hill. The Red Wolves, coached by Lennie Corbett, swept the Tigers and advanced to the state quarterfinals of the 3A State Dual Team Tournament.