by Mark Watson
SPORTS EDITOR
Grantsville ended up one match short of picking up a major region victory Thursday afternoon on its home courts against region leader Logan.
The Grizzlies won the varsity match 3-2 with four of the five matches going three sets in a battle between two of the top teams in 3A.
"We'll get another shot at them at region on Wednesday and Thursday," said Grantsville coach Pat Ciervo.
With the teams tied at two matches each, the number two singles players were still on the court raging a war to see which team would win the match. The two players had engaged in some verbal volleys as well as tennis volleys accusing each other of cheating during their marathon match.
In the end Logan's Alex Baines prevailed over Grantsville's number two player Jared Nordgran 6-3, 4-6, 6-1.
Each varsity match was competitive lasting about two hours.
For the second straight time when facing a top opponent, Grantsville's No.1 singles player Logan Paulich dropped the first set.
He lost the opening set against Brandon Nielsen 1-6, then gained momentum with a 6-3 win in the second set. The final set was tight and Paulich needed a tiebreaker to win the match 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7-4).
Logan's Jordan Ballam edged out Grantsville's George Parkinson 7-5, 4-6, 6-3 at third singles.
Grantsville's number two doubles team remained undefeated in region matches with a come-from-behind victory 6-7, 6-4, 6-3 over Jaeden Harris and Ian Geeholzer.
The number one doubles match was the only two-set contest in varsity play with Logan's Mark Hopkins and Greg Wada defeating Casey Williams and Brett Peterson 6-3, 7-6.
Ben Tripp and Kyler Rupp won junior varsity singles matches for the Cowboys. Tripp defeated Brett Reynolds 8-4 and Rupp claimed a 9-7 victory. Grantsville's Dallin Gomez lost his match 2-8 at number two singles.
Junior varsity doubles matches were also hotly contested, but the Cowboys dropped both matches. Dallas Parks and Austin Rowley lost 4-8 at first doubles with Dalin Leonelli and Dallin Hardy dropping their match 5-8.
Aaron Vera and Devin Anderson teamed to win an exhibtion match 8-5 as did Ryan Jensen and Dallin Gomez 6-2.
mwatson@tooeletranscript.com