By Eric Lusk
Sports Editor
elusk@elkintribune.com

CARY — East Wilkes seniors Ethan Lyon and Houston Callaway became only the second boys doubles team in school history to play for a state tennis championship over the weekend.

The duo advanced to the Class 1A title match with two wins in Friday’s state tournament at the Cary Tennis Center.

Lyon and Callaway made the most of their championship appearance before falling to familiar Mount Airy rivals Nick John and Brooks Mayberry 7-5, 6-2 on Saturday morning.

John and Mayberry also beat Lyon and Callaway for the Northwest 1A Conference championship and the 1A West Regional title. The two teams split during the regular season, with East’s win at home in a 10-game pro set the only defeat on the Granite Bears’ ledger this spring.

“It was disappointing to say the least to finish second because we had our opportunities, especially in the first set,” East Wilkes coach Aaron Simmons said. “But there is a lot to be proud of. My guys were a great doubles team. There are thousands of kids across the state who would trade places with them.”

The Cardinals began the championship match by breaking Mount Airy’s serve. Callaway then won his serve to push East ahead 2-0. The Bears won the next two games, breaking Lyon. But East broke the Bears right back for a 3-2 advantage.

“This was a completely opposite match as to what we had seen the first four times,” Simmons said. “Normally everybody holds their serve and there is one key break late in the set.

“We returned their serve super and we broke them more than we had ever broken them in the first set. What messed with us was that we couldn’t hold our own serve. To their credit, they broke Houston twice.”

The score was tied 5-5 in the first set, then John managed to hold serve to push the Bears ahead 6-5. Mount Airy won the next game to take the set.

The Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second set, but East Wilkes countered by winning two straight games, including breaking Brooks serve. Lyon and Callaway led the sixth game 40-15 but couldn’t close things out.

“That was the crusher of the match, really,” Simmons said. “We had a chance to go to 3-3. Even if we did that and lost the next game, we’re still on serve down 4-3. But crossing it over at 5-2, you’re thinking, ‘Wow, this is going to take a miracle.”

Indeed, Mount Airy didn’t give up another game to seal its state title — John’s second in three years.

“We switched up our tactics a little bit,” Mayberry told The Mount Airy News. “Instead of doing just one formation we did about three. And that forced them to hit hard shots we knew we could hit. We played more of our game this time around.”

John won state with Matt Johnson in 2007. He played in last year’s title match but Mount Airy lost to Hendersonville’s Tyler Grove and Robert Beal.

Brooks Mayberry celebrated his first tennis doubles title, and he was on the Granite Bears 1A state champion football team in the fall.

“I’d have to say I wanted them both bad, but I wanted this one more,” Mayberry said when asked to compare the two titles. “Not many people can say they won two state championships in the same year in two different sports. I’m pretty proud of it.”

Lyon and Callaway beat Topsail’s Elliot Matthews and Bill Underwood 6-2, 6-4 in the quarterfinal round Friday. The Cardinals had to rally to fend off Peter Terrio and Robb Stover of Highland Tech in the semifinals later in the day, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3.

Terrio and Stover shot out to a 3-0 lead in the third set, but the East Wilkes duo regrouped to win the next six games to take the match.

Simmons called that stretch inspirational.

“I’m really proud of the leadership they showed,” the coach said. “Houston and Ethan got together and basically said, ‘If we’re going down, we might as well go down swinging, go all out and be aggressive.’”

That’s exactly what they did, reaching another level with their play.

“It was as emotional a match as I’ve been a part of,” Simmons said. “It was a wild scene and a super celebration afterward. Even though they didn’t win (the state title), they can always come back to that match.

“They just busted out and played. They went from playing like a No. 3 doubles team to playing like world champions. The Highland Tech coach was like, ‘Where did that come from?’ I’m glad Ethan and Houston were able to experience something like that.”

Starmount junior Corey Campbell played in the 2A state singles finale, also at the Cary Tennis Center. The Mountain Valley 2A Conference champion was knocked out in his opening round match, 6-4 and 6-2 by Ledford’s Landon Rogers.

Campbell went undefeated in singles during the regular season.