Groton wins the Kingswood-Oxford Tournament again!

Groton traveled to Connecticut over the weekend to defend its 2018 title in the Kingswood-Oxford Invitational Tournament. This early season match-up features teams from Deerfield, Choate, Hotchkiss, Lawrenceville, Kingswood-Oxford, Hall School, Westminster and Groton. With four singles and two doubles entered, schools earn points for victories both in the main draws (two points/win) and consolations (one point).

It was one of the most exciting tournaments imaginable, as New Jersey powerhouse Lawrenceville brought a very experienced and deep team. With other strong players from New England, it was not immediately clear which team would prevail. After the first day, Groton was in second place, one point behind Lawrenceville. On Sunday morning Lawrenceville expanded its lead to three points. Going into the very final two matches of the tournament in the afternoon, Groton knew they had to do: If they could win the #2 Doubles tournament and the #1 Doubles tournament, victory would be theirs (barely!).

Third Form sensations Jared Gura and Ben Jones were razor-sharp, beating a Westminster team decisively in straight sets. Meanwhile, Matt Kandel and Powers Trigg were involved in an epic doubles match against a very strong Lawrenceville opponent. The match went back and forth in the first set, before Groton won an exciting tie-breaker. In the second set, Groton went up 4-2, then went to 4-4, before going to 5-4 and then VICTORY, 6-4. With this win, Groton earned the championship bowl by one point. So exciting.

Individual honors went to Matt Kandel in the #1 Singles tournament and to runner-up Gabe Scholl in the #3 division. It was a great team championship. Captains Andrew Yang, Aaron Jin and Gabe Scholl all did a great job keeping the team focused and ready to soar.