PRINCETON – Mendota ran up against some tough competition and could not advance anyone to the state tournament after competing in the Princeton Boys’ Tennis Sectional on May 19-20.

In singles play, Cameron Phalen had a first-round bye and opened the tournament by defeating Henry Steinhagen of Sterling, 7-5, 5-7, 6-2. In the third round, Phalen was eliminated after dropping a 6-0, 6-2 contest to Jack Marvel of Ottawa.

Blake Stamberger also played singles for the Trojans and defeated P.D. McKeown of Princeton 5-7, 6-1, 6-1 in the first round. Stamberger saw his season come to a close after losing in the second round to Dillon Nitz of Sterling, 6-2, 6-1.

Christian Salinas and Paco Romero won two matches, but came up short of advancing to the final four, which is what is needed to qualify for the state tournament. The Mendota duo began play by defeating a team from Sterling in the first round, 6-2, 6-4. Salinas and Romero then topped a duo from LaSalle-Peru, 6-2, 6-1, before being eliminated after a 6-1, 6-0 loss to Geneseo.

Preston Lewis and Zach Rinaldo also competed in doubles for the Trojans and lost in the first round to Princeton, 6-2, 6-2.

Geneseo was the team champion with 26 points. The top five also included Rock Island Alleman (20), Ottawa (18), Dixon (11) and Mendota (10). The bottom five teams were Sterling (8), LaSalle-Peru (7), Princeton (2), Sterling Newman (2) and St. Bede (0).