Boys Tennis | Wooster Ranney duo ready for district competition

Somehow Wooster's doubles tandem and twin brothers Brock and Garrett Ranney entered sectional play unseeded.

Their response though, spoke volumes, as they earned the Div. I Canton Sectional No. 2 seed with a runner-up finish. Now they kick off district action Thursday at Springside Athletic Club in the Div. I Northeast District against third-seeded Cole Kirchick and Rohan Seth from University.

"When we didn't get seeded, we were kind of upset about it," said Garrett Ranney. "But we made it to districts, got runner-up at sectionals and we feel pretty good about that."

The road to districts though, was far from easy after they opened with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Massillon's duo of Tyler Styer and Robert Morgan. In the second round, they defeated Green's Jackson Lightner and Nick Sziraky 6-4, 6-3 before beating the No. 3 seed in Hoover's Colin Fitzgerald and Jackson Vance 7-6, 6-1.

They knocked off No. 2 seed Cole Bertram and Shiv Nagajothi from Jackson 2-6, 6-4, 6-4 to get the finals where they lost 6-0, 6-0.

"We knew we had a chance, but we lost last year in the second round," said Brock Ranney. "So after we won the second round, it was little more calm and we just had fun playing."

"We really began to believe that second day," added Garrett. "Our confidence really started to grow after that."

With both twins all smiles about making it to districts, they talked about how it all came together. From starting tennis at the age of four, to a family who loves the sport, tennis was always competitive, but also fun.

A year ago as freshmen, they made into the second round of sectional play before bowing out. This year, Brock played mostly at second singles, but with a little push from Garrett and his coach Justin Crooks, this team came back together for an encore run.

"We weren't sure about it at first, but coach really pushed for it," said Brock.

"I was pushing for it too," Garrett said, laughing. "I had to convince him, but coach had the final selling point."

As for that final point:

"My biggest selling point was he did a great job at No. 2 singles and he won a lot of matches this year," said Crooks. "But our sectional is so loaded with singles players with Jackson and GlenOak, who have all these really good No. 1 players.

"So I thought they would have a good chance to get seeded, but they didn't and they used that as motivation."

That was clearly on display as the underdogs proved to have a big bite as their combined game proved to be lethal. Brock is naturally stronger from the baseline, where as a singles player, a lot of his game is predicated. His twin brother Garrett, thrives more at attacking the net and getting there often.

"They really complement each other's game well," added Crooks. "They are also related so they know each other and that's huge."

Now they will step on the court at Springside Athletic Club for district action

"It's super exciting and we are absolutely pumped for it," said Brock. "It just feels great being with Garrett doing it. It's just a whole another level."

"If we play well, play together, we have a chance and we can do it," Garrett said. "We went into sectionals underdogs, it feels great to be at districts and show people what Wooster tennis is about."

This article originally appeared on The Daily Record: Boys Tennis: Ranney prepare for Div. I district tournament