Ruimin Luo back to state!

FAIRFIELD — For the second year in a row, Ruimin Luo is a district champion in Class 1A tennis.

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Luo, a Maharishi student on the Fairfield boys tennis team, swept through the district tournament last year to earn a spot at the state tournament. He did so again on Wednesday, going 3-0 to win for the second-straight year.

Luo, a senior, earned the top seed in the singles bracket, played at Fairfield Middle School. Luo had a bye in the first round, then defeated Rylan Toppert of Camanche 6-1, 6-1 to get into the semifinals.

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Needing one win to clinch one of the two state tournament tickets, Luo battled to a 6-4, 6-2 win over Central DeWitt’s Dexter Westbay, advancing Luo to the district title match.

In the championship, Luo took on another Central DeWitt player, and had even better results. He defeated Max Froeschle 6-3, 6-1 to lock up the title.

Luo was one of just two area players to advance into the quarterfinal round in singles. Mt. Pleasant’s Beckham Prough was the other, and he won his opener 6-3, 6-3 over Ethan Hudson of Camanche before falling 6-0, 6-0 against Assumption’s Jack Dilulio.

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The area had two doubles teams in the quarterfinals, both from Mt. Pleasant. The Panther team of Sawyer Fulton and Lou Schimmelpfennig came two wins short of a state berth, as did the team of Dan Cook and Max Heater.

Fulton and Schimmelpfennig won a Highway 34 battle over Fairfield’s Ethan Cass and Rocky Galusha, taking it 6-1, 7-6(7-5) in the opener. The duo then fell to a Central Dewitt team in devastating fashion, falling 5-7, 6-4, 11-9.

Cook and Heater beat a Fort Madison squad 6-0, 6-0 in the opening round, but were then knocked out by a Camanche squad, falling 6-2, 6-4.

Luo will be competing in the Class 1A singles tournament on May 27 in Waterloo.