The 1996 boys tennis team, the last Warren Central boys tennis team to make it out of the sectional, is celebrating its 25 year anniversary of winning the sectional title. 25 years after winning the sectional championship, the team still takes pride in their accomplishment.
They were blue-collar, hard working kids, and they did what it took to win matches, and they didn’t care who they were going up against,” then-coach Rich Shepler said.
At the sectional, there was a lot of energy going into the day. Especially during the final match, everybody was very anxious, because it would decide who the champions were.
“Coach Shepler pulled me aside and said it was down to my match which was in the third set,” Danny Davison said.
Danny Davidson was a star basketball player for the Warriors before Shepler found him and had him join the tennis team. He had a different approach, using two forehands and no backhands, which threw opponents off.
“He (was) such a good athlete and he was so quick and he could run everything down,” Shepler said.
Davidson was losing 1-0 in the set which one has to win two of to win the match. He then came back in the second set to tie it up 1-1.
“We had the whole team, you know, behind the fence and just cheering every shot,” Shepler said.
Now, with the momentum going his way, he knew this match was his. He ended up winning that last set by a lot.
“[The score] I can’t remember, but he just tore [the opponent] up that last set, and we won the sectional,” Shepler said.
Now, 25 years later, the team is trying to break the streak and win their first sectional title since 1996. The sectional champion team, although appreciating their accomplishment, hopes that another team wins a sectional soon.
“I have no doubt that a Warrior tennis team will win their sectional in the near future. Warrior students and student-athletes have the ability to achieve whatever they pour their minds, efforts, and talents into,” Brian Cochran said.