Hanahan tennis wins first state championship!

The Hanahan High School boys’ tennis team won its first state championship Saturday. A glance at the roster indicates it probably won’t be the Hawks’ last.

The Hawks are young, talented and champs. They capped a 15-0 season with a 4-2 victory over A.C. Flora. The match was contested at the Bookland Tennis Center.

Hanahan is loaded up top, with freshman No. 1 Chad Nash and sophomore left-hander Kerim Hyatt, who teamed up at No. 1 doubles in the decisive matches to clinch the Region 8-AAA title and the Lower State crown.

Freshman Bradley Upshaw was down 5-2 in the second set to claim a 6-2, 7-6 (1) win over Flora’s Austin Powell at No. 4 singles to clinch the championship. Freshman Chad Nash, the Hawks’ No. 1 player, scored an impressive 6-1, 6-3 win over the Falcons’ Lukas McClamrock to set the stage for Upshaw’s rally and heroics.

Hanahan Eighth-grader J.T. Ramey rallied to win the second set at No. 5, but dropped a third-set match tiebreaker in a 6-2, 5-7, 10-2 loss to Flora’s Alex Echols.

Hanahan Freshman Mark Jones hardly broke a sweat with a 6-0, 6-0 victory over A.C. Flora’s Hal Fant, and Hawk sophomore Kerim Hyatt breezed past Zach Kirkland, 6-3, 6-2, at No. 2.