BLOOMFIELD, NJ — The Bloomfield High School boys tennis team enjoyed “an astonishing and astounding season,” said head coach Mike DiMasi..
The Bengals finished with a 17-7 overall record, including winning the Super Essex Conference–Colonial Division title with an 8-0 divisional record.
In addition, senior Arian Abalos won the Essex County Tournament singles tournament championship, becoming the first BHS boys tennis player to achieve this accomplishment.
The Bengals received a first-round bye in the New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association’s North Jersey, Section 1, Group 4 state tournament as the No. 5 seed, which is the highest seed they have had in DiMasi’s tenure. The team lost a tough 3-2 decision to West Orange in the quarterfinals.
“Despite an extremely heartbreaking loss to West Orange in the Group 4, Section 1 quarterfinals, this was beyond a successful season,” DiMasi said. “This was a memorable and historical season for us as a program.”
All seven BHS starters earned honors in the All–SEC–Colonial Division.
First team
- Arian Abalos, senior first singles.
- James Orosz, junior second singles.
- Charles Allen Eshelman, senior third singles.
- Giancarlo Serrano, senior first doubles.
- Kyler Walbeek, junior first doubles
Second team
- Augustus Figenshu, junior second doubles.
Honorable mention
- Reese McGowan, freshman second doubles.
Abalos was undefeated in the division. His only losses were to Glen Ridge, said DiMasi. He also competed in the county and state individual tournaments in the past three years, and advanced to the county finals in the past two years after being the county singles tournament runner-up last year. “Even better, he took practice time from himself to work, teach, and coach his teammates,” said DiMasi of Abalos. “He loved sharing his comprehensive tennis knowledge with his teammates. Arian had the extremely arduous task of beating first singles players from Columbia, Seton Hall Prep and Montclair in order to advance to the ECT singles tournament finals. A colossal task and a magnificent accomplishment being ECT singles champion!”
Abalos recently won his first round state tournament match against St. Joseph of Metuchen 6-1, 6-1.
Orosz was a wonderful captain and captain who led by example, DiMasi said. “By the end of the season, he developed a powerful and robust voice that had his teammates listening to and following him. We always could count on James to win such critical and paramount matches. James always would come through and guarantee us that second win of the match. He is dependable, reliable and consistent. James played his heart out in that state match and came a tiny bit short. He gave everything he had for his team during that match by playing for three hours and not giving an inch. He was ohh-so-close to getting us that 3-2 victory. But that takes absolutely nothing away from his phenomenal season.”
Eshelman also was a solid player, DiMasi said. “He is the player that every coach wants on their team,” DiMasi said. “Every coach wants 20 ‘Charles’ on their team because of his first-rate intelligence, work ethic and drive. Charlie has a tenacious motor and nothing will stop him from achieving ultimate team and personal success. Charlie is always driven to learn and improve and do what is best for his teammates. For example, not only has he improved dramatically every season, but he has done so by taking tennis lessons outside of the season and even helping and assisting a tennis professional. He worked alongside this tennis pro because he was determined to gain more knowledge about the sport and sprouted as a leader and player. As a result, he earned the third singles position on our team and a meticulous knowledge of tennis.”
Serrano and Walbeek were an exceptional team at first doubles, DiMasi said. “These two players are unbelievably talented and formidable opponents,” DiMasi said. “They won key matches against Verona and Caldwell to help us win the division this season. Like their teammates, Giancarlo and Kyler immersed themselves in tennis throughout the year. Giancarlo had a profound tennis background when he joined us his freshman year and continues to cultivate that knowledge each and every year because of how many tennis training sessions he engages in outside of the season. Kyler, who joined our program as a freshman without much tennis background at all, has advanced into an integral part of our team. He is one of the few players who can absorb knowledge, training and coaching so quickly and turn it into mastery. Each year Kyler has improved dramatically and even took it upon himself to improve by attending winter workouts and gym sessions. Both of these players thrived as first doubles players together.”
Serrano and Walbeek also qualified for the state doubles tournament. In order to get invited into this prestigious tournament, the first doubles team must win 70% of their matches. They unfortunately lost a difficult match against Ridge in the first round, DiMasi noted.
Figenshu and McGowan impressed at second doubles, DiMasi said. “We were very lucky to have Reese (McGowan) join our program this season,” DiMasi said. “Not only is he a freshman, but he is a freshman with a solid tennis background. He had an impressive knowledge of the tennis game and fundamentals of groundstrokes, volleys, serves, etc. Gus (Figenshu) was excellent at taking Reese under his wing and helping him to understand and become familiar with the more challenging aspects of tennis, doubles, and competing at the varsity level. Gus has a very thorough and exhaustive knowledge of the tennis game. Like Kyler, Gus took it upon himself to join with Kyler and attend gym sessions during the winter before our season in order to prepare for our spring season. Gus and Reese had a massive victory against Memorial this season.”
DiMasi, indeed, was elated for his team’s success.
“Two of the main reasons why our team flourished this season was because of the majority of our players joining as freshmen and taking the time out of their busy schedules to train outside of the spring season,” DiMasi said. “Our players spent an exorbitant amount of time outside the season thee past few years in order to be at the apex of tennis.
“A massive thank you to JV coach Sean Dugan for the extensive and considerable amount of time he put into helping our players being ready to tackle the challenges of this season in order to being highly successful. His intricate knowledge and attention to detail and tennis skill, not only helped our JV program but also our varsity. Coach Dugan has an uncanny ability to work with and alongside with, teach, and coach, and collaborate with a diverse group of scholar-athletes in terms of tennis skill, tennis background, and tennis knowledge. One day he will be demoing and showing the JV players on the groundstroke or volley basics but the next scaffolding advanced skills with the varsity.
“We are very proud of our seniors for the groundwork and proliferation of our program. They should be confident that they are leaving this program in a wonderful place. They have represented our program, school, and community with pride, dignity, class, and professionalism. NJIT and Rutgers University–New Brunswick are very lucky to have these scholar-athletes attending their institutions this fall.”
About the Author
