It was a banner day for Cincinnati high school tennis at the 2026 Ohio High School Athletic Association boys tennis state tournament.
As the tournament entered its second day on Friday, May 29, three Cincinnati teams were still alive in the semifinals of their respective division. Mason’s Greg Bernadsky, the returning champion, was competing in Division I singles. St. Xavier had a dynamic duo of Carson Dwyer and Nihal Narisetty going for gold in Division I doubles, and Indian Hill’s Neelan Gandhi and Gareth Kurowski sought the school’s first title since 2022.
When all was said and done, three trophies found their way into the hands of Cincinnati athletes. Here’s how Cincinnati schools dominated the OHSAA state tennis tournament.
Mason’s Greg Bernadsky on top again in Division I singles
The Division I singles title returns home to Mason once more.
Senior Greg Bernadsky, a Cornell University commit, secured his second straight singles title with wins over Olentangy Liberty’s Shane Hand and Sylvania Southview’s Landon Vens. It was a historic achievement for Bernadsky, who becomes the first Mason boys tennis player to win repeat titles.
Bernadsky said going out on top was a special moment.
“It feels good to end on a state title,” Berdansky said, “and being the first Mason Comet to win two titles is pretty cool.”
While he was the presumptive favorite entering the day, it wasn’t just smooth sailing all the way through for the senior. After handling Olentangy Liberty’s Shane Hand in the first set, 6-2, Hand put up a tougher fight in an eventual 6- 4 victory for Bernadsky.
In the finals, Bernadsky once again looked terrific in set one. A clean 6-0 sweep made it seem like the trophy would be doled out in record time. But Landon Vens wasn’t going to go away without a fight. Vens, who had his first match delayed by a snake crossing the court, broke out in the second set to take a commanding 3-0 lead. Vens was on the cusp of forcing a third set as he approached set point with a 5-2 game advantage.
But where some players would crumble under the weight of momentum, Bernadsky slithered all the way back with smart play to take the set to a tiebreaker. He took total control in the final game, securing a 6-0, 7-6 (7-0) victory to reclaim the state title.
Mason’s first year head coach, Brendan Reedy, said the performance was a testament to Bernadsky’s mental strength.
“He finds a way. Mentally, I would put him up against anybody in Ohio and anybody in the country,” Reedy said.
After the match, even the officials paid compliments Mason’s senior star. The flowers were hard won for Bernadsky, who had struggled with a hand injury in the offseason and had to rebuild confidence coming into his final campaign.
Reedy pointed out his injury recovery as further proof of Bernadsky’s elite toughness.
“You have to be mentally tough, and to me, he is the best in that department.”
St. Xavier’s power duo reigns supreme in Division I doubles
The proud lineage of St. Xavier tennis continued on Friday as senior Carson Dwyer and junior Nihal Narisetty emerged victorious in Division I doubles competition.
A true dynamic duo, Dwyer and Narisetty looked in full control throughout the tournament, securing a 6-1, 6-2 win over New Albany and a 6-1, 6-4 win against North Royalton. North Royalton’s players, upon exiting the court, remarked how excited they were to even have taken five games off St. Xavier’s team.
Dwyer, of course, is no stranger to the winner’s circle. Now a three-time state champion, Dwyer was a singles champion as a sophomore and secured a doubles title as a freshman. He chose not to compete in OHSAA competition last season, focusing on other tournaments before returning for his senior year.
The Georgetown commit said it was special to return and secure a state championship in his final season.
“This one meant a lot, it meant a lot to secure a state championship in my last year of high school tennis,” Dwyer said.
Narisetty secured his first championship with the win Friday, but proved he’s one of the very best players in the state last season as he finished second in the singles tournament, falling only to Mason’s Greg Bernadsky. He had also reached the title game in doubles as a freshman. Both Narisetty and Dwyer were dominant singles players during the regular season, so their pairing constituted a super-team of sorts.
St. Xavier head coach Joseph Jackson had nothing but praise for his championship duo after the title match.
“Not many teams have two number ones,” Jackson said, “and that’s what we have with Carson (Dwyer) and Nihal (Narisetty). It’s pretty remarkable what they were able to do.”
St. Xavier’s season isn’t quite over yet, as they’re still alive in the Ohio Tennis Coaches Association team tournament. With the final matches to be played the day after the OHSAA tournament, both Dwyer and Narisetty were already turning their attention to team competition.
“It was great for me to win a title after finishing as a finalist twice,” Narisetty said, “but the goal is to win a team title tomorrow.”
Indian Hill’s doubles team comes out on top in instant classic
Of the many adjectives associated with tennis, ‘rowdy,’ ‘raucous,’ and ‘energetic’ don’t often come to front of mind. Nevertheless, Indian Hill’s state championship victory over Bexley can only be described as a verifiable barn-burner.
Indian Hill’s junior-sophomore duo of Neelan Gandhi and Gareth Kurowski reached the title game without incident, securing a 6-3, 6-1 win in the semifinals over Pepper Pike Orange sophomores Joseph DeMata-Hiciano and Zayd Adi. On the other side of the bracket, Bexley senior Adrian Schiff and junior Henry Lessard similarly ripped through their semifinal match with a 6-1, 6-1 win.
The two teams had something of a history coming into the state championship. Gandhi, on a team with now-graduated Michael Ryu, had faced off with Henry Lessard and his older brother Sam last year in the doubles championship game. In 2025, it was Bexley’s Lessard brothers who came out on top. Now that each junior had a new partner, the rematch was set.
The title match was hyper-competitive from the jump. With rowdy student sections cheering from the sidelines, neither Indian Hill nor Bexley could secure an advantage and the first set went all the way to a tiebreaker. Lessard used powerful serves to claim a 7-6 (7-4) set one victory, but a lot of tennis was still to be played and Indian Hill never panicked.
Indian Hill’s second-year head coach Michael Piergalski broke down their conversations after the potentially-demoralizing first set.
“The first set came down to a couple tight points,” Piergalski said, “so the message was just, fine, we’re gonna win in three.”
Gandhi and Kurowski rallied in set two, eking out just enough daylight to force a third set with a 6-4 win. With momentum on their side, the Indian Hill duo looked like they might race to the finish as they took a 5-2 lead in the deciding set.
But Bexley refused to go quietly. The Bexley students cheering grew from a dull roar to a jet engine after each subsequent Bexley point, with Lessard and Schiff bellowing with their classmates as the momentum pivoted on a dime. In the blink of an eye, Bexley had taken four straight games for a 6-5 lead and it was Indian Hill on a razor’s edge.
Indian Hill’s student section wouldn’t let Gandhi and Kurowski give up. As the Braves’ own rowdy bunch began hyping up their friends on the court, the duo found another gear. They stormed back just as quickly as the lead had faded away, and after forcing a tiebreaker the Braves emerged victorious, 6-7 (7-4), 6-4, 7-6 (7-3). With the win, Indian Hill created perhaps the worlds first court storming in tennis as the Braves vocal student section rushed their teammates.
After the match, while crediting the fans for their support as well, Gandhi said his team’s belief was the deciding factor in the match.
“We always had the belief we could win the match,” Gandhi said. “We never lost hope.”
Gandhi and Kurowski become the first Indian Hill players to claim a state championship since 2022. Kurowski felt honored to be a part of the storied tradition of Indian Hill tennis.
“Continuing the legacy of Indian Hill greats, it’s one of the happiest days of my life,” Kurowski said.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Cincinnati’s state tennis champs not rattled by competition. Or snake.
Reporting by Chase Souder, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
