DOVER — East Liverpool’s boys tennis doubles team of Brady Dawson and Garrett Cooper pulled off an upset to qualify for the Div. II state tennis tournament after district tournament play on Monday at Dover City Park.

It didn’t come as a surprise to their coach Robert Nizer.

“Outside of Heartland’s Cooper Grim, we believe that Brady and Garrett are the two best players in the county,” Nizer said.

In singles play this season, the senior Dawson only lost once and the sophomore Cooper went undefeated. The two teamed together only twice during the regular season but won against challenging teams from Canfield and West Branch.

On Monday, in addition to the foes in front of them, everyone had to deal with the heat which approached 90 degrees.

“We knew it would be a factor because none of us had played in this all season,” Nizer said. “But we had plenty of water and bananas ready for the kids. They did get some cramps at the end of their matches but found a way through it.”

Each of the two matches went two and a half hours.

In the semifinal, No. 3 seed Dawson and Cooper defeated No. 2 seed Clay Lehman and Quinn Mullett from Berlin Hiland, 6-7 (9-11), 6-2, 6-2. In the district final, the Potters knocked off No. 1 seed Mavrik Malin and Caiden Straub from St. Clairsville 6-0, 6-1.

“They gave it their all and didn’t hang their heads when they lost the first game,” Nizer said. “We knew they would be a dangerous group.”

Subh Patel from Zanesville was the singles champion as he defeated Cambridge’s Jacob Vincent in the final, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3.

The state tennis tournament is set for May 28-29 at the Lindner Family Tennis Center in Mason near Cincinnati.