By Ken Chaisson
Hometown Weekly Staff
On Monday May 4, 2026, the Walpole boys’ tennis team battled Division 1 Newton North (7-3) at the Graney Athletic Complex at Walpole High School. Newton North proved victorious that sunny, breezy day winning, 4-1.
However, history was made the previous week when the Walpole boys’ tennis team defeated Division 1 and Bay State Conference foe Brookline, 3-2, for the first time ever. A win like that proved that this year’s squad has the skills to make some noise in the Division 2 state tournament. The boys’ tennis team has made the state tournament 25 out of 26 years.
Coming into the Newton North match, Walpole was 8-2 on the season losing only to Division 1 Needham and Wellesley. They are currently power ranked #4 in Division 2.
In 2019, Walpole played in the D2 state final against Concord-Carlisle and but still lost to D1 Brookline in the regular season. Beating Brookline showed how good this year’s team is.
Newton North came into the match having lost their last two matches to Needham and St. John’s Prep. The Tigers are ranked 7th in the Boston Globe poll and 6th in the power rankings.
Walpole teacher Shawn Gough has been the boys’ tennis coach for 35 years. This is his penultimate year as he is retiring as a tennis and football coach and a teacher at the end of the school year.
The 17 Walpole athletes are led by senior captains Stephen Jung, Sean McLaughlin and Brady Goldman. Jung is headed to the United States Military Academy West Point in the fall.
The match format is three singles and two doubles matches with the best 2-out-of-3 sets in each match.
Newton North made quick work of Walpole in the singles matches losing only four games in six sets. Jung and Goldman battled valiantly throughout while junior Dillon Blaquiere showed his talent continues to grow against quality competition.
However, Walpole’s strength is in doubles and it showed as Walpole’s top doubles pair of Luke Moses and Matt Anastasi won in thrilling fashion. After dropping the first set, 6-4, they stormed back to take the second set, 6-3. Since the overall team match was already decided, that led them to play a super tiebreaker which they won, 10-6, to capture their match and avoid the team shutout.
Walpole’s second doubles team of Jack Stalcap and Pravith Sivakumar fell in straight sets.
Walpole looked at today’s match against Division 1 Newton North as a learning experience. The Tigers have twice as players as the Timberwolves in their tennis program. They are a perennial powerhouse in the larger school division. Walpole plays most of its matches against Division 1 schools which helps immensely in the power rankings.
Walpole’s last regular season match is scheduled for May 20. Then they will find out their seeding in the state tournament once again. If they can maintain a power ranking in the top eight, they will get two home matches.
