HANOVER — The No. 2 seed Hanover High Bears are headed to their fifth consecutive NHIAA Division I state championship match after sweeping No. 3 seed Derryfield, 9-0, on Tuesday afternoon in a semifinal at Storrs Pond Recreation Area.
The young Hanover squad clinched the semifinal win by taking the first five singles matches and finished off the remaining singles match and the doubles matches for good measure.
The match featured singles victories from sophomore Quinn O’Regan (8-5), junior Ben Pearson (8-1), junior Ben Hannan (8-6), sophomore Nate Holt (8-2), junior Wolfgang Wu (8-0), and sophomore Izaiah Siegel (8-2).
Notably, O’Regan, the Bears’ No. 1 singles player, picked up a victory over Derryfield’s Johnny Brown, who had previously been unbeaten on the season.
“It really helped that we had a lot of fans. Johnny is a great player. I was just feeling good today, and I was happy it went my way,” the sophomore said.
The duos of O’Regan and Pearson (8-4), Holt and Siegel (8-5), and Hannan and Wu (8-1) had the doubles victories for the Bears.
“I thought they played great — really good energy. A lot of people just seemed focused and played their games; it was great to see,” Hanover Head Coach Kelly Finn said.
Awaiting Hanover in the D-I final is rival Bedford, which is the No.1 seed and undefeated. This will be the fifth straight year the Bears and Bulldogs have faced off in the state championship.
The programs are 2-2 against each other so far, with Hanover winning titles in 2022 and 2024. The teams met in the regular season, with the Bulldogs picking up an 8-1 win.
“I know we lost 8-1 in the regular season, but I still think we have a really good shot,” O’Regan said. “I think it shows something that we only won 7-2 against Derryfield in the regular season, and it was 9-0 this time — even though it’s going to be really hot, I think we have a good chance.”
Finn echoed that optimism, noting that despite the overall score, her squad’s regular-season contests with Bedford were competitive, with four of its matches decided by a two-game margin.
“Those can go either way, and so we’re hoping to flip some of them — we’ll see; we don’t have to flip all of them; it’s still achievable,” she said.
The D-I state championship is set for Thursday at 4 p.m. at Southern New Hampshire University.
