Wallgard, Valencia of Pierce Seeded First in State Championships After Irvine Wins

Jonas Wallgard and Leo Valencia of Pierce College will be among the top-ranked players in this weekend’s state community college tennis tournament at Chabot College in Union City.

Wallgard won the singles championship and combined with Valencia to win the doubles title last Saturday in the Southern California championships at the Racquet Club of Irvine.

Saddleback won the team title, edging Pierce by one point.

Wallgard, a freshman from Hollviksnas, Sweden, beat Pat Crow of Long Beach in the singles final, 6-4, 6-2.

Wallgard, whose only loss to a community college player this season was to Crow on March 5, has beaten Crow four straight times. He also beat Crow in the finals of the Ojai and Metropolitan Conference tournaments.

In the doubles final, Wallgard and Valencia beat Saddleback’s Jose Rueles and John Rusk, 6-2, 6-2. Rueles and Rusk had beaten Wallgard and David Yablon in the final at Ojai two weeks earlier.

The state tournament begins with first-round and quarterfinal matches on Friday. The semifinals and finals set for Saturday.