EAST PROVIDENCE – On paper, having Warwick’s two schools combine to form one tennis team sounds like a good idea, but right now they’ve got a major problem on their hands.

Figuring out which school gets to display the championship trophy first.

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Pilgrim and Toll Gate have never been mistaken for tennis schools, and in 2021, joined forces to form the Warwick boys tennis team. The program has quietly grown and on Monday, reached its highest moment, beating Providence Country Day, 4-2, to complete an undefeated season and win the 2026 RIIL Division III Boys Tennis Championship.

“It feels incredible. I’m so glad I did it with this team and around these people,” said No. 4 singles Jacob Scott, a senior at Pilgrim. “It’s a great experience and a great moment in my life.”

“I just came out here and wanted to win, all of us wanted to win,” said Etienne Degos, who won the clinching point with No. 2 doubles partner Ryan DeSilva. “To be the final match, it feels great.”

Tennis history in Warwick was anything but. Prior to the co-op, Pilgrim had two championships in program history but had 10 straight losing seasons from 2010-2019. Toll Gate was a power over 40 years ago, winning three straight state titles from 1979-1981 and adding two more D-II titles in 2007 and 2008. In the next 11 seasons after the title, Toll Gate had eight seasons with a losing record.

A co-op doesn’t mean instant success. It took some time to grow the program and after going 4-29 in the first three seasons, Warwick went 6-6 in 2024 before finishing 13-2 last season, falling in the semifinals to Cranston East.

In that loss, a championship team was born.

“We really wanted to win last year. It was a tough loss,” Scott said. “… But I’m really glad we could come back and do it this year with an undefeated season.”

Warwick didn’t just go undefeated. It was pure dominance from Day 1, which saw the co-op shellack Providence Country Day – the defending Division III champs – and lose only 10 individual matches (including playoffs) all season long.

The team’s depth was unmatched. The singles lineup – featuring Toll Gate brothers Parker Weldy and Griffin Weldy at No. 1 and No. 3 and Pilgrim’s Cornelius Zmed at No. 2 with schoolmate Scott at No. 4 – handled its business and doubles cleaned up as well.

Monday’s match against PCD – which was the healthiest its been all season – was won by the back end of the lineup. The Knights earned the first point with Ben Kravitz’s win at No. 1 singles, but Warwick tied the score less than one minute later when Zmed closed out his match at No. 2.

PCD came back with another point from the No. 1 doubles team of Ben-Zion Walter and Iver Matheson, but Griffin Weldy followed with a win at No. 3 to even the match at two.

The only drama was whether or not the No. 3 doubles teams – which had to wait for a match to be finished before getting on the court at East Providence High School – would get a chance to finish a game.

Scott took control early in the first set of his match and closed just as strong to pick up the 6-3, 6-3 win. He didn’t know exactly how Warwick stood, but had a feeling good things were happening.

“I was just trying to lock in on my game,” Scott said. “I heard some commotion next to me and screaming down on the first three courts, but I tried to stay focused on my court.”

Degos and DeSilva are Example A of what made this Warwick team special. Degos, a 6-foot-3 senior from Pilgrim, dominated at the net and DeSilva, a freshman from Toll Gate who quite literally looks up to his partner, was a menace in the back.

“We just clicked,” Degos said. “We’ve been undefeated since the start of the season, so I think we’re a pretty good match.”

That undefeated streak looked safe after the first set, but the duo got a little tight in the second before closing things out, quickly celebrating with one another before waiting for their teammates to run out and join.

“It definitely feels nice and gives us some Warwick pride,” DeSilva said. “It feels great.”

Providence Country Day wasn’t enthused with the result, but it had reason to celebrate.

The Knights graduated most of its lineup from last year’s D-III championship team, then had to play the start of the year without Kravtiz, who was a Second Team All-State pick as a freshman.

There were times where a trip to Slater Park – or, in this case thanks to the weekend rain, a walk to EPHS – seemed impossible. PCD made it happen by putting forth a championship effort.

“We battled a lot. The mindset was to win and we definitely wanted to win,” Kravitz said. “ … We were really excited after beating North Providence (in the semifinals) and thought we had a chance to win with a healthy team.

“We’re proud of what we accomplished.”

Warwick was as well.

Pilgrim and Toll Gate have a fierce rivalry in most sports, but that didn’t prevent the players from these schools from coming together as one this spring. Warwick fell short last season, but that only helped it become stronger and get a championship the whole city has been waiting for.

“End of the school year, start of the summer – it feels good to end it off,” Degos said. “And put last year behind us.”

“I’ve been together with them for four years and we’ve gotten to know them well,” Scott said. “It’s a great team and great environment and we have great team chemistry – all of us.”

2026 RIIL D-III Boys Tennis Championship

Warwick 4, PCD 2

Singles: 1, Ben Kravitz, PCD, def. Parker Weldy, W, 6-1, 6-0; 2, Cornelius Zmed, W, def. Jacob Deacon, PCD, 6-1, 6-0; 3, Griffin Weldy, W, def. Flynn Merlino, PCD, 6-3, 6-0; 4, Jacob Scott, W, def. Atlas Bi, PCD, 6-3, 6-3.

Doubles: 1, Iver Matheson/Ben-Zion Walter, PCD, def. Christian Mainelli/Alex Marsis, W, 6-2, 6-3; 2, Ryan DeSilva/Etienne Degos, W, def. Mac Berube/Ben Schoen, PCD, 6-2, 7-5.

Did not finish: Alex Mihalos/Avery Marques, W, vs. Charlie Meere/Joe Semonelli, PCD.

This article originally appeared on The Providence Journal: Score of the 2026 RIIL Division III Boys Tennis Championship Match

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