Western Alamance’s Luke Durham named to All-State tennis team

Luke Durham’s rise from Western Alamance senior to North Carolina High School Tennis Coaches Association all-state selection was built in the same spring that gave the Warriors their first boys’ singles state champion and another team title. Durham was named to the 2026 men’s all-state tennis team after winning the Class 5-A singles crown and helping push Western Alamance to a 21-0 season.

Durham claimed the singles title May 9 at Cary Tennis Park, beating Hickory’s Graham Powers in the state final. The victory gave Western Alamance its first boys’ singles state championship in program history and capped a run in which Durham kept climbing through a bracket that demanded both consistency and composure.

Western Alamance added the dual-team championship May 15 at Burlington Tennis Center, edging Hickory 5-4 for the school’s first boys’ tennis team title since a three-year stretch from 1998 to 2000. The Warriors finished unbeaten, and Durham was central to that run not only in singles but also in doubles work during the postseason, including matches with Adam Boyleston.

Coach Rich Dowler, who guided the championship season and plans to retire in February, called Durham a “unique tennis player.” That description fit a year in which Durham became the program’s top individual champion and then added statewide recognition from the coaches association.

The all-state honor gives Western Alamance another marker for a season that already reshaped the record book in Alamance County. Durham’s singles title, the team’s 21-0 finish and the 5-4 win over Hickory now stand together as the clearest measure of how far the Warriors’ boys’ tennis program has come under Dowler, with Durham at the center of its biggest spring.