The championship match was played like a championship match.

The playoff between the North Division champion Athens Bulldogs and the South champion Ironton Fighting Tigers was a classic battle Monday with Athens winning 3-2.

The Bulldogs pulled out the final match 6-4 to win the title.

In singles play, Ironton’s No. 1 player Lovell Medcalf blitzed Daniel Huang 6-2, 6-0 as he improved to 17-0 on the season.

Robbie Downs upped his record to 15-2 as he won the No. 2 singles match 6-4, 7-6 (7-4) over Abdul Al-Hagbani. Downs finished unbeaten in the league.

No. 3 singles player fell to Sam Miner 2-6, 0-6.

Athens won both doubles matches. Ironton’s Austin Cornett and Demetrius Givens lost a heartbreaker 7-5, 3-6, 4-6 while Seth Christian and Joey Pauley fell 4-6, 3-6.

In exhibition play, Ironton’s Matt Jones and Lorenzo Akers lost 6-8 to Connere Lovelle and Larry Wu. The Fighting Tigers Gage Murphy dropped a match to Vihks Conjivaram 3-8.

The Fighting Tigers play in the Division II sectional tournament Wednesday.