Barrington rolls to MSL victory; Meadows' Galvin wins singles
There was expectancy from most of the participants in the Mid-Suburban League that Barrington would collect a third straight boys tennis conference championship this spirng.
They were certainly correct.
The Broncos captured six titles out of seven flights to run away from the field on a steamy Saturday at Rolling Meadows.
"This is a great group of guys we have here this year," said Barrington coach John Roncone, who earlier led the program to four straight conference wins, 2006-09. "There's a lot of heart, and great effort with this team. And when someone wins, they all win, making them an incredibly tight bunch throughout the roster."
The Broncos finished with an impressive 61 points. Prospect (35) was next, with Fremd (31) rounding out the top three, followed by Conant (29) and MSL East champion Hersey (28).
"Barrington was clearly the best team heading into this tournament, and they proved to be the best when we finished today, but give credit to Prospect, who really did themselves well here this weekend," said Palatine coach Jim Lange.
Rolling Meadows junior Mack Galvin dominated the proceedings at No. 1 singles, eventually winning his third straight singles crown after topping Barrington senior Ishaan Jaglan 6-1, 6-0.
"Ishaan is a great player, but today I got off to a strong start, and never let up until the match was over," said Galvin, who will now look to fine-tune a few things during training in the coming week in preparation for the rugged Deerfield sectional.
Jaglan needed to comback from a first-set loss in his semifinal with Palatine's David Chon to earn his place in the final with Galvin. Chon later defeated Elk Grove sophomore Markos Christoforou 6-1, 6-3 in the third-place No. 1 singles match.
"David played well after coming back from that heartbreaker with Ishaan, and now he will turn his attention to sectionals, where he will team up with Mark Scovic as our No. 1 team at the Stevenson sectional," said Lange.
Scovic and Alex Ruthe earned a second-place medal after falling to Barrington's Scott Apmann and Matt Mulligan (17-3) at No. 1 doubles.
"It's great to be a part of a second straight conference championship, and all three of our team titles as well," said Apmann, who won it all last year at No. 1 with teammate Dean Carlson before qualifying into the state tournament with Jaglan a week later.
Mulligan partner with Vijay Tripuraneni (15-3) at No. 2 doubles in 2014 to win a title, while Tripuraneni teammed with Zach Hennenfent on Saturday to garner the No. 2 championship ring.
"The chance to win a second MSL title was great, but now we want to get to state in our last season at Barrington," said Tripuraneni, who is off to the University of Texas next fall. Hennenfent, also a two-time MSL champ, will attend Penn next year.
The Broncos' No. 2 tandem needed two sets (6-3, 6-1) to get past the No. 2 seed, Hersey's Tim Griffin/Adam Johnson, who were a perfect 8-0 during the MSL regular season.
Cam Holzman/Jacob Song defeated Chris Stavrou/Phil Buesing of Fremd 6-3, 6-4 in the No. 3 doubles final, while Samit Sinha-Ryan Woodlock completed the Broncos' sweep at No. 4 doubles.
Mohammed Walji (22-3), a winner last year at No. 3 singles, won it all at No. 2 this time with a 6-3, 6-2 triumph over Nikhil Modak at Conant.
The Cougars' No. 1 doubles team of Matt Meyers/Glenn Huang hopes to be ready for the Schaumburg sectional after an injury to Meyers, a senior, on Friday forced the fine pair out of the competition.
"X-rays didn't show a fracture or break to the finger I injured when I ran into the fence chasing a ball down, so for the next couple of days I'll ice my finger like crazy and get some rest, then hope we can go on Friday on the first day of sectionals," said Meyers, a 2014 state qualfiier at doubles.
Grant Bernero ended the day on a high note for Barrington with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Prospect freshman Jack Terry in the final at No. 3 singles.