Boys tennis: Burlington Central's Welker in good position at state
Nicholas Welker was flying far above his opponents Thursday and Christopher Veltkamp was right alongside until a late takedown sent the Streamwood star into the back draw.
From the first point on Thursday, Burlington Central's Welker would dominate his opponents on the first day of the Class 1A state boys tennis tournament to advance to Friday's 8 a.m. quarterfinals in Arlington Heights at tourney host Hersey.
Veltkamp, kept Sabres fans in suspense, and those from Glenbrook North on edge by taking 3-4 seed Nick Marino to the brink, before the Spartans star dashed the upset hopes of the three-time state qualifier.
Welker (10-0) was perfect at the Wheeling venue, brushing aside two rivals to earn a spot opposite 9-16 seed Carlos Gutierrez (Fenwick) Friday morning, and one win away from 3-4 Natan Spear (16-2) of Chicago Northside.
"This is where I want to be right now, into the second day and still playing, especially after going 1-2 last year and eliminated on the first day," said Welker, a junior.
"That 6-0, 6-2 loss to Anderson Park (Belvidere North) to end my tournament last year has kind of stayed with me to provide a little extra motivation for this year. The competition today was better than what I saw last week at sectionals, so it was important for me to play at a higher level to meet the challenge, and I felt I was able to do that in every part of my game."
Veltkamp (32-1) did that and more, as he blew past his first round opponent, before impressing both Marino (30-1) and his coach, Jeff Jordan, when it was all over.
"We didn't know much about Veltkamp coming in, but we do now - he's a terrific player who hit one big shot after another, while really making Nick work for plenty of points," admitted Jordan, whose club currently sits atop the leaderboard along with Naperville Central ahead of the second day of play.
"It's hard to believe (Veltkamp) wasn't at least, a 9-16 seed, if not higher," began Marino. "He had a big-time forehand and serve, and was a really good player."
The Streamwood senior easily won his first contest in the back draw to remain alive for a coveted state medal on Saturday.
"Nick is a great player. The difference might have been he played the big points a little bit better than me, but I felt I was right there with him," said Veltkamp.
Veltkamp's younger brother Alex won two in the back draw to make it into the second day, as did the St. Charles East doubles team of Charlie Downing-Kevin Schreiner and Chad Mogan-Raj Patel of South Elgin.
Sectional runners-up Mogan-Raj (5-2) sent Jacobs' Matt Kastritis-Winston Yau home after a 6-4, 6-2 victory, while the Saints' team did the same to Whitney Young of the Chicago Public League to run its record to 22-5.
The two-time conference champs, and two-time state qualifiers won their state opener in straight sets, before falling to Lyons, 6-2, 6-0.
St. Charles North head coach Sean Masoncup had tossed plenty of praise on both his doubles teams despite having their season end in the second round of consolation play.
"We were thrilled to continue the tradition of strong doubles team, with these guys making it 11 straight years of having state qualifiers, especially since it was the first time for all of them to be here," said Masoncup.
Joe Mascha-Dillon Randazzo would finish 22-11, while Ajay Gustafson-Conor Bajuk ended at 28-7.
Upstate Eight Valley champions Ben Holmes-Taylor Phengsomphone of South Elgin (22-11) are done after going 1-2.
Holmes will attend Elgin Community College, while Phengsomphone is off to UIC next fall.
Jacobs' Kerwin Chong won his 114th career victory for coach Jon Betts before being eliminated, while Golden Eagles sophomore Kyle Burton went 0-2.
Huntley's top doubles team of Matt Kastrinis-Winston Yau went out in the second round of the back draw.
Yau collected 44 wins for the program, and will attend the University of Colorado at Boulder, while Kastrinis, on his way to Savannah College of Arts and Design, falls just short of reaching 100 wins with 97.