Boys tennis: Burlington Central's Welker falls into consolation bracket
The bright start by Nicolas Welker of Burlington Central at the Class 1A boys state tennis tournament lost a little bit of luster Friday afternoon but the Rockets' star still shines as he heads into the third day of the tournament.
The junior fell short in his bid to remain in the singles front draw following his 6-4, 6-4 loss to 3-4 seed Natan Spear of Chicago Northside, but the straight-set loss was only a slight setback for Welker who is still on course to win a state medal.
"Natan is a terrific player, and I felt going in we were even in our play, but when it was 4-4 and 40-0, he came back to make it deuce, and after that he just hit the bigger points a little better, and that was the difference," said Welker, who suffered his first loss of the season.
"It was a disappointing loss for sure, but I wasn't sure just how disappointing it was until after shaking his hand and turning around - I just welled up and started to cry.
"It's all good now, and I'm ready to go first thing Saturday morning when I play Bert Cao (IMSA) at Rolling Meadows knowing I'm just a couple of wins away from playing for a fifth-place state medal."
The rest of the 1A field will be chasing front-runners Latin and Dunlap, each with 22 overall points, in addition to third-place Benet Academy, who will enter this final day with 21 points.
Consolation matches will begin at 8 a.m. Saturday and the front draw at 9 a.m. at tourney host Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, where the finals are scheduled to begin around noon.
Welker remains the lone player from the Fox Valley area still playing on the last weekend of the season, after Streamwood senior Christopher Veltkamp lost in three sets to Ryan Mitchell of Lincoln-Way West, and the doubles teams from St. Charles East and South Elgin were eliminated as well.
Veltkamp' sensational final year with the Sabres ends at 32-2, which included victories in the championship matches of the Schaumburg and Lake Park Invite, his second consecutive sectional crown, plus another Upstate Eight Conference title as well for the three-time state qualifier.
The two-time state qualifiers from St. Charles East, Charlie Downing-Kevin Schreiner (23-5), went out in the fourth round of the back draw to New Trier's Dylan Drier-Nathan Friedman, 7-5, 6-3.
The Saints were both all-academic all-conference student-athletes, with Downing attending Ohio State University next fall. The veteran received a University Honors Program, Provost Scholarship and National Buckeye Scholar honor.
South Elgin's Chad Mogan-Ray Patel surprised the doubles field by going 3-2 overall, recording three victories around their first round defeat, and fourth-round loss to Hinsdale Central.
Mogan was a UEC Valley champ at No. 2 doubles along with Tommy Huber, while Patel played at No. 1 singles all throughout the year for head coach Bret Anderson, going 16-7 overall.
Hinsdale Central is in the middle of a tight race for the team trophy, along with four others, each separated by just a few points. The Red Devils currently sit in fourth place with Lake Forest, each with 21 points, three points behind tourney leading Naperville Central at its 24 points. New Trier (23) is second, and Glenbrook North (22) third.