Boys tennis: St. Charles North claims West Aurora Invite title
Garett Collins and David Schmidt were a formidable doubles team Saturday in Aurora.
With the St. Charles North boys tennis varsity regulars concluding a two-day tournament at Hersey, Collins and Schmidt more than filled the void at the West Aurora Invite.
Nazareth is a Class 1A power - especially in singles - but the North Stars' substitute No. 1 doubles team dropped a mere game against its Roadrunner counterparts in the championship match of the eight-team bracketed dual-meet tournament.
"Normally we're not partners, but we play really great together," Collins said after the three St. Charles North doubles teams all prevailed to give the squad a 3-2 triumph over Nazareth. "We had a lot of momentum going into the (finals match)."
St. Charles North (9-2) advanced to the championship match with a 4-1 win over Glenbard West and a razor-thin 3-2 verdict over Marmion.
The North Stars' second-doubles tandem of Jim Cooke and Jkae Gruber also won its match in straight sets against Nazareth.
The St. Charles North partnership of Grayson Willenbacher and Josh Amaro did likewise at No. 3 doubles against Nazareth.
"We have 16 guys who practice with varsity every day," said Gruber, who partnered with Cooke to win their championship final 7-5, 6-3. "We were down four games in the first set. We dragged that momentum into the second set."
"This is the deepest team we've had in 10 years," St. Charles North coach Sean Masoncup said.
The North Stars' proficiency in doubles was necessary as the Roadrunners (12-3) dominated the two singles matches behind undefeated No. 1 Michael Rooney (15-0) and Johnny Hamilton in the second slot.
Rooney won 36 of 37 games on the day.
"Their No. 1 was top eight in state last year," said St. Charles North No. 2 singles player Cody Thomas, who fell to Hamilton 3-6, 3-6. "At the beginning of both sets, they were both really close games (against Hamilton)."
Marmion coach Jeff Garofalo said the North Stars' play at doubles was the difference in the teams' semifinal match.
"I just feel like the (St. Charles North) doubles teams took over control of the match," Garofalo said.
The Cadets (8-2) finished third after a 3-2 major-consolation victory over St. Charles East, which fell to Nazareth in the other semifinal.
Jack Draper, Danny Stueland and Bennet Piotrowski were undefeated on the day, respectively, for Marmion at first singles and No. 1 doubles.
"You always want to play for that championship," Garofalo said of the loss to St. Charles North in the semifinals. "I did feel like they did bounce back well."
St. Charles East edged the host Blackhawks in the first-round match, 3-2, before falling to Nazareth in the semifinals.
"It was a very close match," West Aurora coach Bill Stanley said of the Upstate Eight crossover dual. "They won two tiebreakers (first to score 10 points in the third set)."
"We took time to reset and take time for what we came to do: to play calm tennis," St. Charles East senior No. 3 doubles player Matthew Kennedy said of the Saints' victory over West Aurora.