Boys tennis: Sectional scouting, Northwest
Boys tennis: Sectional scouting
CLASS 2Aat Cary-GroveWhen: 12:30 p.m. Friday, 1 p.m. Saturday
Guest list: Barrington, Cary-Grove, Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South, Dundee-Crown, Huntley, Jacobs, Lake Zurich, McHenry.
Baseline banter: Last year at this same venue, Barrington was unable to match the high-octane lineups of state powers Deerfield, Highland Park and Stevenson, having to settle for just one of their own, Bradley Yu, making the state field. Fast forward to this year, and it's a much different picture. With those big three in the mix, Barrington is the team to beat and hopes to advance all four of its entrants.
"Obviously things are a little more favorable for us this time around, but we still have to come out strong to establish ourselves at both singles and doubles if we want to get everybody through," said Broncos coach John Roncone just after his team captured its sixth straight Mid-Suburban League title Saturday.
Yu (14-3) and freshman Ammar Wazir (18-2) represent Barrington at singles and have elite companty in Jacobs standout Kerwin Chong (27-4), who is a two-time Fox Valley Conference champ and three-time state qualifier, twice with his older brother Kendrick.
Recently deployed as the Broncos' No. 2 doubles team, Dylan Er/Kyle Shuff (14-2) have been near flawless. Together with the top team of Matt D'Amore/Aryan Sharma (14-7), the MSL champs will be tough to top.
Huntley won its first FVC team title a week ago and has depth throughout, but it seems likely Jacobs will offer the most resistance to the Broncos, who are hoping for their first sectional title since 2015.
at Glenbrook SouthWhen: 1 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. Saturday
Guest list: Elk Grove, Leyden, Maine West, Addison Trail, Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South, Maine East, Maine South, Notre Dame.
Baseline banter: Fans will have the chance to watch Class 2A state runner-up Danilo Kovacevic in action, as the Maine South senior looks to return to the singles final next weekend in Arlington Heights. Unless there's a major upset, it will be Kovacevic versus Michael Bukhalo of Glenbrook South in the final, with ESCC champ Nick Hebda (Notre Dame) and Bukhalo's teammate, Rohan Gupta, in the mix as well.
Gupta and Sebastien DesRoberts were fourth at state last year in doubles for Glenbrook South.
This year, Glenbrook North's No. 1 team, Ben Riad/Ethan Park (14-5), has its eyes on the top prize over Glenbrook South's Jacob Adas/Marc Blekhamn. Along with them, Jason Elangical/Kamil Kozerski, recently installed as the No. 1 at Maine West, are hopeful of a long run and a spot in the state tournament field.
Larry Faulkner, two years ago recognized as National High School Boys Coach of the Year and around for 40-plus years as head coach at Glenbrok South, will look to guide his club to a second straight sectional title over rival Glenbrook North. Last year, Glenbrook South prevailed 33-29 in the Buffalo Grove sectional.
at Highland ParkWhen: 1 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. Saturday
Guest list: Buffalo Grove, Fremd, Hersey, Palatine, Prospect, Rolling Meadows, Wheeling, Deerfield, Highland Park.
Baseline banter: During the past decade or so, nobody would want to have state powers Deerfield and Highland Park in their sectional. The two high-flying state powers have traditionally dominated the four spots available to go downstate, and then have competed for one top-five team finish after another.
Not so this year. The two CSL teams are more pedestrian this spring, making the team title chase one that MSL runner-up Hersey and third-place finisher Fremd hope to take advantage of.
At singles, it appears Hersey freshman Max Sheldon (16-4) is the favorite following his three-set win over defending MSL champ Bradley Yu (Barrington) in the conference final. Sheldon also has a win against 2017 state qualifier Jeremy Learner (Highland Park, 12-6) in the second round of the Pitchford 32 last month.
Freshmen Casey Hishinuma (Fremd, 16-7) and Jackson Spurck (Palatine, 14-8) should bookend Charlie Chernawsky of Deerfield, likely the No. 3 seed.
Spurck has wins over both Hishinuma and Sheldon this season and finished fourth last weekend at the MSL tournament.
Deerfield's Adam Hirsch/Zach Fine appear to be the top seed at doubles, followed by the MSL runners-up from Fremd (Advay Mahajan/Arjun Srivasta, 15-9) and from third-place Hersey (Jace Coffaro/Dominick Antony, 13-5).
"Steve Rudman (Highland Park) and Josh Leighton (Deerfield) are both fantastic coaches, who will do a great job of putting their guys in position to qualify for state," begins Matt Duncan, head coach at Fremd. "But for the first time in awhile, I feel that both us and Hersey have a good chance to get a couple of our guys through, it we play well from the start."
at Lake ParkWhen: 1 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m. Saturday
Guest list: Conant, Hoffman Estates, Schaumburg, Bartlett, Glenbard North, Glenbard West, Lake Park, Wheaton North, Wheaton Warrenville South.
Baseline banter: This venue became top-heavy at singles when the IHSA reworked the guest list here, inviting three quality programs from DuPage County to challenge a three-year sectional championship run from Conant.
Sunny Sirinit of Wheaton Warrenville South likely gets the nod over Glenbard West's Alex Kernagis (13-6) for the top seed, thanks in part to a previous loss by the talented sophomore to Sirinit, who won four matches at state last year.
Kevin Li (Wheaton North), and Glenbard West freshman Andrew Immink (15-3) will vie for the next two seeds.
There will be plenty more spirited play at doubles, where the top seed, Glenbard West's Griffin Foster/Christo Maltby (15-4) and the No. 2 from Conant, Nico Rosas/Vera Iyer (12-0), look to meet in the final Saturday afternoon.
Rosas and Iyer were both state qualifiers a year ago, the third time Rosas has appeared in the postseason. Foster and Kernagis advanced after winning a sectional title last season, while Maltby made in through at singles.
Rosas and his temparary partner, Shashank Yerraguntia, won an MSL championship last weekend. Earlier this season, Foster/Maltby earlier were sixth at the Pitchford.
The No. 3 seed is Jack Lillig/Paul Choi of Wheaton Warrenville South, and No. 4 is Conant's tandem of Kaahan Motwani and Andrew Milas.
"The challenge for a fourth straight sectional team title will be our most difficult than ever before with the addition of Glenbard West and Wheaton Warrenville South, but we showed last weekend at the MSL tournament that even with us missing three from our starting lineup we could be in the race all the way through," said Conant coach Dave Koleno. "The guys are ready to do whatever it takes, but it will be important for us to get off to a good start, and get as many points along the way that we can."
CLASS 1Aat CarmelWhen: Noon Friday, 9 a.m. Satuday
Guest list: Carmel, St. Viator, Prairie Ridge, Vernon Hills, Wauconda, Beacon, Marengo, Northridge Prep, North Shore Country Day.
Baseline banter: The main attraction at this 1A site is Brian Hackman. The Wauconda senior has won 30-plus matches during the past two seasons, culminating in a top-eight finish a year ago. He's the first male player in program history to achieve that distinction.
"Brian is focused and has enjoyed a remarkable season thus far, and there's no doubt in my mind that he has the chance to do something special during the upcoming postseason," says Bulldogs coach Ryan Whitfield.
With Hackman at 14-0, and his teammate, Dev Patel (15-5), Wauconda has a potent 1-2 punch and is quite capable of earning two of the four state qualifying spots available.
Max Kueller (Prairie Ridge) and Vernon Hills standout Rohan Vasudela may have something to say about the final order of qualification.
If you're looking for a surprise breakout doubles team here, look no further than the Jack Aiello/Matt Firestone (12-7) team from St. Viator.
Aiello was a state qualifier a year ago as a freshman along with Nick Gattuso, and he and Firestone have spent considerable time together this spring. They finished third at the Bison Invite, and also third in last weekend's East Suburban Catholic Conference tournament.
The Lions' duo will take aim at the two-time FVC champions from Prairie Ridge (Daniel Lamar/Patrick Nasta), who were a sparkling 31-4 last season. Another top team is Vernon Hills' Matt Nguyen/Nikhil Mangtani (11-5). They were state qualifiers for Doug Gerber's 2017 sectional championship club, which won a record 18 matches.
- Mike Garofola