Red Devils, Trevians show they're on the top
Late afternoon storms muddied tournament brackets and final results at the annual Hinsdale Central Tennis Invite. But long before the rains sent everyone home for good, it had become clearer than ever that Hinsdale Central and New Trier will be the programs everyone is chasing at state tournament time.
The defending state champion Red Devils and Central Suburban League power Trevians dominated play on Saturday, sending a wave of their school colors into the finals at all flights just before rain officially cancelled most final matches (except for the championship matches, which were sent indoors at the Hinsdale Racket Club in the late evening).
Augie Bloom, a state medalist last season, met sophomore Andrew Scholnick of New Trier to decide the singles title, while teammates Dan Ballantine and Ian Tesmond faced the duo of Brantner Jones and John Beam for the doubles crown in a match that could decide who will receive the top seed for next weekend's Pitchford 32 tournament.
"To get this match in, and with a positive result, gives the winner a step up on everyone else heading into the 32," said New Trier assistant coach Peter Rose. "Hinsdale has a proven team with Ballantine and Tesmond, and although Brantner was part of a state qualifying team from a year ago (along with Robert Stineman), he and Beam haven't played together until this season, so it's an important match for our guys."
Bloom, who last weekend was playing in California at the prestigious Easter Bowl, mowed down a trio of challengers to advance into his final with Scholnick, who earlier upset No. 2 seed Michael Jacobs (Oak Park-River Forest) before stopping Deerfield freshman Jason Brown.
The Deerfield freshman stunned Krishna Ravella (Hinsdale Central), who looked to be a solid favorite to meet his teammate Bloom in the finals, in a 31/2-hour marathon which was decided in a 12-10 tie-breaker.
Trailing 3-0 in the third set, Brown roared back to take the lead at 4-3 and start a roller-coaster ride for both players, with each having a chance to leap forward, only to be sent backward with one superb shot after another in a match that delighted the fans.
Ravella astonished the fans courtside as a severe case of cramps in his right hand appeared to render the two-stime state qualifier helpless - only to have the junior somehow come back to push the match even further until Brown, himself suffering a leg cramp, won the match on a long rally with a blast on the paint.
"I felt like an old man out there late in the match," said Ravella, who failed to answer the bell in his next match and took an injury default loss.
"I couldn't let the fact that I was a freshman playing a great player like (Ravella) and that it was such a long match affect me, or I would have lost for sure," said Brown, who fell in straight-sets to Scholnick.
Bloom, who nearly suffered a serious injury on the first point of his opening match with Barrington freshman George Coll, played flawlessly en route to straight-set wins over Nick Keugsa (Lyons) and Ben Shklyar (Deerfield) to earn his spot in the final.
"This season it's all about playing each match and opponent and match as best as I can and just see where it all ends at the state tournament," said Bloom, who tweaked his knee near the fence when giving chase to a return from Coll.
Barrington's No. 1 doubles team of David Martin and Cameron McClelland suffered a 3-set loss in its opener against Highland Park (Marcus Ampon-Jared Ruff), then came back to defeat Lyons easily in straight sets before needing 3 sets to outlast Oak Park-River Forest's Andy Cowell-Seth Sankany.
The match for seventh place with the No. 1 team from OPRF (Alex Gebert-Jake Wilson), the same club which defeated the Broncos last weekend in the final of the Huskie-Knight Invite in 3 sets.
"Our confidence is improving, but more important we are beginning to find out that we can be competitive with each one of our opponents, especially if we can stay consistent in our play," said Martin, who along with his partner and every other team at the doubles site dealt with gusting southwest winds which made hitting a precise lob practically impossible.
"Maybe after winning a 3-set match it will finally get us over the hump heading into Tuesday's match with Fremd and then the Pitchford tournament," said McClelland.
Doubles mates Joe Gasior and Zach Kasiurak were poised to play Highland Park for fifth place overall at Nos. 3-4 doubles before the rains came in a field which was dominated by both New Trier and Hinsdale Central.