Batavia's Josh Cogan nets singles title

The last time Batavia's boys tennis team boasted a sectional champ, Ronald Reagan was midway through his first term in the White House, Duran Duran was being hyped as the next Beatles, and Cubs fans were certain their team would win another World Series championship before the hundredth anniversary of the previous one.

The year was 1983, and Bob Kummer was the coach of the Bulldogs back then, just as he is now, and few people at the West Aurora sectional were happier as Josh Cogan beat Naperville Central's Kevin Bauman 6-2, 6-2 in the singles final.

"Frank Vermaat won the West Chicago sectional for us back then,' Kummer said. "Frank was an excellent player, and he placed fifth in state that year, but that was a long time ago."

Cogan, whose only loss came in his opening match of the season against Oswego's Collin McWethy, also equaled Vermaat's single season win total by picking up his 30th in a row. He'll be trying to set a new Bulldog record next weekend at the state tournament.

"Josh has a lot of confidence and a lot of poise," Kummer said. "It's great to watch how he turns his crosscourt shots into a weapon."

The Batavia freshman hit one big shot after another as he pushed Bauman from side to side.

"I was really in the zone today, and so focused on the point," Cogan said. "Every game was so long that I was fortunate to be able to close those out."

Naperville Central dominated the sectional, easily winning the team competition.

"This was probably the hardest working team that I've ever had," Naperville Central coach Dan Brown said. "They set some big goals for themselves and have really gone after those goals."

The Redhawks owned both halves of the doubles bracket as Billy Sterrett and Ashvin Reddy beat teammates Mark Bicek and Frank Bicek in a marathon match, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6 (8-6).

Marmion's John Mason and Austin McWethy bounced back from a second set loss to win the third-place match, 6-3, 3-6, 6-3, over IMSA's Lawrence Kim and Nathan Yan.

"We tend to start off strong, then lose it in the second set," Mason said. "We just had to keep playing all the way through."

For a while, it looked as though the match might follow the script from a previous one that saw the Cadets drop a three-setter to Mark and Frank Bicek.

"We should have won that match, but they were tough," McWethy said.

Mason and McWethy's win over IMSA helped the Cadets clinch a share of third place in the team competition, behind Naperville Central (24) and Batavia (10).

"The pressure was on them to qualify, and they may have lost their focus a little bit at times, but they did well," Marmion coach Pat Maurer said.

IMSA's Gary Sheng beat Naperville Central's Rachit Marwaha, 6-7, 6-3, 6-1, in the third-place match to help the Titans finish in a tie for third.