Stevenson Patriots still in title tennis hunt

Stevenson began its quest for the most important of all trophies during the tennis season Thursday morning when it opened play at the boys tennis state tournament.

The Patriots had a successful first day, advancing three of its four teams into today's 9 a.m. round of 16 action with 1-2 seed Blake Bazarnik (25-1) and singles teammate Etham Frenkel (26-6) and 1-2 seed Ross Putterman-David Packowitz (29-1) sailing through their first three matches.

Friday's matches promise more drama as the stakes get higher and the points available greater, especially during the late morning quarterfinals in the championship bracket where a victory nets 4 points.

When play was completed Thursday evening, the defending champions from Hinsdale Central led Stevenson, New Trier and Oak Park-River Forest by just 2 points (24-22) with Glenbrook South in the mix with 19 points.

Today's round of 16 in the front draw at singles is at tourney host Hersey, while Prospect welcomes the doubles competition.

Backdraw play begins at 8 a.m. at several area sites.

The tournament-leading Red Devils sent all four of their teams through with ease on Thursday, but will keep their eye on two key matches this morning that will influence the eventual outcome in the team race on Saturday.

Frenkel will meet 3-4 seed Denis Bogatov (Warren, 22-3), with the Patriots senior looking to stay alive in the front draw to earn a spot in the quarterfinals and a likely match with 5-8 seed Augie Bloom from Central in what would be an important head-to-head encounter.

On the bottom half of the bracket, a Bazarnik victory over 9-16 seed Michael Jacobs (Oak Park-River Forest) coupled with a win by another 5-8 seed from Hinsdale Central's Krishna Ravella (33-2) sets a second head-to-head match with 8 points on the line.

"Sure, there's pressure on me and our 2-dubs team (Nick Stephan-Alec Tunner), but that's what it's all about at this time of the season," said Frenkel, who defeated Kory Poland of Effingham in straight sets to advance. "We know that (Blake) and our No. 1 team are going to keep on winning and getting through their brackets, so it's all on us and all about the team from here on out."

Stephan-Tunner broke a two-match skid and opened with a pair of victories before running into a red-hot Edwardsville tandem (Jordan and Justin Leskera) at Wheeling and fell in 2 sets. The duo travels to Fremd to begin in the backdraw Friday.

NSC compatriots Alex Golovin (Mundelein, 28-6) and Lake Zurich freshman Michael Redlicki (28-4) remain alive in the championship round and will face 2 of the best here this weekend.

Golovin will have 1-2 seed Michael Moore (Glenbrook South, 33-1) to contend with while Redlicki meets Moore's teammate, 5-8 seed Ben Hoogland (28-3).

Bogatov, the defending singles champion, had a scare in his early morning warm-up not associated with his season-long bout with lower back pain.

"I felt a twinge in and around my rotator cuff," he said, "and thought 'uh-oh.' But I was able to work through it with a lot of ice and stretching and tried to stay loose in between each match, and it seemed to work."

Bogatov made quick work of a trio of victims to set up his match with Frenkel at Hersey.

At Palatinee, the Pirates faithful had to be pinching themselves with delight as their hometown favorites Rafael Robles-Mikey Woolf opened with a pair of victories to help book a spot opposite 5-8 seed Downers Grove South (Rahul Kamath-Brian Sorich, 29-1) in a third-round match.

The success of the pair caused the crowd to grow throughout the day and was fueled by the end of the school day as students joined the cheering.

After defeating Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin and 17-32 seed Glenbrook North, the Pirates hoped to use the momentum they had gathered to start quickly against South.

South had other ideas and quickly won the first set 6-2 before the Pirates led 4-3 in the second set before finally succumbing 7-5.

"I still have goosebumps just thinking about how hard those guys played against one of the best in the state, and watching how their friends and family were cheering each and every point," said Palatine coach Steve Pass.

"Now, tomorrow, we go after fifth place," said Robles. Their MSL rivals Barrington (David Martin-Cam McClelland) fell into the backdraw after a 3-set loss to 9-16 seed Normal Community, a match in which the 17-32 seed Broncos opened with a 6-3 win.

Barrington's Jim Deroche-Doug Nordli had the pleasure of meeting 1-2 seed Hinsdale Central (Ballantine-Tesmond) in their opener, but after a straight-set defeat, the Broncos' No. 2 team came back to win three matches in the consolation bracket.

Dean Tanglis-Taylor Blaney (St. Viator) had the misfortune of running into Hinsdale Central's No. 2 team and 9-16 seed (Paul Cooper-Josh Sink) in its third-round match and met the same fate in a 6-0, 6-1 loss.

MSL singles champ Kenta Shimizu (Fremd) ran into sophomore sensation Tim Kopinski (Stagg, 20-0) in his third-round match, and it was all Kopinski 6-1, 6-1.

"Kopinski is so consistent and he seems to hit harder as the match goes on," said Fremd coach Ken Goettsche.

Kopinski will meet New Trier sophomore Andrew Scholnick, who along with 3-4 seed Robert Stineman and top doubles team Brantner Jones-John Beam, must pick up the slack after its No. 2 team (Kawashima-Mang) were upset by Lake Forest (Gordon-Kester) 7-6 (3), 6-4 in the third round.