Scouting Cook County boys tennis conference tournaments
Mid-Suburban League
Where: Conant, Schaumburg and Hoffman Estates
When: 3:30 p.m. today and Friday; 8:30 a.m. Saturday.
What to watch: Two weeks ago it appeared Fremd was headed to an easy second straight MSL West title and conference tournament crown as well. But last week the Vikings walked a tightrope against long-time rival Barrington before winning 4-3, when No. 2 singles Ryo Miyawaki won a marathon 3-set match over Broncos freshmen Varun Parekh. The Vikings' are still the favorite to win it all, but plenty of MSL rivals were all given a healthy boost of confidence after that narrow victory one week ago. "Obviously, Barrington feels like its chances improved after our dual last week, but we have a lot of incentive (too) because guys who didn't play well on that day, or (even) lost would like to come back and deliver this weekend for us," says Fremd coach Ken Goettsche, whose club would flex its muscle in front of the selection committee and come away with four No. 1 seeds out of the seven flights.
Fremd's Kent Shimizu-Ryan Kreis (22-3) were the clear top seed at No. 1 doubles while Miyawaki (19-8) got the nod over Parekh (21-7) thanks to his victory last week. Teammates Matt Burkhardt-James Lee solidified the No. 1 seed at No. 2 doubles over Barrington rivals Connor Brownell-Ben Nuckles after a 2-set victory at the dual. However, the Broncos, always deep and dangerous at doubles, earned the No. 1 seed at No. 3 over Fremd (Mike Artov) and No. 4 (Steve Farag-Brett Furmanski) and Rolling Meadows (Cal Gruhlke-Mike Toth), which snared the No. 2 seed.
"This tournament is usually won with consistent performances across the board and we feel (this) year we have a little more depth and talent at singles, and together with our four solid teams at doubles, we hope to make a strong run at (it) during the three days," said Barrington coach John Roncone.
The two front-runners will not have any early head-to-head matches, however, the wild card in this game might be at Nos. 1 singles and doubles, were the competition will be fierce in two highly competitive flights.
The MSL's best, Eric Klawitter (17-3, 8-0) was the easy choice as the top choice at No. 1 singles, and could send No. 4 Maciej Niemczyk (Fremd) into the consolation bracket and take valuable front-draw points away. The same holds true on the bottom end of this bracket, with Schaumburg junior Izzi Balase (25-3), runner-up to Shimizu last year, firmly sitting as the No. 2 seed, and 3 matches away from meeting No. 4 George Coll (17-12) of Barrington in the semifinals, should all of the seeds hold.
There is far too much talent on the doubles side as No. 5 seed (Takuma Ito-Brett Sacks) of Conant and No. 6 Rolling Meadows (Sam Metzger-Tony Falcone) can state a case as a potential top four. Metzger and Falcone were key ingredients in the Mustangs first division title since 1995.
The tourney host Cougars became a dangerous club after head coach Amar Patel moved his top singles player (Ito) to doubles, and immediately becomes No. 4 Hersey's (Kevin Amarantos-Yuki Chiba) first serious challenge in the second round.
Prospect seniors Sam Pope-Jon Kiefer grabbed the No. 3 seed, and the athletic duo sits on the bottom half of the bracket, and eager to get a shot at Barrington in the semis and later at Fremd, in the final, if all plays out accordingly.
East Suburban Catholic
Where: Harper College, Forest View Racquet Club, Pioneer Park (Arlington Heights).
When: noon today; 9 a.m. Saturday (all at Harper).
What to watch: St. Viator is on the outside looking in this weekend in what appears to be a 3-team race for the big trophy, with regular season champion Benet, Carmel and Marian Catholic. Benet went 8-0 in ESCC for its 17th title in 19 seasons.
Everyone concedes the top 4 spots at No. 1 singles begins with defending champion Julian Childers from Marian, but after that, Bryan Hunt (Carmel), Alex Haizel (Marist) and Ronnie Wing of Notre Dame are all bursting with confidence.
The Lions best hope for success rides on their No. 1 doubles team of Taylor Blaney-Dean Tanglis, who last year burst onto the state scene to surprise the 64-man field by going 4-2 at the tournament - only to struggle to pick up where they left off.
"This should really be a great tournament to watch on the team side of things, but I can tell you both (Taylor-Dean) are ready to go this weekend, knowing as seniors, there are no more chances after the next couple of weeks," said Lions head coach Dan Tripamer. "This is the weekend when the post-season really begins, and the guys know it, and want to get off to a good start on Thursday."
Central Suburban
Where: Deerfield
When: 4 p.m. Friday; 9 a.m. Saturday
What to watch: The tournament field here will try to figure on a way to catch super-power New Trier, which is led by its fine No. 1 Robert Stineman, and a bevy of talent throughout a lineup coach Tad Eckert has yet to formalize - witnessed by yet another different look last weekend at the Deerfield Invite.
One of the highlights will be a likely final at No. 1 with Stineman facing Glenbrook South senior Ben Hoogland, while Highland Park head coach Steve Rudman looks to his strong doubles team to spring a surprise or two.