Bazarnik, Stevenson steamroll into state meet
Stevenson crashed the Palatine sectional party Saturday.
Riding defending state champion Blake Bazarnik's fourth consecutive individual singles title and another crown by their newly formed doubles team, the Patriots captured team honors - sending two singles players and a doubles duo to the state tournament that begins Thursday.
Bazarnik (24-3) cruised through a quartet of opponents, including teammate Jeremy Bush in an all-Patriots final.
The Patriots' doubles tandem of Richard Brej-Ryan Buxbaum captured a crown, beating Fremd's top-seeded Kenta Shimizu-Ryan Kreis in the semifinals in the marquee match of the two-day competition.
Shimizu-Kreis (28-4) bounced back in the third-place match with a convincing straight-sets victory over St. Viator's Taylor Blaney-Dean Tanglis - who will make their second-straight state appearance.
Prospect's Jon Kiefer-Sam Pope (21-10) earned their first-ever state trip with a runner-up finish that included an impressive win over St. Viator in the semifinals.
Lake Zurich freshman Grant Thompson (21-2) will be a part of the state field after a third-place effort that included a win over North Suburban Conference rival Ismail Kadyrov of Vernon Hills. They played a grueling two-set match that ended for Kadyrov (25-6) when the Cougars freshman retired because of back problems trailing 5-4 in the second set.
The fourth-seeded Thompson upset No. 2 Eric Klawitter (22-5) of Hersey by scores of 6-2, 6-1 in the third-place match.
Despite the loss, Klawitter became the first Huskies player to advance since 2005 when Matt Maciaszek-Kevin Thompson went 4-2 in the state meet.
"This is the best lineup we've put together for the entire season," said Stevenson coach Tom Stanhope, who earlier in the week moved Brej - the Pitchford 32 champion at No. 2 singles - into No. 1 doubles with the freshman Buxbaum.
Buxbaum, who has been a mainstay at Nos. 1-2 doubles all season, combined with Brej to defeat highly regarded Glenbrook South (Sellitto-Levin) in straight sets to jump-start their career together and hopefully earn a 5-8 state seed.
"That was a real statement win over Fremd in that semifinal," said Brej, who was 16-3 as the Patriots' No. 2 singles player.
"Brej is the all-star, and I am just along for the ride," said Buxbaum.
The Patriots and Fremd's Mid-Suburban League champion pair wowed the crowd watching their superb three-set match. The Pats took the early lead in the tiebreaker (8-6) before the Vikings grabbed back the momentum with a 6-1 second-set victory. The Patriots prevailed 6-1 in the third set.
"If there was a loss to give, it was today," said Shimizu, who said he and Kreis will tweak a few things and perhaps review the tactical side of their game in advance of what appears to be a 9-16 state seed.
Bush defeated another freshman, Fremd's Maciej Niemczyk, 7-5, 6-0 in semifinal action.
Blaney-Tanglis of St. Viator (19-9) earned a semifinal win by scores of 7-6 (5), 6-2 over Stevenson's No. 2 team of Justin Olexa-Dennis Kontorovich.
"This is a team which has won important matches when it has needed to of late," said Lions coach Dan Tripamer of his East Suburban Catholic Conference championship tandem.
The Lions likely caught a break when the Hersey team of Kevin Amarantos-Yuki Chiba fell victim to injury late last week, taking Chiba (ankle) out of the lineup. That erased the Huskies' No. 4 seed and gave the Lions the fourth spot.
"We might have been a little lucky to get the No. 4, but we still had to beat a very good team from Stevenson in our qualifying match," said Tanglis.
The Lions pair Friday went indoors because of rain after struggling in their first set outside against Hersey's new tandem (Amarantos-Albright).
"The break in play to drive to the indoor courts really helped us refocus, and both Taylor and I enjoy playing indoors and saw it as a big advantage to us," Tanglis said. "And when we got out there, we were just wired for the rest of the match."
Kiefer-Pope, anxious to meet Fremd for a rematch of their straight-sets loss in the MSL final, instead tangled with Brej-Buxbaum for the title. Despite the defeat, the Knights' seniors were happy with their overall sectional effort and thrilled to still be playing on the final weekend of the season.
"Last year was just a (dud) when we lost in our qualifying match (to Palatine) so to finally get through and into the tournament in our senior year makes this a big day for both of us," Pope said.
Bazarnik was in control from the start of the tourney - all the way until Bush called it a day when he suffered leg cramps.
"It was tough to see Jeremy struggle through cramping up, but it's a reminder to me to begin to get myself ready for the tournament by staying hydrated for Thursday, when the temperature is supposed to be in the mid-80's," said the Patriots captain, who has fought battles with severe cramping - including during the state tournament.
Bazarnik will be the favorite to repeat over a group of serious contenders, including New Trier's Robert Stineman, Ben Hoogland of Glenbrook South and Stagg's Tim Kosinski, who defeated the Vanderbilt-bound Bazarnik for the title at the Pitchford 32 in early May.
Thompson, who lost in straight sets to Bazarnik in the NSC finals, did so again in his semifinal 6-1, 6-2 - but he bounced back to beat Klawitter.
"I don't know how to really react to getting into the state tournament, but it sure feels really good right now," Thompson said.
Thompson and Kadyrov entertained the crowd before Kadyrov's day ended early. The freshman standouts packed plenty of punch from the baseline while throwing in an occasional backhand blast down the side during nine- and 10-ball rallies.
"I knew his (Kadyrov's) back was hurting, so I tried to stretch him out with some of my shots and to move him around as much as I could, but that's still a tough way to go out without finishing," Thompson said.
"Ish is a real warrior and didn't really want to retire, but it was the best thing for him in the long run as his health is more important than anything else," said Cougars coach Doug Gerber.