Wheaton Warrenville South's Li plays right to the end
Wheaton Warrenville South senior Jimmy Li pushed Josh Cogan of Batavia to the limit Saturday morning in Mt. Prospect, but the Tigers' terrific four-year star and state qualifier was unable to overcome the Batavia sophomore, who prevailed 6-4, 5-7, 6-3 to end a brilliant career for the UIC-bound Li.
"It's a real tribute to the type of player and teammate that Jimmy is, and has been to our program, when you saw each and everyone of his teammate out here today (at) 8 in the morning cheering for him," said WW South coach Patti Clousing. "Today wasn't about winning or losing, it was about Jimmy and how much respect he has from his teammates, who are all going to miss having him around (here) next year."
Li, who went 0-2 in his first tournament in 2007, gradually improved with each stop, going 4-2 as a sophomore, 6-2 last season and 5-2 this weekend after entering the tournament as 9-16 seed.
"Jimmy had just a terrific tournament, he fought hard and showed a lot of heart to win back-back 7-6 sets against (5-8) Rafe Mosetick (Hinsdale Central) to keep himself in the running for a potential top-eight finish, but Cogan did a great job himself to win a nearly three-hour match this morning in the consolation quarters," Clousing said.
Li finished the season with a sparkling 33-4 record. Both Gordon Zhang of Naperville North and cross-town rival Naperville Central's doubles team of Billy Sterrett and Kevin Bauman were unable to get any closer as Li on Saturday. The sophomore Zhang (27-9) fell in his consolation match to Ben Quazzo (Latin) 6-4, 6-1, while the Naperville Central's dyanmic duo were eliminated following a 6-2, 6-4 loss to Highland Park (Manci-Hainsfuther).
Quazzo later earned a sixth-place medal, while the Highland Park team bowed out a round later to Oak Park-River Forest.
"We came here with the goal of playing on Saturday, and we did," said Naperville Central coach Dan Brown. "Credit Highland Park, they did all the things needed to win that match this morning, and unlike yesterday, when we would win just about every time we were in a no-add situation, today we didn't.
"But that's OK, because the guys played extremely well all throughout the tournament and will leave here with plenty to be proud of."
The senior pair reached the 30-win mark after bumping off Springfield (Gaffigan-Piland) on Friday to send them into Saturday's early match in Mt. Prospect and fashioned a 5-2 record over the three days of play.
New Trier junior Robert Stineman defeated Tim Kopinski of Stagg 6-1, 7-6 (5) to not only capture the singles crown but also help clinch the team title over defending champ Hinsdale Central, which was looking to take home its fourth consecutive championship trophy. New Trier scored 43 points to the Red Devils' 42.
Neuqua Valley was eighth with 18 points. Naperville North tied Metamora and St. Charles North for 10th place with 16 points.