Northwest/Boys tennis season preview
By Mike Garofola
Daily Herald Correspondent
Teams to watch
Fremd
The defending MSL West champion Vikings saw their hopes for a double disappear ever so slowly last season when they shared the overall conference title with long-time rival Barrington, which won the conference tourney. The Vikings also said so long to coach Ken Goettsche and its brilliant doubles team of Kenta Shimizu-Ryan Kries, who finished fourth overall at the state tourney and are playing at Lake Forest College. “We’re still very excited about what we have in talent, and the endless possibilities of what our eventual lineup will be when we get ready for the conference tournament and the start of the postseason,” says new coach Matt Duncan, the former assistant to Goettsche. In the early stages of the season, Duncan will have the Vikings’ former No. 1, Maciej Niemzyk team with junior Nick Makowiecki (injured all of last season) at No. 1 doubles, while the veteran two-sport star Matt Burkhardt takes over at No. 1 singles.
Burkhardt’s partner at No. 2 doubles last spring, James Lee, has a new partner at this flight with the addition of Sudeer Vundru, a transfer student from South Carolina. “Our main strength is our depth, as our top six looks to be very skilled and really soild, so all we have to do is get out there and play to see just exactly what we have,” offered Duncan.
Barrington
For the second consecutive season the Broncos lost most of their starters at doubles. But as always, coach John Roncone and his staff, do a terrific job in piecing together a highly competitive club, which is fine-tuned throughout the regular season with a rugged nonconference and tournament schedule. “We’ll have some options here and there when it’s all said and done, and to be honest, we feel very fortunate to have the luxury of having basically two No. 1s at singles in Varun (Parekh) and George Coll, to go along with what could be a very good No. 1 doubles team to go into battle with,” said Roncone. The Parekh-Coll duo qualified into the state tournament last May and went a combined 2-4 in their first trip there.
Roncone is eager to see how senior Ben Nuckles (MSL champ at No. 2 doubles with Connor Brownell, and state qualifier) meshes with with George Baker, back after taking a year off. “Until someone knocks off Fremd during the regular season, they have to be considered the favorite (once) again to win it all. But we feel that when we finally get our lineup together at all 7 spots, we can challenge Matt and his team for top honors in the division, and hopefully the rest of the MSL when the tournament comes around later in the year,” said Roncone.
Hersey
A familiar face is back on the scene with the return of former Barrington head coach CeCe Cahill. “I cannot tell you how excited I am to be back coaching, and especially in the MSL, and with such a terrific group of kids who are hard workers, and so eager to improve their game,” said Cahill, who during her tenure at Barrington watched eight players earn state medals, while leading the club to back-to-back top 10 finishes (third in 2000 and seventh in 1999). “The coaching ranks in the MSL immediately improved 10-fold now that CeCe is here, and I can tell you from experience, it won’t be long until (Hersey) is among the best with her as head coach,” offered Barrington coach John Roncone.
Cahill will have to replace MSL champ Eric Klawitter at the top of her lineup, a marvelous player, who later qualified into the state tournament, where he won 4 matches in his final appearance on his own home court. Heading into the first full week of the season, she figures Kyle Magnuson will be her No. 1, followed by Aaron Gardner and freshman Matt Johnston. The Huskies, runners-up to Prospect once again in the division, lost both of their top two doubles teams. However, Cahill likes what she sees in Robin Shin and Jake Wendell as her No. 1 after the junior duo competed in 2010 at No. 3. “I feel that I am very lucky to (here) at Hersey, and just really anxious to see them get out there and play,” Cahill said.
Buffalo Grove
Could this be the year the Bison overtake the perennial top dogs in the division, Prospect and Hersey? Head coach Kevin Schrammel feels his club has a chance to surprise the field thanks in part to just two players lost to graduation, and his top four back and ready to go following plenty of extra time on the courts during the offseason. “We’ll be stronger this year because we’ve got our top 2 guys from last year back in Ari Kazan and Max Beylis, and my No. 1 dubs team of Vlad Zuperman and Steve Mazzoni, both juniors, who return with a lot of matches under their belts from last year, including all the time they spent playing together leading up (to) the start of this season,” Schrammel said.
St. Viator
The shining star of Andrew Rice, and the dynamic doubles duo of Taylor Blaney and Dean Tanglis helped put St. Viator back on the tennis map here in the area with their postseason exploits during the past three seasons. This wonderful trio is officially gone now that the two-time state qualifying doubles team of Blaney (Miami, Ohio) and Tanglis (NIU) have moved on, but head coach Dan Tripamer still has a nice core of returning players to build off of, and just a few question marks in his lineup. “We had a strong group of juniors and sophomores (after) Taylor and Dean in our lineup, and we’ll lean on those guys to come through for us this year as we look to grab a top three finish in the ESCC behind Benet and Carmel,” said Tripamer, who will keep Joe Nowakowski and Dan DeSio as his No. 1 and 2 at singles for a second consecutive season. The lefty Pat McConnell moves from No. 2 doubles to the No. 1 spot, after his third-place ESCC finish with Joe Rusch, and the junior will be joined by newcomer Tommy Lopez in his new role.
Singles scene
Fremd’s Matt Burkhardt and Schaumburg senior Izzi Balase (33-5), a two-time state qualifier, are likely the headline acts at singles heading into this new campaign, but Conant senior Takuma Ito, himself, a returning state qualifier, could emerge as a player to watch before all is said and done. The four-year veteran crossed over to the other side last spring, and teamed up with Brett Sacks to grab one of the top four places at the Glenbrook South sectional to earn a trip to the big tournament, where the duo would win their first match in three sets before consecutive losses would end their run for good. “It was a great experience, and after being (there) I definitely want to get back there again this year,” said Ito, who got together with Sacks midway through the 2010 campaign. “One thing that I learned from the last half of the season was that my conditioning and overall fitness is so important, so that’s what I really concentrated on during the offseason, which I feel playing a lot of soccer helped me get in better shape.”
Ito will be going to Japan next fall to continue his studies in construction engineering at a university some 30 miles outside of Tokyo. “We have much of our family still back in Japan, and, so far, all of them are safe from all of the destruction from the recent earthquake and tsunami,” he said. Ito was born in Japan, and would come to the United States when he was 5 years old, and says he would like to continue to play either tennis or soccer when in school there. “Takuma came to camp in the best shape ever after a great offseason of work, and along with Eugene and Peter (Itskovich) at No. 1 doubles, and Spencer Fang and Insu Park, as well as Connor Sacks (Brett’s younger brother) we should have the most depth that we’ve had in a long while,” said Cougars head coach Amar Patel.
Court dates
Benet/Downers Grove South Invite, April 9: Barrington, Benet, Deerfield, DGS, Hinsdale Central, Moline, Naperville North, New Trier.
The Broncos get their first look at some of the upper echelon in the sport in this annual eight-team tourney, with a close eye pointed toward Hinsdale Central, to see who is and isn’t coming back to the powerhouse Red Devils lineup this season. Most of the big-time names are gone, but with Sammy Bloom and Rafe Mosetick back as the Nos. 1 and 2, Central will still be one of the favorites for a team trophy in late May. Deerfield junior Jason Brown, fourth last season at the state tournament, and Naperville North junior Gordan Zang versus anyone New Trier lists as its No. 1 should provide plenty of interest.
Deerfield Quad, April 16: Fremd, Stevenson, Deerfield, Lake Forest.
Great barometer for Vikings to measure where they stand against both Stevenson and the host Warriors, with the return of two-time state runners-up Ross Putterman-David Packowitz sure to make for some great theatre in doubles all throughout this season. The hosts figure to put together a strong combination from a talented threesome comprised of Toby Ma, Alec Siegel or Ben Shklylar, each a state qualifier, and potential medal winner in late May.
Hersey Invite, April 16: Barrington, Hersey, Prospect, Libertyville, Warren, Bloomington, OPRF, Highland Park, Libertyville.
This MSL trio hopes to offer state powers Highland Park and Oak Park-River Forest a strong challenge, especially at doubles where the Giants boast potential top-four state seeds with 2010 runners-up David Zak and Zach Brint, as well as Tyler Manci and Jordan Hainsfurther, a 9-16 seed at the state tourney. OPRF, perhaps a sleeping giant just behind the likes of New Trier, Deerfield and Highland Park, returns five of six from last year’s third-place state team.
Buffalo Grove Invite, April 23: Bartlett, BG, Dunlap, Glenbard North, Lake Zurich, Palatine, Stevenson.
There was a time not too long ago that saw Stevenson and Glenbrook North battle until the very end for top honors. However, the Spartans, who are still a highly competitive club, lack the firepower in their lineup to take on a fully loaded squad from Stevenson. Warren will bring its top singles player, and state qualifier in Kristiyan Trukov, as will Lake Zurich, and Grant Thompson, who as a freshman in 2010 earned a 17-32 seed.
Pitchford ‘32’, April 29-30: The ‘32’ is the place to be, and be seen. Nearly every top singles and doubles player is here in what is a precursor to the state tournament. Everyone who is anyone, for the most part, knows what is at stake as a strong tournament has a direct bearing on the state tournament status a month later. The ‘32’ format is similiar to the state tournament, except that players will compete for titles at Nos. 1 and 2 singles and doubles. This is a tennis junkies utopia for two days.
Dual meets, May 3: Fremd at Barrington, Prospect at Buffalo Grove, St. Viator at Benet.
Who will carry off the regular season hardware could be decided on this day.
ESCC tournament, May 12 at Marist
Last year Carmel and Benet ended the regular season with 33 dual-meet points, and 13 points at the conference tournament to end in a dead heat to share the league title. The talk is both will battle for top honors once again, but there will be few who will challenge junior Julian Childers of Marian Catholic, who cruised through the competition with ease, and later would earn a 9-16 seed at the state tournament.
MSL tournament, May 12-14 hosted by BG
Last season, Fremd would defeat Barrington 4-3 in the final week of the season to capture the MSL West crown, but one week later, in the final match of the MSL tournament, the Broncos’ would clinch the tournament title when then-freshman Varun Parekh won a 3-set marathon match against his Fremd opponent to help his club eke out a narrow victory to share the overall championship with their long-time rivals.
Sectionals, May 20-21
At Schaumburg: Barrington, Maine West, Elk Grove, Conant, Hoffman Estates, Rolling Meadows, Meadows, Schaumburg, Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South.
After years of smashing the field at Larkin, the Broncos’ have been moved east to face more competition, beginning with their MSL rivals, and top clubs from the Central Suburban in Glenbrook North and South. The Titans will have one of the best doubles teams in their starting lineup in Michael Selitto and Michael Levin, while Balase and Ito help add to the talent pool in singles.
At Stevenson: Buffalo Grove, Fremd, Hersey, Palatine, Prospect, St. Viator, Lake Zurich, Stevenson, Vernon Hills.
Traditionally one of the toughest sectionals of all in the state, this year will be a little lighter than normal now that former state champion and Vanderbilt star Blake Bazarnik (Stevenson) is gone, as well as Klawitter, the Shimizu-Kreis, Blaney and Tanglis doubles teams, in addition to the state-qualifying team of Sam Pope and Jon Kiefer of Prospect. The singles fight for a top 4 finish and a trip to the state tournament should be fierce, with LZ’s Thompson and Vernon Hills sophomore Ismail Kadyrov in the forefront.
State side
So who’s the favorite to win the state title in late May? What if you knew that New Trier just won the team title at the 2011 Deco Turf Team championships in Louisville over some of the best 16 high school teams in the country — and oh yeah, Deerfield was second overall. The Trevians are led by Stanford-bound Robert Stineman, the state singles champion last year, and placed junior Jarod Hiltzik on the all-tournament team, along with Jason Brown and Ben Shklyar of Deerfield. “We had a difficult time putting together a roster for our trip to Louisville because we have so many talented players, but no one is going to feel sorry for us when they hear that comment,” said Trevians coach Tad Eckert, whose team ended Hinsdale Central’s stranglehold on the championship trophy last year.