Federighi, South Elgin duo have good days
All of the top seeds got off to a flying start on the first day of the rain-delayed IHSA state tennis tournament, including the 1-2 punch from New Trier — Robert Stineman (36-0) and Jared Hiltzik (31-3), whom 4-time state qualifier Chris Federighi got to see up close and personal Thursday afternoon in Wheeling.
The Cary-Grove senior fell in straight-sets (6-3, 6-3) in the third round and now moves into the back draw today at 8 a.m. at Wheeling, where he will face 3-time state qualifier Patrick Gaffigan of Springfield as the second day of play continues.
“I would have picked a different opponent to play in my third round, if I could have,” joked Federighi (32-4) of Hiltzik, who is a strong favorite to advance into the finals Saturday afternoon against his teammate Stineman, who is looking to win his second consecutive title.
The Notre-Dame bound Trojan had plenty of time to think about the day ahead as early morning rain postponed the start of the 96th annual tournament almost 3 hours all around the area. Tournament officials bravely stood firm in their desire to play the entire tournament outdoors and their patience would pay off when the giant field began to take the courts just before 1 p.m.
“It was a tough day out there, but I guess the best thing to say about it was that I got through, and I am still alive for another day,” continued Federighi, who battled strong winds and ridiculously cold temperatures to defeat Alex Porter (Troy) in his opener (6-3, 6-4) then Kevin Karcynski (Andrew) 6-2, 7-5 to set up his match with the No. 2 seed Hiltzik.
“I think the wind kind of frustrated Chris whenever it was at his back on serve, but he did well to overcome that and did whatever he needed to do in both of his matches, which were against a couple of very good players,” said Cary-Grove head coach Amanda Schuetzle.
“They were both tough opponents, and that second match was kind of crazy because there must have been 11 straight service breaks between us — even though I thought we both served well,” said Federighi, a 9-16 seed.
The area had a mixed bag of results as the day began to wind down as dusk approached, with the best news coming from the South Elgin club, and its doubles team of Colin Ferry and Zach Bohlin (29-4), who bounced back from a heartbreaking 3-set defeat to Fremd’s Erik Rosencrans-Joe Cantieri to win their next two (also in three sets) and was on the court at Barrington against Lincoln-Way North as the day came to an end.
“Both of those guys were a little upset after that first-round loss, but they did a great job of putting that behind right away, then going out and battling hard in order to get themselves two victories,” said a proud South Elgin head coach Jennifer Shaughnessy of the first Storm team to advance into a state tournament series.
Freshmen Andre Norasith was also a qualifier for the Storm, and would go 1-2 during his first appearance.
“This has really been a magical year for our players here, as well as the team, which won the sectional championship last weekend at Larkin, which was also the first sectional title in school history,” said Shaughnessy.
Ferry and Bohlin, who were the No. 1 and 2 singles players for the Storm last season, were brought together this spring by Shaughnessy, and the duo has kept its collective feet on the gas pedal nearly all season long, which culminated in a sectional title and trip to the big tournament.
“It really was exciting for us to qualify, and to be the first to do so at the school, and we obviously were thrilled to be playing in the tournament, but I think we both felt we could have just as easily won our first match instead of losing in three sets,” said Ferry.
“We started out really well against Fremd, then let down in that second set, when both teams gave away two match points,” offered Bohlin.
Shaughnessy said later that her top team is a coach’s dream, because of the work ethic they exhibit, and willingness to do the little things needed to improve, and she figures the experience her No. 1 (Norasith) gained this weekend will go a long way toward his development and future stops at the tournament.
Elgin Academy senior and 3-time state qualifier Christian Lynn was still on the courts at Rolling Meadows against Vernon Hills sophomore Ishmail Kadyrov in the second-round of the back-draw, while teammate Charlie Vogel was eliminated in two matches in straight sets.
The same was true for first-timers Mikel Santos-Canova (13-12) and his mates at doubles, Daniel Hegel and Reza Khan (14-12) for Elgin. Hegel and Khan were runners-up at the Upstate Eight Conference Tournament two weeks ago.
Championship play will begin at 9 a.m. today at both Hersey (singles) and Prospect (doubles) with the quarterfinals at both flights all played at Hersey.