St. Charles North’s No. 2 doubles surprise

It was a day of mixed emotions at the state tournament for St. Charles North’s boys tennis team.

On the one hand, there was cause for celebration as the doubles duo of Parker Featherston and Pat Corrigan exceeded its 17-32 seeding by beating a higher seeded team, guaranteeing a top-16 finish.

On the other hand, disappointment over the 17-32 seeding that the North Stars’ top doubles team received turned into frustration as John Mittvick and Danny Oakes lost in three sets to a team they might’ve otherwise been playing in Friday’s winners bracket.

Featherston and Corrigan began their day with straight-set wins over Willie Jansen and Ryan Deters of Teutopolis in the first round, and Centralia’s Will Miller and Ben Urshan in the second.

“We were fired up and ready to go right out of the gate,” Corrigan said. “We didn’t let our nerves affect us, and worked out the kinks for our next two matches.”

But it was their third round match against Edwardsville’s Justin Leskara and Cameron Randall, a 9-16 seed, that proved to be the highlight of the day for the North Stars.

“Seeds mean little in a tournament like this, and you can go out there and surprise people,” Featherston said. “We knew that if we played to our potential and executed a little better than other teams, we could play with anyone.”

The North Stars’ seniors didn’t just beat Miller and Urshan, they routed them, taking control of the match early and rolling to a 6-3, 6-3 sweep. They will face 5-8 seeded David Zak and Jordan Hainsfurther of Highland Park Friday morning.

Mittvick and Oakes, two players with a history of success at state and a near perfect record on the season, began their day with easy wins over Ty Skaer and Scott Spitze of Belleville East, and Wheaton North’s Zach Andor and Ben Crowe.

That set up a showdown against 5-8 seeded Alec Siegel and Ben Shklyar of Deerfield, and if Mittvick and Oakes were out to make a statement, they succeeded. After dropping the first set 6-4, they bounced back to dominate the second, 6-0. The final set was a grueling back-and-forth battle, that ended with Siegel and Shklyar closing strong to win 7-5.

“The way they fought and the heart and tenacity they showed, I couldn’t ask more from two kids,” St. Charles North coach Sean Masoncup said. “With what their record was, it was tough for them to have to play a 5-8 team, but they showed just how tough they are.”

Dominick Amalraj fought back from an opening round loss to beat Effingham’s Cole Heuerman, 6-3, 6-4, before bowing out in the third round.

“Making state as a sophomore was the big thing for Dominick, so any wins he could get would be the frosting on the cake, and he proved that he’s an excellent tennis player,” Masoncup said.

Batavia’s Josh Cogan, the area’s top seeded player as a 5-8, won all three of his matches, as expected, beginning with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Taylor Nave of Morton.

“Josh’s plan was to come out, establish a rhythm, get over any nervousness and get a win, but (Nave) stayed in the match and made him work for points,” Batavia coach Bob Kummer said.

He followed that up with an even more impressive 6-0, 6-2 sweep of Bobby Alter of St. Ignatius, as both players battled the wind and cold.

“The key is to know where the wind is on every shot and give yourself a large margin of error,” Cogan said.

Cogan showed no signs of slowing down as he finished his day with a tidy 6-2, 6-2 win over Sandburg’s Eric Pontow, a 17-32 seed.

“I like to think I step up my level of play with each round,” Cogan said. “You just have to play smarter with fewer errors and more focus.”

St. Charles East’s Jasper Koenen had to battle to extend his stay at state, and the freshman did just that. After winning his opener, Koenen dropped a two-setter to Northbrook’s Brian Levitas. With his back to the wall, Koenen rallied to beat Plainfield South’s Austin Russell 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, before sweeping Chandler Clayton of Peoria Richwoods, 6-1, 6-3.

Geneva’s doubles team of Colin Rapp and Ryan Doeckel beat Sandburg’s Brad Smith and Michael Dressel in the opening round, 5-7, 7-6, 6-2, before dropping the next two matches.

“(Rapp and Doeckel) had a good match, they hung in there and played up to their capabilities in the third set,” Geneva coach Peter Burkhardt said.

Marmion’s Jackson Rettig and Will Graft split their first two matches, winning their opener and losing the second, both in straight sets, before outlasting O’Fallon’s John McKeown and J. D. Owens, 6-7, 7-6, 6-1, to stay alive and advance to Friday’s third consolation round.

West Aurora’s Matt Kuntzi picked up his first win at state, bouncing back from a round 1 loss the beat Mikel Santos-Canova of Elgin, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5.