Batavia’s Cogan still perfect

When Thursday’s first round of the state tennis tournament began, six singles players and four doubles teams from the area were vying to get through day one and move to Friday’s matches.

Six players in all are still alive after a hot and windy day of tennis, but only one is unbeaten.

Batavia senior Josh Cogan, a 5-8 seed, swept all three of his matches to advance to the field of 16, where he will meet Naperville Central’s Gordon Zhang, who is seeded 9-16.

“Josh is playing the game the way it needs to be played, and he’s playing with a sense of purpose,” Batavia coach Bob Kummer said.

Cogan made quick work out of Colin Sandgren, a freshman from Decatur Lutheran in his first round match, 6-2, 6-2.

Christopher Scott, a scrappy player from St. Ignatius, frustrated Cogan at times in their second round match by staying in the point and returning one tough shot after another.

“I haven’t played many kids like him, I had to create every shot,” Cogan said. “It was difficult, but I got through it.”

After winning the first set, 6-2, Cogan found himself in a seesaw second, but managed to close it out in style with an ace.

“Serving well has let me stay in matches, and I hope I can keep it up,” Cogan said.

Cogan then polished off Ismail Kadyrov, a 17-32 seed from Vernon Hills, with a dominant second set to win the match 6-3, 6-0.

“Josh gets a sense of how his opponent plays and then he adjust his game,” Kummer said. “He’s been in control of his matches today.”

St. Charles East sophomore Jasper Koenen is still going strong after winning his first two matches, starting with an easy 6-0, 6-0 sweep over Kasey Cooper of Carmi-White County.

“Jasper played a smart match, and that one was over pretty quickly,” St. Charles East coach Rob Livermore said.

Koenen followed that up with an impressive 6-0, 6-2 win over a familiar foe, Glenbard West’s Matt Hirsch, whom he beat in a three-set match as a freshman.

“The second round match was more of a challenge,” Livermore said. “But Jasper was focused and really took it to him.”

Though Koenen dropped his third match, Livermore is confident he’ll be ready to take on unseeded Austin Aten from Champaign Central Friday morning.

On the doubles side, St. Charles North’s Danny Oakes and Dominic Amalraj looked strong in their 6-0, 6-0 opening round win over Lincoln Way Central’s Ryan Champlin and Justin Weigal.

“With a first-round match you want to get the win and get off the court, and that’s what they did,” St. Charles North coach Sean Masoncup said.

Though Oakes and Amalraj got past Nate Muldowney and Marcus Muldowney, a solid doubles team from Rockford Boylan, 6-1, 7-5 in round 2, Masoncup saw some issues in their play that concerned him.

“That’s where they got into a rut,” Masoncup said. “We let the other team dictate the pace of play which is something we haven’t allowed an opponent to do all year.”

That problem carried over into their third round match against University High School’s Alex Mestre and Edo Roth, a surprisingly tough duo who consistently turned back good shots and came out on top, 6-4, 6-4.

“(Mestre and Roth) are a heck of a doubles team, I’ve got to give them credit,” Masoncup said. “(Oakes and Amalraj) have had a tremendous year, this is only their second loss.”

Oakes and Amalraj will meet Jared Zurliene and Jake Gingerich of Edwardsville Friday morning.

“We’ll regroup and be ready to come back and fight to get fifth place, which I believe is attainable,” Masoncup said. “They know that now it’s win or go home, and they welcome that kind of pressure.”

Marmion’s doubles team of Chris Pattermann and Jackson Rettig survived to fight another day after managing to win three brutal, tight matches. Even their opener, a three-set loss to Collin Shea and Jack Carney of Joliet West could’ve gone either way.

“(Pattermann and Rettig) really felt that they could have beaten those guys, and they played a very good match,” Marmion coach John Tsang said.

The Cadet duo bounced back with a 7-6, 6-4 win over Centralia’s Devin Bates and CJ Schneider, then gutted out a another one by an identical score against Wes Crandall and Jonah Laktas of Morton.

As hot as it was on Thursday, and having just battled through three long matches, Pattermann and Rettig were due for a quick and easy one. And it may have looked like they were going to get it after beating Matt Matheny and Samuel Gudeman from Warren, 6-2 in the first set.

But the second set proved to be a whole different story as Pattermann and Rettig had to tap into what little was still left in the tank to pull out a 7-5 winner.

“They have a lot of resilience, and they proved it today,” Tsang said. “I think they can do a lot of damage in the back draw.”

St. Charles East’s Justin Bowman won two matches, including a physically challenging three-setter against Pekin’s Derek Rineberg, 6-2, 6-7, 6-4.

“That was really an endurance match,” Livermore said. “It was good to see Justin bounce back. This was a very good tournament for him.”

West Aurora’s Matt Kuntzi also won two matches before bowing out. Geneva’s West Adelman and Marmion’s John Graft each won one.

St. Charles North’s doubles team of Grant Spellman and Cam Staroske began their day with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-5 win over South Elgin’s Francis Manzano and Aayush Patel. They added another win two matches later before their tournament run came to an end.

“With Cam being a No. 4 doubles player and Grant a No. 2 doubles player, any wins they get are great,” Masoncup said. “I’m very proud of how they battled today.’

The North Stars and Saints each have 7 team points, while Cogan has earned 6 for Batavia.