Boys tennis: Strong state tourney showing from NSC teams

Once again, the North Suburban Conference is excelling on the final weekend of the high school boys tennis season.

Though unable to keep any of its teams in the front draw, the league hit the ground running on the second day of the 81st state tournament and finished on a high note when rain and darkness ended the day's proceedings.

With both doubles teams from Stevenson still alive in the backdraw, the league won nine matches on Friday, to run its total to close to 40 over the two days.

That brought a big big smile to the face of Warren coach Greg Cohen.

"Year after year, our conference is one of the best around," said Cohen, who along with assistant Michael Elder saw the long run of No. 1 Blue Devils team Scott Seiler/Nick Skradski come to an end in Mt. Prospect in the seventh round of the consolation bracket. "This year, the sectional that we were in was considered perhaps one of the weakest. But teams from that Lakes sectional had a terrific tournament to help keep the NSC in the forefront once again." said Cohen, who along with assistant, Michael Elder, saw the long run of its No. 1 team of Scott Seiler-Nick Skradski come to an end in Mt. Prospect in the seventh round of the consolation bracket.

The Seiler/Skradski partnership was special for Elder.

"I am very proud of those two guys," he said. "They have a great mix of intelligence, and a real sense of understanding of the moment at hand. And it's very cool when two great kids like that save their best for last."

The Blue Devils' dynamic duo finished 32-11 after a 5-2 showing over two tournament days.

At Libertyville, the news was just as impressive, with both of the Wildcats' doubles team enjoying long, successful runs, finishing 7-5 between them.

The Wildcats' No. 1 team of Scott Daluga/Kenny Herrmann (18-13) saw their season end against sectional champion Stevenson (Brian Weisberg/Matt Harvey) in Mt. Prospect, giving the Libertyville tandem a 4-2 tourney record. The Wildcats' Julian Janczak/Hayden Friese (21-11) were eliminated in a 6-7 (6), 6-3, 10-5 loss to Naperville Central.

"What a great way to go out for me," said Janczak, a two-time state qualifier who will play at Denison next fall while studying economics and mathematics.

"I was very fortunate to come in here as a freshman," said Friese, "and to have such a great doubles partner. I couldn't have asked for more."

After the pair lost their state opener on Thursday, they fired back with three straight wins before the Naperville Central loss.

"We won the matches we should have this year and played some very good tennis at the 32, and even though we lost to New Trier there that may have been our best overall effort of the year, and we're both proud of that," said Janczak.

Success at doubles on Saturday helped keep Stevenson within striking distance of a top-five team finish. The Patriots are sixth, tied with three teams with 16 points. That's 5 off the pace of fifth-place Neuqua Valley. Tournament favorite New Trier leads the way with 35 points, with Hinsdale Central next at 26 and Deerfield sitting third with 24 points.

Stevenson's Weisberg/Harvey (30-5) bounced back from a 6-2, 6-0 setback against No. 2 seed Hinsdale Central (Michael Czlonka/Nick Calzolano) in their third-round match early Friday to stay in the consolation bracket hunt.

"We didn't play that badly, but Hinsdale played so much better than we did, and when you don't fully execute your game plan and shots, that's what happens to you," said Weisberg, who with his partner will face Benet's Patrick McGuigan/Jack Carroll at 8 a.m. Saturday at Buffalo Grove.

"We'll go back at it again tomorrow, and see what happens," said Harvey. "But we're obviously happy to still be playing into the third day of the tournament."

Four-time state qualifier Benjamin Bush remains optimistic despite he and partner Sam Komis will get back on track today against Naperville Central's Martin Matov/Ammaar Saeed in a seventh-round match in which the Pats pair trails the Redhawks duo.

"We lost our first set before the rain came and washed the rest of the day away, but Sam and I will regroup, just as we did after our round of 16 loss to New Trier (Ricky Mayer/Wyatt Mayer) earlier in the day," said Bush.

The Pats forced a third and final set with the Trevians, but could not find its form during a 6-1 third set loss.

Wauconda sophomore, Brian Hackman (33-6) saw his first trip here end when 17-32 seed Zach Elliot produced a 6-1, 6-3 victory. The Bulldogs' standout completed his tourney with a 3-2 record.

"Brian learned a valuable lesson on how important his fitness and conditioning should be at, and I guarantee that he will spend a lot of time working on those parts of his game for next season," said Wauconda coach Ryan Whitfield.

Grayslake North's Joe Kizhakkadthu/Matt Pawlowski also saw their tournament end early Friday following a straight-set loss to a tandem from Dunlap in Mt. Prospect.

"I told those guys there are not a lot of teams that leave here with more wins and losses, and that's something to be very proud of after their 3-2 record here," said assistant coach Jim Sarver, sitting in for head coach Jill Tomasello.

Kizhakkadthu had this to say about the program's head coach: "(Tomasello) has been the highlight of Grayslake North High School. She's been a great coach who always puts her players first, and I feel very fortunate to have spent four years with such a great coach and person."