Boys tennis: Scouting Northwest
These are good times for boys tennis teams in the Mid-Suburban League.
Last season saw the league welcome several highly regarded freshmen, Barrington won its sixth consecutive MSL crown, and had its best finish at state in years.
The 2018 season was a memorable one, and a precursor to what's expected to be bigger and better things this year.
"The MSL West has some terrific young players, so does the East and right now all of us can expect some spirited duals each time we go out," says Barrington coach John Roncone, whose club went 11-0-0, 8-0-0 in the division, and sixth overall at state, its best finish since 2001.
"With so many quality players coming into the conference during the past two seasons, especially last year, the MSL has become so exciting to be a part of and I expect this spring to be even better," adds Andy Walton, who would guide his club from Hersey to an MSL East title with a perfect 5-0-0 record.
Here's a look at the 2019 season.
MSL East
Michael Naughton will lean on his top two returning players, seniors Joseph Hong and Chris Louras, to lead a lineup in which the Buffalo Grove coach says enjoys plenty of parity throughout.
The Bison duo could end up becoming the No. 1 team at doubles along the way, while also handling the Nos. 1 and 2 spots at singles.
Max Sheldon (23-8) would lead that group of rookie players by claiming top honors at the MSL tournament, followed by a sectional title one week later.
Ashton Nisbit takes over at Elk Grove, and inherits a club that lost five to graduation, but returns one half dozen including his No. 1 from a year ago, Esteven Hernadez.
"We're in a rebuilding year, so we'll count on the three seniors and sophomores who are back to be our leaders and with several freshmen now with us, it's all about the future for us," says Nisbit.
Walton would deploy Mi-Coffaro as Hersey'sNo. 1 doubles team late in the season, and the duo would go on an exciting postseason run which included a sectional championship and top-32 finish at state.
"We're feeling good about our guys coming back, beginning with Max, plus Kevin and Jace Coffaro," said Walton.
Junior Dan Gankov is back and newcomers Jack Aiello (transfer from St. Viator) and freshman Kacper Pasielak will begin as the Huskies' No. 2 at doubles.
Prospect is always in the hunt for a division title, thanks in part to leadership of head coach Brad Rathe in addition to a steady stream of players who come into the program and Rathe's ability to piece together a competitive starting lineup.
"We lost nine seniors, but we've always counted on our depth to come through but it might take us awhile as we sort things out early on," said Rathe, whose club went 10-5-0 overall.
Junior Michael Gavrincea, the No. 1 man since his freshman season, will take the reins for the Knights once again.
Division rivals say Rolling Meadows (7-7-0) will be a tough out at the top of its lineup with the return of Ryan McCoy and Shea Abernathy. McCoy was fifth at the MSL tourney.
The Mustangs' No. 1 team at doubles, Nate Morgan-Brian Behrens, are back as are five of the six starters at the next three flights.
MSL West
Reigning champion Barrington has been anointed the favorite once again by the coaching counterparts of John Roncone, and why not?
The Broncos have quality, experience, depth, and yet another new player to the program who appears ready to step right into the starting lineup from the onset.
"We were a pretty solid team last year, and the hope is that the boys have continued to work hard during the offseason to become the players we think they can become," said Roncone. "In our division, both Conant and Fremd have some terrific returning players, so we'll look to use our tough weekend schedule to test our guys and get them ready for the challenges ahead."
Junior Bradley Yu (20-5) will hold down the No. 1 spot, and will look for a return trip to state, as will sophomore Ammar Wazir (22-5), who was the MSL champ at No. 2.
Dylan Er-Kyle Shuff (22-5) enjoyed a strong run at state last year, and will begin the season at No. 1, when the two-time state qualifier Er takes over at Nos. 1 and 2 singles.
That depth of quality comes with veterans Matt D'Amore, Aryan Sharma, Tim Lowe and Emre Guceli, all of whom have claimed either MSL titles or advanced to state.
Freshman Pranav Gadiraju arrives with a nice all-around game, making him a candidate for No. 1 or 2 singles or doubles.
Conant coach Dave Koleno saw the Cougars three-year streak of sectional championships come to an end last spring, yet still send both of his doubles team to state.
"We have the majority of our starters back from a very successful 2018 season, plus a few freshmen who appear ready to step in and contribute right away, so we're looking forward to see it all come together for us," says Koleno, whose club was 10-2-0 overall.
No. 1 Vera Iyer is a two-time state qualifier, Kashan Motwani the same at No. 1 doubles, while Shashank Yerraguntia and Roberto Macher were MSL champs at No. 1 dubs, and No. 3 singles respectively.
Matt Duncan would field a young bunch in his starting lineup at Fremd last spring and the results doing so were terrific.
Vikings freshman Casey Hishinuma (19-9) was a state qualifier, as was his older brother Sean, who together with Andrew Yin advanced at doubles.
"Our guys did well in their first year as varsity players, so the goal this season is to get those three to state and more, while also making a run at Barrington and Conant for the top spot in our division," said Duncan.
Sophomores Argun Srivatsa-Ryan Zheng will take turns at both doubles spots along with Hishinuma-Yin with a pair of freshmen, Aditya Maddali and Arnav Sangamnerkar, filling out the singles lineup for the Vikings.
It will be near impossible for Ken Harris to replace his star at No. 1 singles, Danny Lee, a player who was the face of Hoffman Estates tennis during his four years as a Hawk.
Harris says the competition will be fierce for Lee's spot, with three players all in the hunt, while at No. 1 doubles, Harris has settled on the duo of senior Archan Thakker and freshman Ryan Briguez to handle things.
Jim Lange, who from his post at Palatine is surely one of the great ambassadors of MSL tennis and one who is always wiling to praise players and teams from around the league. And this year, it appears the Pirates' head coach will have a few of his own to promote.
Jackson Spurck handled the job at No. 1 as if a four-year veteran despite being a freshman and along with junior Krishna Tewari, Lange feels he'll have a nice one-two punch at the top of his lineup.
Lange will pair Matt Ritterbusch and John Wang together at No. 1 doubles while Hayden and Ben Williams join brother John to give the club a real family affair in the starting lineup.
Max Brito, who along with 2017 grad Kevin Eberhardt advanced to state and went 2-2, leaves after a terrific four-year varsity career, leaving Schaumburg head coach Jon Schneider with three returning starters to build from.
Danny Velasquez takes over for the Saxons at No. 1, while last year's No. 1 doubles team of: Dhyey Dixit-Rahal Kalakuntia is set to handle that spot in the starting lineup once again.
CSL North
Maine West will forever be caught in the group of granite in its division and in a conference that always has at least four of its top teams fighting for a top three state trophy.
This year is no different, with Deerfield and Glenbrook North leading the way.
Josh Leighton, who began his coaching career at Palatine, leading Thomas Hanus to a pair of state titles (1999, 2001), believes his top man at Deerfield, Charlie Chernawsky, has a strong junior campaign ahead of him.
"Charlie is bigger, stronger and faster from a year ago, and he recently showed he can play with the big guys when he beat Joseph Li (7-6, 6-0) of Naperville Central recently," says Leighton.
GBN head coach Jeff Jordan will have one of the best doubles team back and in the Spartans' lineup, Ben Ried-Ethan Park, who finished top 8 at state.
When longtime head coach Derrick Swistak stepped aside to take on an administrative role at Maine West, who other than his classy assistant, John Hauenstein, should take over?
"I was the head coach here 19 years ago then after five years, it was time to pay more attention to my daughters and their various interests," said Hauenstein, who served as Swistak's assistant for the last seven seasons.
Youth will be served at the top of the Warriors' lineup with sophomore Kamil Kozerski back at the No. 1 singles spot, followed by freshmen George Ciuca at No. 2. Daivik Patel, who will float between singles and doubles, gives the club the veteran touch every young team needs.
ESCC
St. Viator is in a major rebuild after coach Amy Ritchie bid farewell to most of her starting lineup from a year ago, a team which fared quite well in the conference tournament.
"We lost 12 seniors from our program, so what you'll see is a very young varsity roster, filled mostly with underclassmen," said Ritchie, whose team finished third at the ESCC tourney behind Nazareth and perennial league power Benet.
The Redwings lifted their fifth consecutive ESCC trophy last spring and 19th outright title in program history. Benet coach Michael Hand will be without 2018 state qualifiers: Ben Lee and Casey Schrader, who elected to play USTA, so it will be Danny McGuigan leading a young club after advancing a year at doubles with Schrader.
State of the state, Class 2A
Ask Stevenson coach Tom Stanhope who the top three teams this season are and his response will be: "New Trier, New Trier and New Trier."
While the Stanhope prediction may be a little overblown, it does point out the Trevians are the likely favorite to win the big prize on the last weekend of May, after finishing behind champion Hinsdale Central and Stanhope's Patriots in 2018.
The Patriots will be strong, beginning with three-time state qualifier Zach Kim (25-3) and Eric Perkowski, one-half of the state runner-up doubles team, in addition to a very good No. 2 team, Arjun Sheelvanth-Ozzie Viswanathan.
Class 1A
According to Metamora's classy longtime head coach Kelly Willard, the top teams to watch in 1A are Normal U-High, Chicago Northside, Dunlap and Wheaton Academy.
"U-High returns all but one player, and Northside has the likely state singles champ (Nathan Spear) plus their top doubles team will be a strong challenger at state as well," offers Willard who hopes to see his Redbirds finish in the top 8 come late May.