Boys tennis: Scouting Cook and Lake County teams
ANTIOCH
The Sequoits were third in the Northern Lake County Conference and eighth in the Class 1A sectional last year.
Coach Jamie D Andrea will depend on seniors Anton Augusto, Ben Thomson, Sam Bowles and Jackson Streit.
"We have a lot of players new to tennis,“ said the Antioch coach. ”We want to finish in the top half of the conference and improve significantly as the season goes on. The goal to be competitive might get off to a bumpy start. We have a smart, hard-working group. We are confident we will find ways to win."
BARRINGTON
The Broncos, under the leadership of 23rd year coach John Roncone, enjoyed a successful 2023 season.
Roncone's troops won the Mid Suburban League, the Cary-Grove 2A sectional and were fourth at the state meet.
State qualifiers back are senior Nolan Pearson and sophomore Hadi Dossani.
Others returning are senior Jainik Shroff, juniors Aarav Nambiar, Avar Anand and Ali Kanji, along with sophomore Shian Mittal. Freshman newcomer William DeLach seeks court time.
"The MSL has great teams," said the veteran coach. "We hope we can play with them. We want to compete for a MSL title. We hope this young group can take the steps necessary to be among the top teams in the area for the next few years to come."
CARMEL
The Corsairs, under thw leadership of coach Gina Borkowski, return juniors Nicholas Pucin, Evan Villinski, Sky Caburnay and Owen Castle. Borkowski's troops, a Class 1A team, welcome newcomers juniors Louis Vu, Caleb Stolarik and Sean Kegel along with sophomores Braydon Wright, Jack Doyle, Bin Healy, Ryan Zomchak and Marcos Monroe.
"We want to finish in the top three in the conference (ESCC)," said Borkowski. “We want to send a doubles and a singles team to the state meet.”
CONANT
The Cougars were fifth in the talent-laden Mid Suburban Conference and third in Class 2A sectional action.
Coach Matthew Marks return seniors Koko Atanasov and Kiril Atansov.
Marks has a talented freshman group looking for varsity playing time which includes Maximus Rysz, Kabir Motwani, Austin Wu, Nathan Desai, Harucki Watanabe and Avi Singhal.
"We are fortunate to be in the competitive MSL,“ said Marks. ”Hersey, Fremd and Barrington will be top finishers in the conference and at the state meet. We will gain valuable experience. It is a conference that boasts former state champs and quality state contenders. We are striving to cultivate a winning culture."
FREMD
Coach Johnny Kent's troops would like to move up two spots and win a Class 2A state championship.
The Vikings certainly have the talent to attain that lofty goal.
Third place in 2023, the Vikings return Class 2A singles champion Andrew Spurck, who will play at Division I Xavier.
Amaye Shyani placed seventh in doubles and Shashwat Srivatsu placed seventh in singles at state a year ago. Juniors Ved Mistry and Stanley Zeng were doubles state qualifiers a year ago.
Junior Vedanth Srihari was the number 3 singles champion in the Mid Suburban League a year ago.
Others back with experience are seniors Ethan Rybka and Liam Nance along with juniors Jason Li and Jacek Kawczynski.
Freshman Leroy Jing joins the mix.
"The MSL is currently at one of its strongest points in history," said Kent. "Last year the MSL finished third, fourth and sixth (in the state), and third, fourth and fifth in 2022. The strength of the conference speaks for itself locally and at the state level. Hersey should compete for state trophy and Barrington is always strong and deep. Conant brings some very good talent and some excellent competition. The last two years have been historic. We are excited for Andrew to make history. We want to win the MSL and a sectional championship for a fifth straight year."
GRANT
Tenth-year coach Max Boton builds his young team in 2024 around senior Chris Kiatowkaysy. The Bulldogs welcome newcomers sophomores Kyle McDonough and Kyle Romero.
"We want to compete this season," said Boton. "It is a rebuilding season."
GRAYSLAKE CENTRAL
Coach Charles Lawson, in his 18th year, returns state qualifiers Samay Patel and Anthony Shultis.
Other returners are Will Surowiec, Eashaan Varma, Ethan Patten, Arjun Dhanuskodi, James Hering and Jaden Beres. Newcomers are freshmen Shane Mussay and Andrew Varblow.
"We want to win the conference (NLCC) and qualify players in singles and doubles," said Lawson.
GRAYSLAKE NORTH
The Knights were third in the NLCC under third year coach Kate Cole. Cole will depend on freshmen Chris George and Ahmaar Kothari.
"We want to work hard and develop skills to win the majority our matches and win the conference tournament," said Cole.
HOFFMAN ESTATES
The Hawks return seniors Yash Davem, Akhil Mallajosyula and Ohm Pate. Junior Chris Mun is a newcomer looking for playing time.
"We want to compete with the upper tier in the conference (MSL)," said coach Kenneth Harris. “We want more positions with winning records. We want to move up the conference rankings."
LAKES
The Eagles were fourth in the NLCC and sixth in 1A sectional action last year, losing only one player to graduation.
The Eagles welcome back a veteran team group spearheaded by seniors Drew Chamernik, Eric Bendall, Nathan Streichter, Kyle Knodell, Justin Kao, Jake Wisniewski and Sean McClure.
Also back for coach Bryan Plinske are junior Nate Popov and sophomore Cal Bradley. Newcomers hoping to be in the mix are senior Josh Hasner and juniors Nathan Behnke and Dan Sanabria.
"We have a number of returning players," said Plinske. “We want to be competitive and make a splash at the conference tournament. We want to qualify as many players as we can for the state tournament."
LAKE ZURICH
Seventh year coach Mike Byrd’s team finished fifth in the North Suburban Conference last year. Seniors Ajay Ohri and Ethan Justin Charo are back and will be joined by freshman Gabriel Maliszewski.
MAINE SOUTH
The Hawks, coached by Gerald Smith, return state qualifier Giona Maccaferri.
Others back are senior Brandon Griffin, Anthony Benbenek, Dexter Kelleher and Williams Dolan along with juniors Walter Szulczeski and Andrew Oberholtzer.
Newcomers are Ethan dela Navarre, Elliott Natura, Daniel Krzsinski, Pat Bayraktarov and Austin Rajcel.
"The CSL is one of the toughest league in the state," said Smith. The addition to Deerfield to the south makes the conference more difficult. We have a strong balance of returning players we have a blend of experience. We are pushing our limits to reach our potential. We have an emphasis on unity and strategic improvement."
MAINE WEST
The Warriors welcome back seniors Thomas Noonan, Charlie Freeman, Aaron Grata, Robert Koziol and Max Dinse along with juniors Pedro Fernandez and Thomas Serpico.
Freshmen hoping for success as first-year players are Tristan Okurowski, Shailen Pathank, Alec Bayro and Victor Polissky.
Maine West hopes to improve on last season’s 4-12 overall and 0-5 in Central Suburban North records.
"We want to be much more aggressive and capable in our doubles teams," said coach John Hauenstein. “We have four freshmen competing for spots on the varsity lineup. There will be a lot of internal competition and there will be terrific motivation to elevate their game."
MUNDELEIN
Veteran coach Greg Cohen’s team returns seniors Kurt Dumblauskas, Mike Berman, Aedan Cruz, Alex Hucko and Brandon Kolosick along with sophomore Spencer Sauer.
New players fighting for court time include sophomores Henry Channon and Rishi Sahu and freshmen Tyler Williamson and Alex Knop.
The Mustangs hope to improve on last season's sixth place effort in the North Suburban Conference and fifth place finish in the 2A sectionals.
"Players worked hard in the summer and preseason," said Cohen. “We want to be more competitive in the conference. We want to continue to improve and compete. We want to have lifetime memories and enjoy the journey."
PALATINE
The Pirates were fourth in the MSL West a year ago.
Seniors Pablo Castro, Nate Royer and Ishhaan Mushra return for coach Jim Lange (15th year). Newcomers are seniors Ryan Moi, Aashman Mittal, Zach Martin, Victor Jacome, Jamie Gabriel and Krish Honda.
“We have a lot of seniors making their varsity debut,” Lange said. “It is going to take time for them to get caught up to the varsity game."
PROSPECT
Junior state qualifier David Motorga advanced to the third round of the consolation bracket in the Class 2A state finals as a sophomore.
Senior newcomers Andrew Grave, Allen Chennoth and Dimitri Hutnyk and sophomore Ondrej Subr are others to watch.
"The MSL is full of competitors," said coach Patrick Weber. “We get successes and lessons from every match and play to improve every day. We want to take advantage of one of the strongest conferences in the state. We want to qualify a few players to the state meet."
STEVENSON
The Patriots enjoyed a successful 2023 by winning the North Suburban Conference and a Class 2A sectional, then placing fifth at the state meet.
The Pats return state qualifiers senior Alex Jang and junior Dustin Zhao.
Other returners are seniors Richard Xu and Tejaqs Sheth, junior Ian Williams and sophomore Akshay Mara.
Newcomers include seniors Aaron Chen and Andrew Ryan, sophomore Vrishan Kanuri and freshmen Adam Visotsky, Chatti Annapragada, Janveer Sayyad, Nikhil Vijaykumar, Sai Kudomari and Vrishan Kanuri.
VERNON HILLS
The Cougars went 21-4 last year, took third in the Central Suburban League North and eighth in the state in Class 1A. This year they move to 2A.
State qualifiers juniors Daniel Shchebalev and Aarush Vora spearhead the attack. Others with varsity experience are senior Nick Dinh, juniors Rohit Dashaputra, Ben Castle and Abdullah Kamal, and sophomore Isaac Lee.
Seniors Byungyoon Yu and Robert Padavano, sophomores Advit Mangal, Brendan Handoko and James Kim, and freshman Nathan Lee are new to the lineup.
“The competitive CSL North is a young and deep conference," said coach Doug Gerber. ”We will have a lineup flux early in the season. We want to solidify our singles and doubles teams. Moving to 2A creates its own challenges. We have the depth one through 11 in our lineup."
ST. VIATOR
The Lions under eighth year coach Mary Louise Blaney graduated six players.
St. Viator will depend on senior Luke Dzierzak, sophomores JP Wong and Chad Carlson, and freshmen Matt Herves and Leo Kostov.
"We hope to make a splash with talented newcomers,“ Blaney said.
WARREN
Mike Edler begins his 18th year in the program, fifth as the head coach.
The Blue Devils enjoyed a successful 2023 campaign with a third-place finish in the rugged North Suburban Conference, a runner-up at the 2A Stevenson sectional and 24th place at state.
Senior Brandon Pasch, who will play tennis at Division III North Central College, and junior Archit Prakash were state qualifiers a year ago.
Also back for Edler with varsity experience are seniors Ryan Vargas and Tejas Suresh.
The Blue Devils' newcomers are seniors Jonathan Madry, Aiden Friedman and Hayden Cottrell, junior Logan Mueller, and freshmen Ian and Kellan Trukov.
"Traditional powerhouse Stevenson will be the favored in the conference," said Edler. "We want to be competitive in dual meets. We know no match in the conference can be taken lightly. Any time somebody from Lake County makes the 2A state finals it is quite an accomplishment."
WAUCONDA
The Bulldogs won the regular season NLCC for the second straight season. Wauconda was the conference tournament runner-up in 2023 for the second consecutive season.
Junior Sean Lenhart returns as a Class 1A state qualifier where he won one match.
Senior Payton Helm and junior Marshawm Gallego also return for coach Ben Volheim's squad.
Newcomers include junior Leo Mandujano and sophomores Noah Kosick, Noah Schmidt and Logan Kehoe, along with freshman Greyson Miglans.
"Grayslake Central is always strong and Lakes is returning quality players so you can throw their name in the hat as conference contenders," said Volheim “We want to win the sectional and send both singles and a doubles team to the state meet. We will have an entirely different doubles lineup this year and are improving in doubles."