Scouting Cook County and Lake County boys tennis
The high school boys tennis season has started. Here’s a look at what to expect in Cook County and Lake County.
ANTIOCH
The Sequoits hope to improve on a sixth-place finish in both the Northern Lake County Conference regular season and conference tournament. Antioch was sixth at the 1A Lakes sectional.
Senior Carl Doldolea, junior Tyler Linderman and sophomores Brian Geiger and Nathan Sy return to join senior newcomers Matt Behrens, Cade Ternes and Logan Krusely.
"We graduated a lot of seniors," said coach Jamie D Andrea. “It is a rebuilding season. Even with the varsity returners we are still young. Aside from the returners we have seven players that are new to tennis. Our goal to be competitive is because of our athleticism and good instincts. It should be fun to watch."
BARRINGTON
Coach John Roncone has high expectations for the 2025 season after taking eighth in the state last year and returning state qualifiers senior Ali Kanji, juniors Hadi Dossani and Yohan Yousfi, and sophomore William DeLoch. They also return seniors Avar Anand, Andy Hyderi and Ahmed Dossani, junior Shian Mittal and add juniors Omkar Gowda and Dhru Patel.
"We want to compete for the MSL title and have this group take the steps necessary to play with the top teams in the area this year and for years to come." said Roncone. “The MSL has great teams namely Conant, Fremd and Hersey. We hope to compete with them. This conference has possibly seven of the top 24 singles players in the state.”
CARMEL CATHOLIC
The Corsairs were second in the East Suburban Catholic last year, won the Class 1A Lakes sectional and took 55th in the state, and coach Gina Borkowski has the state qualifying doubles team of seniors Evan Villinski and Louis Vu back.
CONANT
The Cougars were Mid-Suburban League West champs a year, third in the sectional and 11th in the state. Sophomores Kabir Motwani (top 16 in state singles), Maximus Rysz (top 16), Austin Wu, Nathan DeSai, Harucki Watanabe and Avi Singhai are all back, and freshman Carter Strillich is another talented player.
“Eight of our varsity 11 starters are back," coach Matt Marks said. ”We have our entire sectional team back. This young group has a full season. We want to compete with the best teams in the state."
FREMD
The Vikings won the MSL championship, took second in sectional play and fourth in the state in 2A last year. Senior Shaswat Sirvatsa is a returning state qualifying doubles player, and seniors Ved Mistry (4-year varsity), Jason Li, Vedanth Srihari and Jacek Kawcyzinski, juniors Stanley Zeng and Patrick Sze and sophomore Leroy Jing also are back while senior Ryan Barretto and juniors Mandra Mittal and Kristof Kovac join the team.
"The MSL is one of the strongest in the state,'“ said coach Johnny Kent. ”We have had battles with Hersey and Barrington the last few years. The three of us are earning trophies. All should be strong. Conant has a great group of sophomores. Our goals are to win the MSL, winning the sectionals and finish in Top 10 in the state. We have one of the toughest schedules in the state. We are playing Hinsdale Central, New Trier, Stevenson, Glenbrook North, Glenbrook South and Deerfield.“
GRANT
The Bulldogs return seniors Caimin Corbett and Chris Kiatoukaysy.
"We hope to competitive in the NLCC with many first-year players,“ coach Max Boton said.
GRAYSLAKE CENTRAL
The Rams were 23rd in Class 1A, second in the Antioch sectional and second in the NLCC last year behind state qualifiers Anthony Shultis, a senior, and juniors Samay Patel and Eshaan Varna. They also return Oliver Blennis, Parker Postal, James Herig, Jaden Beres and Howie Gomens, and they add Nate Jones and Taylor Flood.
"We should be in for an excellent season," said 23rd-year coach Chuck Lawson.
GRAYSLAKE NORTH
The Knights, 48th in the state in Class 1A, return sophomore state qualifier Chris George, senior Paul Chadiuk and junior Aidan Munday while freshman Julian Schmidt joins the team.
"We are optimistic about the season," said coach Katharine Cole.
HOFFMAN ESTATES
Returning for the Hawks, 10th in the MSL a year ago, are seniors Kaysan Rattani, Chris Mun, Vincent Klugsted, Rishi Suresh and Nikhil Hatwar along with juniors Chael Clemente, Jan Tyrka and Azhar Ahmed.
The Hawks have a number of newcomers including seniors Timon Day, Yasin Kansu and Cowan Trivedi, juniors Batindra Thati and Fateh Saggu, sophomore Rahul Nanna and freshman Shrihan Kolli.
"We want to up our ranking with a stronger and experienced team," said coach Edgar Ramirez. “We have a lot of seniors leaving after this year paving the way for the next group of players."
LAKES
Veteran coach Bryan Plinske hopes his Eagles will improve on a fourth-place finish in the NLCC.
Lakes, 10-5 in dual meets a year ago, welcome back senior Nathan Popov and junior Cal Bradley to join seniors Nathan Behnke, Mitch Gedville, Kirk Jackson, Dan Sanabria, Matt Shores, Reilly Shea and Bartosz Szkwarowski, juniors Baasim Akhtar, Benito Padilla, Druv Patel, Dheeraj Sarathy and Byron Thieme and sophomore Blaine Lasky.
"The season looks promising," said Plinske. “We have promising experienced singles players to anchor the team and have significant experience from the JV team. We are looking to be competitive with a lot of kids playing varsity for the first time. We want to finish in the top of the conference. We have kids hungry to earn a spot and make a name for themselves. The season looks bright with the intensity I have seen so far. There will be a lot of competition and jockeying for position.”
LAKE ZURICH
The Bears return seniors Dominik Herdus, Leo Michels, Carter Kidd, and Tavish Kapoor along with juniors Dimitar Mardov Aarav Amon and Szymon Mikowski.
"We will be somewhat competitive if we remain injury free,“ said coach Mike Byrd.
LIBERTYVILLE
Sophomore Chase Pierce is returning state qualifier for the Wildcats.
Joining Pierce in the lineup are seniors Jack Gerber, Rinav Dugar, Carson Leighton, Jake Sesi Eric Li and David Jaranowski, juniors Chethan Nickerson and Isaac Biggerstaff and sophomore Mike Barhoum, plus newcomers Roshan Mathew, Ryan Kumar, Charles Sundberg and William Mickiewicz.
The Wildcats were 8-3 overall and third in the conference with a 4-2 mark last year.
"We want to finish in the top three in the conference and be better than 8-3 in dual meets," said coach Dan Kiernan. “We have good depth."
MAINE EAST
The Blue Demons return seniors Muhammad Junaid Ahmed and Zayd Syed, juniors Emmett Christ, David Mihalche and Doug Meyer along with sophomores Todd Jackson and David Lazanyi to go with newcomers Rahathul Talukdur and Nicholas Tom, both seniors, and sophomores Edwin Gil and Jad Layoun and freshmen Jose Allen, Giovanni Godinez, Evan Corbav, Ethan Daju and Connor Tom.
MAINE SOUTH
The Hawks, 20th in the state in 2A and winners of the Palatine Invitational, return seniors Walter Szulczewski and Andrew Oberhalter along with junior Frankie Morley and sophomore Alex Kolev.
Back are seniors Pat Byrne, Matt Brow and Ryland Sinese, juniors Andrew Konwal and Brian Weis, sophomores Andrew Kulesza and Keenan Yarasshefski and freshmen Jovani Stoja, Conrad Stanek and Nick Chuman.
“We are very young and looking forward to competing every day," said coach Gerald Smith. ”We are looking forward to competing in the toughest conference in the state (CSL South).“
MAINE WEST
The Warriors return senior Jacob Sochowski and sophomores Tristan Okurowski, Victor Polissky, Alec Bayrov and Shailen Pathak.
Senior Tommy Serpico, juniors Sergey Orzhynsky and Mark Jiman, and sophomores Matuez Podczaski and Victor Polissky join the team
"We want to compete in the conference and hopefully finish in the middle of the pack," said coach Adam York. “We want to have fun every day and have fun in every match."
MUNDELEIN
The Mustangs (8-10) have juniors Spencer Sauer, Henry Channon and Tyler Williamson back to go with juniors Dirk Anderson and Connor Schoo, sophomores Alan Fisher, Anthony Vynnyk and McHenry transfer Ivan Petkow and freshman Bruce Dumbblauskas.
"We want to compete hard and they have shown the ability to adapt to a new culture," said first-year coach Ryan Jump. “We have no seniors. The league is deep throughout and each team is getting better. We are excited about the growth of the guys."
PALATINE
The Pirates return seniors Ishaan Mishra and Joaquin Flores and junior Pat Shoults.
Palatine, seventh in the MSL a year ago, welcomes newcomers seniors JP Vargas and Talan Veenendaal, junior Robin Chatterjee and sophomores Jeff Tobin, Phil Panayotov and Jeremiah Zhang.
"The MSL is one of the best conferences in the state with a lot of talented players and successful programs," first-year coach Brody Muck said. “We want to improve our day-to-day process by improving our off-season training in hopes of translating hard work into growth and success both on the court and off the court. It is a pleasure to coach this group of young men who have done all the little things the right way. They have bought into a team-first mindset."
PROSPECT
State qualifier Dave Motorga, a senior, is back along with senior Olivier Witek and junior Ondrej Witek.
STEVENSON
The Patriots won the North Suburban Conference title in 2024, were third in the sectional and 29th in state. Sophomore Nikhil Vijaykumar finished in the top 32 in singles and will be joined by senior returners Caden Zhao, Dustin Zhao and Ian Williams, juniors Jaden Daj and Akshay Maram and sophomore Chatti Annapragada along with newcomers Emmanuel Kang, a sophomore, and freshman Pegasus Ki.
"We want to win the conference again and qualify four positions for state,“ said coach Isriz Balase. ”We want to finish in the top five in the state."
ST. VIATOR
Juniors Chad Carlson, JP Wong and Atharva Patel along with sophomore Matt Hervac are back, and junior Blake Majerczak joins the lineup.
"We hope to qualify for some for state,“ ninth-year coach Mary Louise Blaney said.
VERNON HILLS
The Cougars posted a 15-8 dual meet record last year, were second in the CSL North and sixth in the rugged 2A Stevenson sectional.
They return seniors Max Agam, Ben Bernat, Asher Cleek, Rohit Dashaputra, Abdullah Kamal and Isaac Lee along with juniors Max Amjadi, Harrison Fischoff, Brendan Handoko, James Kim and Avit Mangal and sophomore Nathan Lee. They add seniors Dan Shchebalev and Aarush Vora and freshman Gabriel Tawral.
"We will move players around singles and doubles," said coach Doug Gerber, in his 25th year. “We have more experience in doubles and the younger players will compete for singles. Highland Park is the favorite in the conference."
WARREN
The Blue Devils are led by senior Archit Prakush, who is a four-year starter, and seniors Logan Mueller and Jackson Abraham, and sophomore Ian Trukov. They add senior Parker Schultz, juniors Edwin Rivera Aleman and Ryan Juarez, sophomores Sam Foss and Brayden Song and freshmen William Clements Whelan and Aadhav Sivasankar.
"The NSC is always Stevenson and Lake Forest," said coach Mike Edler. “Those two are at a high level. We expect to be competitive and we have good experience and senior leadership over the lineup. We can hold our own and we have a lot of good kids on the roster who have worked hard in the off-season. They want to prove themselves as players.”
WAUCONDA
The Bulldogs, fifth in Class 1A a year ago, might be even better in 2025. They boast one of the best singles combos in the state: senior Sean Lenhart was fifth in the state and senior Marshawn Gallego placed in the top 16.
Other returners are seniors Riley Carr, Jacob Tondryk and Leo Mandujano-Delgado, juniors Logan Kehoe, Noah Kosiek and Noah Schmidt and sophomore Greyson Miglans to go with newcomers Charlie Friedrich, Austin Miller and Tim Yu, all juniors.
The Bulldogs won their fourth regular season NLCC and conference tournament last year.
"We want to win the sectional and improve on our fifth-place finish in the state," coach Ben Volheim said. “We have high expectations. We want to win our fourth straight regular season conference title and defend our tournament championship. We want this to be the best boys team in school history. We want to have multiple state qualifiers."