Boys tennis: Barrington brings home fifth straight sectional championship

When Saturday's Class 2A Barrington boys tennis sectional finals wrapped up, the sun emerged on singles winner Maksim Hristov of Buffalo Grove and the host school's doubles-winning duo of Hadi Dosani and Sohan Yousfi.

It also shone brightly on Barrington's team as a whole as it took top team honors for a fifth consecutive year as well as the 31st rectangular plaque in program history.

The Broncos ran away from the other eight teams in the field as their 29 points were 10 better than runner-up Jacobs (19).

Buffalo Grove finished third with 14 points.

"I'm proud of this group and hopeful they can play to a high level at the state tournament next week," Barrington coach John Roncone said.

In Hristov's 6-1, 6-2 triumph over Jacobs sophomore Samuel Santa Ines, the Bison senior and Louisville recruit won a battle of combatants that came into the final with identical 25-1 marks.

"First thing, thanks to Barrington for this wonderful setup," Hristov noted.

"I wanted to come out and play and do this for my team and bring some school pride to the table and just leave it all out there."

Hristov also added the importance of mental focus and its role in competing.

"You can't control the conditions. It's an equal battlefield, so you just go out there and play. Be brave and just remember that (good) fortune follows the brave."

For the Broncos doubles champions Dosani and Yousfi, a 6-3, 6-3 winner over fellow Barrington seniors Omkar Gowda and Shian Mittal, they had to overcome that element to their title tilt.

"I felt that the hardest part was getting those nerves out and not really thinking that," Yousfi said.

"We played well, but it was still hard," Dosani said.

"The more we played, it got better. (Yet), that was fun."

Conant sectional: In anticipation of possible inclement weather on Saturday, Conant's 2A sectional was moved up to a Thursday opening with the finals having been completed Friday evening in Hoffman Estates.

The host Cougars took the team title for the first time since 2024 and sixth time in school history with 29 points. Fremd (25) and Hersey (19) took the silver and bronze, respectively.

Conant’s doubles team of juniors Austin Wu and Nathan Desai captured the final with a 6-2, 6-3 win over Fremd's senior unit of Stanley Zeng and Mantra Mittal.

Hersey junior Matthew Sikorski bested Conant junior Maximus Rysz 6-1, 6-2 to take the singles crown as he moved his mark to 18-4 on the spring.