Stevenson advances all four teams to state meet
It was dangerous in the deep end Friday afternoon during the doubles competition at the Stevenson sectional.
Just ask two of the top seeds.
Unseeded St. Viator's Taylor Blaney and Dean Tanglis took down a pair of higher seeds to book a berth in Thursday's state tournament - while 5-6 seed Rafael Robles and Mikey Woolf of Palatine avenged a bitter loss from a week ago to stun 3-4 seed Prospect to join the state tournament field.
Host Stevenson advanced all four teams through with ease, including potential 1-2 state seeds Blake Bazarnik (20-1). Doubles mates Ross Putterman-David Packowitz ran their overall record to 24-1 with convincing straight-sets victories over a pair of MSL opponents.
Semifinals begin at 8 a.m. today, with the finals following.
Bazarnik will take on Lake Zurich freshman Michael Rednicki (25-3), while teammate Etham Frankel (22-5) meets No. 2 Kenta Shimizu (26-4) of Fremd after the junior qualified for his second state trip in three years following a 6-0, 6-0 win over Nick Heidenfelder of Buffalo Grove.
Frankel defeated Hersey junior Eric Klawitter (24-6), who saw a terrific year end in a straight-sets loss to the Patriots senior.
Blaney and Tanglis, who one week ago were the Lions' top players at first and second singles for coach Dan Tripamer, were paired before the Buffalo Grove Invite Monday - where they won twice.
"Earlier in the season, I approached Taylor and suggested pairing he and Dean together, but he said no at that time," Tripamer said. "But after we all looked at the singles field here and how deep it is, the decision was made and both of them have played as if they've been together for years."
The Lions' duo first had to get past 5-6 seed Vernon Hills (Hoveydai-Rong), who came in as North Suburban runners-up and owners of a 17-3 record.
Blaney-Tanglis eliminated the Cougars 6-0, 6-0, then turned their sights on Fremd's Owen Marsden-Nick Makowiecki (20-10) - who were second last weekend at the MSL meet.
The Lions broke the Vikings to go up 5-4 in the first set, then finished off them off with a 6-4 victory. In the second set, Blaney served up a winner to push the lead to 5-3. The match went into a tiebreaker where the Lions prevailed 7-3.
Next will be the Patriots' Nick Stephan-Alec Tunner (20-6), who polished off a pair to reach the semifinals, giving Tunner his first trip to the state tournament and partner Stephan his second straight.
"I am really happy for Alec and his first tournament, and we both know how important it is for our team for (us) to get a great start on the first day of the tournament and to get as many points as we can to help our chances for the overall team title," Stephan said.
Putterman-Packowitz will take their top seed into today's semifinal against a Palatine club which beat the odds to stay alive and give retiring coach Steve Pass some icing on the cake, in his own words.
"Last year we beat Prospect at the MSL tourney, then they came back the next week (here) and sent us home," Pass said. "This year was the complete opposite, and today the guys came out and played terrific tennis and deserved qualifying into the state tournament."
Robles-Woolf had beaten Buffalo Grove (Foutris-Martino) 6-3, 7-5 before upending Jon Kiefer-Sam Pope in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2.
"After watching the way Woolf was hitting his forehand, and Robles just playing steady tennis as his partner, I knew those (two) would be dangerous against Prospect," said Buffalo Grove coach Kevin Schrammel.
Bazarnik, who seems a certain 1-2 seed alongside senior Michael Moore of Glenbrook South next week, needed just 39 minutes to defeat Buffalo Grove sophomore Max Beylis and earn his third straight tournament appearance.