Not many seeds for local players at state
Nine area tennis players will be representing their schools as this coming weekend's state tennis tournament. And though only St. Charles North's doubles team of David Johnson and John Mittvick is seeded (17-32), it appears that the rest of the singles and doubles players have at least a fair chance of winning their first round matches.
Batavia
Singles: Josh Cogan (fr.).
Opening round opponent: Tommy Nelson (so.) Crystal Lake Central.
Cogan tore through the West Aurora sectional without dropping a single set. The freshman has already matched the school record of 30 wins in a season, all of those coming after dropping his first high school match to Oswego's Colin McWethy.
"Josh has got a lot of confidence right now, and he really takes it one match and one point at a time," Batavia coach Bob Kummer said. "That's the frame of mind he took into the season, into the sectional, and I think he'll take the right frame of mind into the state."
Cogan should get through the first round quickly, though things will get tougher from there. Though young, Cogan is an experienced player with a fair share of national tournament tennis experience under his belt.
"I'll probably know some of the guys there, and I'm really excited about it," Cogan said.
Marmion
Doubles: John Mason (jr.) and Austin McWethy (fr.).
Opening round opponents: Raghav Sani (jr.) and Ben Main (sr.) Freeport.
Mason and McWethy finished third at the West Aurora sectional, after coming within a few games of playing for the championship.
"I know we'll see tougher competition at state, but we'll just have to play our game," Mason said.
Though neither has played in the state tournament before, both have been there as spectators. McWethy has been there to watch his brother, Oswego's Colin McWethy.
"This means a lot to me, and I expect to get a couple of wins," McWethy said.
St. Charles North
Singles: Felix Nitzsche (sr.).
Opening round opponent: Rafael Ramalho (jr.) DeKalb.
Singles: Christian Hoskey (jr.).
Opening round opponent: Kevin Bauman (jr.) Naperville Central.
Doubles: David Johnson (jr.) and John Mittvick (so.).
Opening round opponents: Buddy Hoppen (sr.) and Colin Clayton (jr.) Peoria Richwoods.
Doubles: Nikhil Mehta (jr.) and Dan Oakes (fr.)
Opening round opponents: Aaron Guenther (jr.) and Eric Farrell (jr.) Ottawa.
Johnson and Mittvick are a 17-32 seed, which means they won't face a seeded opponent in the first two rounds. But both have state tournament experience and know that doesn't guarantee that they'll sail through to the second day's matches.
"The first two rounds are never easy, and I've got to believe their second match is going to be tough," St. Charles North coach Tim Matacio said.
Nitzsche, the North Stars senior exchange student from Germany, has a chance to get past the first round and the ability to keep playing for a while. The same is true for Hoskey who made it to state a year ago as Johnson's doubles partner.
"Christian probably has the toughest of the first round matches, but has the ability to win it, too," Matacio said.
Mehta and Oakes are a battle tested duo after playing a series of tough matches in the Upstate Eight Conference tournament and the St. Charles East sectional. Both will be making their first trip to state.
The North Stars roll into the state tournament after a memorable sectional weekend, which saw them win the singles and doubles titles as well as the overall team competition while qualifying all six of their players.
"That of course was the goal, and I was really pleased with the way played in the sectional," Matacio said. "If we can win our first round matches and have everyone score, that would be huge."