Williamson FVC singles tennis champ
Mike Williamson didn't need candles, a cake and a party to celebrate his 18th birthday.
A second straight Fox Valley Conference singles championship was enough of a gift.
The Dundee-Crown senior defeated Jim Capalbo of Crystal Lake Central 6-3, 6-2 to claim the FVC No. 1 singles title for a second straight year Saturday in Crystal Lake.
"It was a great day," said the D-C senior. "To win my second straight conference championship on my birthday is exciting. Jim is very quick and is an excellent player. He is a fighter. My power serve wasn't there today so I had to place my serve."
Williamson defeated Craig Greenwald of Prairie Ridge 6-1, 6-2 in a semifinal match.
Prairie Ridge and Crystal Lake Central tied for the championship with 145 points. The total is based on conference dual meets and this weekend's conference meet. It is the Wolves' fourth straight conference title.
"Crystal Lake Central was favored so we are very happy with a co-championship," said PR coach Jessica Fetzner. "We played very well in the tournament and our great doubles depth was obvious."
PR got first place efforts from the No. 3 doubles team of Dan Sweeney and Seth Corush and the No. 4 doubles team of Matt McDonald-Tyler Benson.
Central finished first at No. 1 doubles with Bobber Nelson and Mitch Osborne taking home the top prize while Tommy Scott and Nick Sigmund finished first at No. 2 doubles.
"We beat Prairie Ridge in the dual meet and in a tournament so we thought we should win the championship," said Crystal Lake Central coach Judy Elder. "We made some key mistakes. We thought we were in position to win the championship. The team is frustrated by the result."
In the most interesting and hotly contested match of the day, Cary-Grove freshman Chris Federighi outlasted Dundee-Crown's Andy Schuessler 7-5, 4-6, 6-4 in a match that lasted nearly 3 hours. Federighi and Schuessler each pulled 3-set upsets in the semifinals.
Schuessler, the No. 4 seed, shocked top-seeded Matt Miller of Prairie Ridge 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 while Federighi, the third seed, upset No. 2 seed Tommy Nelson of Crystal Lake 6-2, 4-6, 6-2.
"It was a very long day of tennis," said Federighi. "In the championship match, I just tried to hang in there and stay positive. I was getting tired but neither one of us gave in. All four of the seeds are pretty evenly matched."
Cary-Grove, which finished third with a score of 114, also got a first place effort from John McLaughlin at No. 3 singles. McLaughlin defeated Nolan Steenberg of Crystal Lake Central in the title match, 6-4, 6-2.
Crystal Lake South placed fourth with a score of 106. The Gators' best effort came from the No. 3 doubles team of Jeff Lemberger-Kenny Dolan, who were second. The No. 2 doubles duo of Zach Goschey-Andy DeBoer was fourth.
Jacobs finished fifth with a score of 93. The Golden Eagles' best finish was a fourth place effort by the No. 4 doubles team of Brian Kaczar-Nick Kaczar.
D-C, placed sixth with a score of 86.