Boys tennis: Spurck takes title at Fremd
The tennis season will move into its final weekend of the season after the state field has been established following sectional play Saturday.
Here's a look at how things shook down:
At Fremd:
Andrew Spurck confirmed his status among the elite singles players when the Fremd junior beat the No. 1 man in the state.
Spurck (15-1) beat Mitch Sheldon (Hersey, 18-1) in straight sets - claiming a first set tiebreaker, before rolling to a 6-2 second set victory to win the sectional title, and likely solidify his spot as the No. 1 seed next weekend when the state tournament begins.
"(Mitch) is such a great player, so it made for the tight first set. (It) first set was 4-4, then 5-5 (with) before I was able to finally win the set 7-6(5), and once it got to 4-1 in the second set (he) gave me some points here and there, and I was able to finish off the set, 6-2," said Spurck, who took an injury fault in his final with Sheldon in the finals of the MSL Conference tournament a week ago.
Spurck, who will be joined by Shashwat Srivasta and doubles champions Jason Sze-Amaye Shyani, led the Vikings to the team title over league rival Hersey by four points, 33-29.
At Stevenson:
Over at the Vernon Hills Athletic Center, NSC champion Stevenson squashed the competition to claim the top prize at its own sectional.
The Patriots outscored runner-up Warren (28-13) who advanced three of its four teams.
Third place Libertyville garnered one spot in the 2A state field with its doubles team of: Jack Gerber-Joshua Dobrin going through.
The Patriots will send its entire team into next weekend, beginning with singles champ: Ashvath Madhushankar (14-5) now a three-time state qualifier after his 6-2, 6-1 defeat of teammate, Caden Zhao (15-4) who will be making his first state appearance.
"My serve has been so much better lately, and my first service percentage has improved at the same time," said Madhushankar, who will attend UW-Madison next fall where he will seek a degree in NeuroBiology.
At Cary-Grove:
It was all Barrington at host Cary-Grove as the Broncos advanced all four of its teams, including singles champion, Deven Carse (19-3) who would defeat his freshmen teammate: Hadi Dossani (22-2) 6-3, 6-4.
Cary-Grove sophomore Bryce Schectman gave his program its second consecutive state qualifier with his third-place win over Jasjeet Talwar (13-4 of South Elgin.
"Bryce was a starter at one dubs for us last year, and when we needed someone to take over at No. 1 singles, he made the switch, and has done a great job for us," says Trojans head coach, Amanda Schuetzle.
Talwar will be joined by the Storms' doubles team of Cullen Watt-Matthew Benson (9-3), who dropped their third-place contest to August Nelson-Soham Kalra from Jacobs.
"We have not had a state qualifier in quite a long time, so to get two teams into the tournament is big for the players, as well as our program," said Storm coach, Eduardo Molina.
At Deerfield:
The doubles team from Buffalo Grove (Apoorv Sagar Pitta-Justin Adrowski) and the singles duo from Prospect David Motorga (14-12) and Sam Panagopoulos (9-4) all moved on following two days of terrific play.
"It's the first time in my eight years that we're sending two of our teams to the state tournament for David (who qualified last year in doubles) - he's been playing better, and better the last month of the season," began Prospect coach, Brad Rathe.
"Sam is such a unique player, and tough opponent to play - witnessed by his 2 1/2, three set win in his state qualifier yesterday," added Rathe.
At Lakes:
One week after lifting the NLCC championship trophy, Grayslake Central came back to claim the top prize in Lake Villa at the Lakes Community sectional.
The Rams held off Prairie Ridge (24-16) with Wauconda rounding out the top three on the leaderboard with 16 overall points.
Bulldogs fans would celebrate the singles title from sophomore Sean Lenhart (19-2) who beat Samay Patel (Grayslake Central) 7-5, 6-3, who earlier upended top seed Logan Wasik (Crystal Lake Central) in three sets 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 to advance into the finals.
The Rams doubles team of Vlad Miziuk-Anthony Shultis fell in straight sets in their final with Jaylan Tucker-Cole Palese from Prairie Ridge, 6-0, 6-1.
At Vernon Hills:
The host Cougars had too much firepower at both singles, and doubles for the nine-team field, outscoring runner-up Elgin Academy, 36-11 to win for the third consecutive season.
The home side went 1-2 at both flight's's with freshmen Roman Stukov (23-8) taking home first place over teammate, Rohit Dashaputra (15-10) while over at doubles it was more from the Cougars.
Daniel Shchebalev-Aarush Vora (23-5) won in straight sets over teammates Milan Raval-Rudra Kukian (17-9) in their final.
Arya Govula-Percy Wu (Elgin Academy) beat Michael McManaman-Colin Kuchera (St. Viator) in three sets for third place.