Scouting Tri-Cities boys tennis
The 2012 boys tennis season will be about making new memories, including some final ones for several players who have been standouts the past few years, and one coach who has dedicated himself to the game he loves for the past few decades.
Much of the attention will be on Batavia, where coach Bob Kummer and senior Josh Cogan are both beginning their final year of high school tennis.
“With this being my last year, I want to help Josh get to the top four in the state, and help our team have a great year,” Kummer said.
Cogan will be back at the top singles spot, in search of another Upstate Eight Conference title, sectional championship, and a stronger showing at state after having last year’s trip cut short by an injury.
“Josh is such an elite player,” Kummer said. “He’s been working out and he’s really strong right now.”
For Kummer, this will mark the end of a 33-year career as a high school tennis coach at Batavia.
“We haven’t won a lot of championships, but we’ve had some excellent teams, won a lot of good matches, and have had a lot of great kids here,” Kummer said. “I’m really proud of what our kids have accomplished over the years, both individually and as a team.”
Kummer should have a solid squad this year, as sophomore Ryan Sterling returns at No. 2 singles, giving the Bulldogs a solid one-two punch at the top of the lineup.
“Ryan could play number one singles for a lot of teams right now,” Kummer said.
Junior Adam Maris, described by Kummer as “a scrapper,” rounds out the singles side.
The doubles lineup will be anchored by Tim Murat, a sophomore with USTA experience and senior Kyle Stiffler, who played first and second doubles last season.
“We’re hoping for better production from our doubles than what we got last year,” Kummer said.
Senior Alek Mizakar and sophomore Jeff Lorden will team up at second doubles. The rest of the lineup remains in flux, with seniors Chris Hvasta, Matt Potter, and Matt McFarland, junior Anders Malm, sophomore Joe Maenza, and freshman Josh Boyle all in the mix for the final four roster spots.
“We really want to win conference this year, and I think it’s an attainable goal,” Kummer said. “As strong as we are in singles, if we stay healthy, we’re going to be in every match.”
St. Charles East also boasts a strong singles lineup, led off by sophomore standout Jasper Koenen, who qualified for state last year and battled his way through five matches at the tournament.
“Jasper has had a great off-season,” St. Charles East coach Rob Livermore said. “He’s been beating some big time players in Illinois tennis.”
Livermore has seen improvement in Koenen’s already impressive approach to the game. “He’s learned how to mix up his shots better, and he’s just so strong.”
Justin Bowman, who also earned a trip to state last year as a sophomore, will extend the Saints’ strength at the top of the singles lineup, and should dominate at No. 2.
“Justin is a little bigger and stronger this year,” Livermore said.
Either George Spoerl, a sophomore, or senior Thomas Ma will round out the singles side.
A pair of seniors will be at the top of the Saints’ doubles lineup. Last year, Connor Davis and Nick Mays came within a win of qualifying for state, losing the deciding match to Geneva’s Ryan Doeckel and Colin Rapp. Mays graduated, but Davis is back and primed to make another run. He’ll partner with Mike Muir, who played second doubles last year.
Bradley Sullivan (sr.) and Matt McCarthy (so.), two players with contrasting styles will play second doubles.
“They mesh really well,” Livermore said. “Brad’s serve is going to set up a lot of points for Matt to finish.”
Matt DeSantis and Dan Rasmussen, both seniors, will pair up at third doubles.
“We have a lot of seniors from our JV team that won the conference title last year,” Livermore said. “They know how to win, they don’t panic, and they are resilient.
Chris Gicla (sr.) will partner with either Spoerl or Ma at fourth doubles.
“Last year we ended up losing a lot of matches because we couldn’t win at third singles or fourth doubles,” Livermore said. “With this lineup we feel that we can hold our own from top to bottom against anybody.”
While St. Charles East will count heavily on senior experience, Geneva will field one of the area’s youngest squads.
Captain West Adelman is one of only three seniors on this year’s team, but that doesn’t mean that expectations are being lowered. Not by any stretch.
“We’ve got a good mix of returning kids from last year’s team and JV players coming up,” Geneva coach Peter Burkhardt said. “We’ll be competitive, and right there with St. Charles East, St. Charles North, and Batavia.”
Nick Huang, who won the conference title last year as a freshman, will make the move from third singles to second, with Nick McCarty, a junior, at third.
“(McCarty) has worked very hard at his game, and he’s come a long way,” Burkhardt said.
Ryan Doeckel, who qualified for state last year as a freshman with doubles partner Colin Rapp, is back at the top spot, teaming with fellow sophomore John Potts. Senior Brady Reedy will play second doubles with Brad Burgess, a freshman with USTA experience. Burgess could also see some action on the singles side.
Chad Barber and Ryan Cooney, both seniors, will move up from fourth doubles, where to played a year ago, to the third slot this season. Juniors Spencer Ankley and Ford Dickinson will complete the Vikings’ doubles lineup.
“We’ve finished second in the conference two years in a row,” Burkhardt said. “We’d like to win it this year, and I think we have the players to do it.”
But to do that, the Vikings must figure out a way to beat defending champs St. Charles North, though they may find it difficult to recognize their opponents. No team saw as much turnover from graduation as the North Stars, and coach Sean Masoncup knows his lineup is something of a work in progress.
“As a coach, I enjoy this,” Masoncup said. “We usually have more club players than less experienced players, but that won’t be the case this year. Players who don’t have a lot of playing experience are usually the easiest to teach and help along. And it’s great to see their improvement.”
The North Stars will rely on their doubles teams to build a winning foundation for the entire squad.
Team captain Danny Oakes, a two-time state qualifier who has signed a letter of intent to play tennis at Valparaiso University next year, will team up with Dominick Amalraj (jr.), who made it to state last year as a singles player.
“Danny is like another coach for us out on the court,” Masoncup said. “Dom is a tough, solid player who knows how to win.”
Oakes and Amalraj should form one of the area’s best doubles teams, and St. Charles North’s second and third pairs are not far behind.
Grant Spellman (so.) and Bobby Dunteman (sr.) will like play no. 2 doubles, though they could get pushed by seniors Eli McCray and Eric Pashan, who won the conference title at third doubles a year ago. Senior Cam Staroske will team with Mitch Riggs, a sophomore transfer from Marmion, at fourth doubles.
“We’ve already seen a lot of improvement with these kids since we started practicing a month ago,” Masoncup said. “I know it sounds like a cliché, but with half of our lineup having never played varsity before, our goal is to improve with every match.”
Much of that improvement should come on the singles side, which will be filled with new faces. It’s not that the North Stars lack talent or athleticism, as much as they lack experience. Part of that is as a result of having such a crowded and talent-laden roster the past two seasons.
John Cherry, a senior who played JV last year, will step into the number one singles spot. Sophomore Keith Hedges moves up from second singles on JV to that same role on the varsity squad. Several players are still competing for the third singles job.
A work in progress.
“We don’t have the expectations coming in that we’ve had in the past, that’s obvious,” Masoncup said. “But our doubles lineup is going to be very strong, and I think we have a chance to surprise some people.”
No team surprised more people last year than Marmion. That Cadets team, without a single senior on the roster, managed to post a 15-2 regular season record and win their third straight Suburban Christian Conference championship.
“Last year was terrific, no one outside of Marmion knew what our team could do,” coach John Tsang said. “Now the goal is to build on that success.”
That success begins with Will Graft (sr.) and Jackson Rettig (jr.) at number one doubles. The Cadets’ top duo will be working to improve on their impressive top 32 finish at state last year.
Chris Patterman, a senior and a team captain, will be at the top of the singles lineup.
“We have a deep team,” Tsang said. “This year we’re trying to give the players the opportunity to play different roles.”
The rest of that deep lineup will consist of seniors Dan DiBartolo, Reid Weigelmann, Mitch Heaton, Jeff Winkle, and Jeff Garofalo, and sophomores John Graft, Kevin Hoss, and Ricky Angsten.
“These kids are so hard working, and they really enjoy the game,” Tsang said. “Last year they really pulled together and our season was fantastic. This year we believe we can improve on it. That’s our goal.”
West Aurora also looks to improve, as the Blackhawks should boast their strongest lineup in several years.
Much of the reason for optimism will be on the singles side, where senior Matt Kuntzi will be looking for a return trip to state. Brother Nick Kuntzi will be a tough opponent for anyone at he faces second singles.
The two played doubles together last year, but coach Adam Camp feels they’re ready to lead West Aurora’s singles side.
“They’re both much improved and stronger players this year,” Camp said. “Nick has made some huge strides.”
Kennan Johnson (sr.) will play third singles and James Brink (sr.) will be slotted at fourth in DuPage Valley Conference matches.
“We’re deeper and more talented in our singles lineup than we were last year, and we’re looking for more wins out of those players,” Camp said.
David Pauley, a senior with a big serve who was injured much of last year, will team up with freshman Ian Sewell at first doubles.
“Ian has a lot of ability, but we know as a freshman we’re kind of throwing him into a hard spot,” Camp said. “He definitely has potential, and we want him to gain some experience.”
Sophomore Brandon La and junior Gabe Jones lead a group of players who will fill out the rest of the doubles lineup.
“We’re stronger than we were last year, but we definitely lack depth in our doubles,” Camp said. “We’re going to win or lose with our singles.”
With no team boasting a lineup that is solid from top to bottom, but each having several players worth keeping an eye on, this promises to be a competitive and unpredictable season. A number of young players, freshmen and sophomores, are poised to take their turn and begin creating memories.
But before any of that happens, a group of veterans are going to have their say, one last time, especially the most experienced one of all.
“I’m a really emotional guy,” Kummer said. “I’m ready to retire, there are things I want to do, but this has been such a big part of my life, and I don’t know how this is going to feel. I have a lot of great memories.
“But the best memories are from when you win. I’m looking forward to helping my players make some new memories of their own this year.”
Key Returners: Josh Cogan (sr.) Batavia, Ryan Sterling (so.) Batavia, Kyle Stiffler (sr.) Batavia, Jasper Koenen (so.) St. Charles East, Justin Bowman (jr.) St. Charles East, West Adelman (sr.) Geneva, Nick Huang (so.) Geneva, Ryan Doeckel (so.) Geneva, Danny Oakes (sr.) St. Charles North, Dominic Amalraj (jr.) St. Charles North, Grant Spellman (so.) St. Charles North, Will Graft (sr.) Marmion, Jason Rettig (jr.) Marmion, Chris Patterman (sr.) Marmion, Matt Kuntzi (sr.) West Aurora, Nick Kuntzi (so.) West Aurora.
Newcomers to watch: Adam Maris (fr.) Batavia, Josh Boyle (fr.) Batavia, John Potts (so.) Geneva, John Cherry (sr.) St. Charles North, Bobby Dunteman (sr.) St. Charles North, Keith Hedges (so.) St. Charles North, Ian Sewell (fr.) West Aurora