Boys tennis / Scouting the Mid-Suburban League tournament
By Mike Garofola
Daily Herald Correspondent
Mid-Suburban League tournament
Where: Buffalo Grove (tourney host, No. 1 singles, No. 1 doubles, No. 4 doubles); Hersey (No. 3 singles, doubles), Wheeling (No. 2 singles, doubles)
When: 4 p.m. Thursday; 3 p.m. Friday; 8:30 a.m. Saturday (semifinals); noon Saturday (finals).
Top seeds: No. 1 singles — Matt Burkhardt (Fremd, 20-7), Izzy Balase (Schaumburg, 23-6), Varun Parekh (Barrington), Carson Burke (Prospect, 11-13).
No. 1 doubles — Barrington (Ben Nuckles-George Coll, 8-0, MSL), Prospect (Matt Wederich-Mike Hamman, 14-10), Fremd (Eric Rosencrans-Joe Cantieri, 8-2), Conant (Eugene Itskovich-Peter Itskovich, 12-4).
Divisions of power: Fremd won the MSL West crown and Buffalo Grove took the East title.
Ready for a Balase of glory: Isriz Balase is primed to reach the state tournament for the third time in his four years as the No. 1 under Schaumburg coach Jason Campbell. With the postseason beginning in earnest this weekend at the Mid-Suburban League tournament, he comes in as the No. 2 seed behind Matt Burkhardt of Fremd, and in front of Nos. 3 and 4, Varun Parukh (Barrington) and the freshman from Prospect, Carson Burke.
No stranger to success, as a freshman Balase found a way to edge into the top four among the star-studded cast at the Glenbrook South sectional, which included eventual state medalists Eric Spector (Glenbrook North) and Michael Moore (Glenbrook South) to earn a trip to the state tournament. Last year Balase did the same with Ben Hooglund (GBS) and Brian Levitas (GBN) in the field.
In two weeks, Balase will have the chance to advance one last time, but from his home courts, as the Saxons are one of 32 venues across the state hosting a tennis sectional. “It would be great to qualify for state on our own courts, but all you can do is hope for a good draw, then go out there and play your best tennis,” says Balase, who has a long list of records and accomplishments.
Balase has 111 career victories (just 30 losses), 10 tournament championships, 7 second-place trophies, a medal in each of the 21 tournaments he has competed and a 4-4 record in his 2 state tournament appearances.
“The records and all of the other things that I’ve accomplished are really nice, but it’s really all about the team,” says Balase, who has medaled each year at the MSL tournament, including a second-place finish in his sophomore year, and third last season.
“During the last two seasons, (Balase) has put more of an emphasis on his ground strokes, and with his overall power game and precision, and aside from having such a solid all-around game, he’s just a terrific young man to have in our program, because he’s such a hard worker, and sets a great example for others to follow,” said Campbell.
Balase, 23-6 this season after recording 28, 29 and his career-best 31 wins last year, recently committed to North Central College next fall, where he will play and go in as a pre-physical therapy undergraduate.
“I looked around, and thought about playing D-I at either SIU-Carbondale or over at UIC, but North Central is an up-and-coming D-III program, and the school and program that I am going into is just a perfect fit for me,” said the Saxons star. “This year I feel like I am putting away my opponents when I have the opportunity to, and that I am working the points a lot better, and using the entire court better than I ever had.”
Both Campbell and his top player feel if he can get to the state tournament one last time, the result could be even better than in his two previous engagements.
“Last year, I thought I played Jimmy Li (Wheaton Warrenville South) very well (6-3, 6-4), and was in most of the points throughout the match with a player who was a 9-16 seed and four-time state qualifier,” said Balase, who earned the No. 2 seed this weekend behind Matt Burkhardt, and will feed into Burke or MSL West rival Takuma Ito of Conant in the Saturday morning semifinals at Buffalo Grove.
“Ever since (Izz) came to Schaumburg, the expectations have been set very high, and I know that he at times has felt the weight on his shoulders to carry the team and have a lot of success in the state tournament,” says Campbell. “He’s handled all of that pressure really well, and I really feel he’s capable of having a great run in the next couple of weeks of the season to help finish off a terrific prep career.”
East Suburban Catholic
Where: Marist (tourney host)
When: noon Thursday; 9 a.m. Saturday.
Outlook: It was no coincidence that St. Viator was always in the hunt for a top 3 finish at the ESCC tournament as long as the doubles team of Taylor Blaney and Dean Tanglis were in the lineup and ready to go. But the two-time state qualifiers, and 2010 ESCC champs are at a different address this season, and the loss of this dynamic duo, as well as the second-place team from Carmel (Chris Butler-Geoff Butler) has helped Benet sweep all 8 of its conference duals to help the Redwings earn its 21st conference crown, and make them the favorites to capture a tournament title.
Second-place Marian Catholic, with its star singles player Julian Childers (21-1), will be unstoppable as he cruises to a second straight championship at No. 1, while St. Viator junior Joe Nowakowski, Marist’s Alex Haizel and Geoff Butler all battle it out for the remaining medals.