Batavia's Cogan nets another sectional title
Even before he played his first match back in March, Batavia's Josh Cogan had a clear vision of what he wanted to achieve during his sophomore tennis season.
Win the Western Sun Conference singles championship. Check. Qualify for the state tournament. Check. Win the West Aurora sectional. Check.
Cogan notched his most recent goal Saturday as he beat Waubonsie Valley's Eric Marbach, 6-2, 6-1, in a match that saw both players go on the attack early and stay after it until the final point.
"He was aggressive and I tried to be aggressive too, but also consistent," Cogan said.
Marbach's approach did not come as too much of a surprise since the two have played each other before.
"That can be an advantage, and a disadvantage as well," Cogan said.
As it turned out, those three games that Marbach won were the only ones Cogan dropped in his four sectional matches.
"He was playing with a purpose this weekend," Batavia coach Bob Kummer said. "He wanted to play his best tennis and get a good seed downstate."
Abhi Singh of Waubonsie Valley finished third, with IMSA's Gary Sheng fourth.
Naperville Central dominated the doubles side as seniors Billy Sterrett and Kevin Bauman beat teammates and fellow seniors Neel Kunjar and Mark Bicek, 6-1, 6-2 in the championship round.
Marmion's John Mason and Bubba Weiler righted their ship after dropping the first set to IMSA's Nathan Yan and Lawrence Kim, and came back to win the third place match, 2-6, 6-0, 6-4.
"We started out so slow in that match," Weiler said.
The difficult first set may have been a carryover from a disappointing third round loss to Kunjur and Bicek.
"We just had to go back to basics," Mason said. "We hadn't been playing our game."
In that match, the Cadets raced to a 4-1 lead in the first set, the dropped the next 11 games.
"There have only been a few times this season when they have been flat, and that was one of them," Marmion coach Pat Maurer said.
Marmion finished fourth in the sectional with 13 points, followed by Batavia which earned 10. The tournament survived the same Friday weather issues that scrambled many of the sectionals in the area.
"The people at West Aurora did an incredible job of keeping things organized and running smoothly," Kummer said.
Weather played a big role in slowing the procession of doubles matches in the Lake Park sectional, Friday, but when it was completed and in the books Saturday afternoon, St. Charles North easily won the sectional title with 29 points.
"This is a big thing for us, it was one of our three goals that we set as a team at the start of the season," St. Charles North coach Sean Masoncup said.
As expected, David Johnson and John Mittvick won the sectional doubles title. But it was far from easy. Teammates Parker Featherston and Danny Oakes gave Johnson and Mittvick all they could handle in a match that was as close as its 6-4, 6-4 final score would suggest.
But that, also, was to be expected.
"Featherston and Oakes are a tough team, and they are legit," Masoncup said. "They've pushed Johnson and Mittvick all year in practice, and I think they should be seeded at state."
Geneva's Filip Ivkovich and Colin Rapp won the third place match, securing a second place finish for the Vikings in the overall team competition with 15 points.
On the singles side, Wheaton Academy's Devin Moore won the title, defeating Lake Park's Craig Cichowicz, 6-2, 6-1.
St. Charles North's Christian Hoskey outlasted St. Charles East's Justin Bowman, 3-6, 6-1, 6-2 to win the third place match. The Saints finished third in the overall, just a point behind Geneva.
Now that 11 area players have a achieved what is a major goal for every Illinois high school tennis player, it leaves just one: Play well and deep into the state tournament.
"I've been determined to stay focused and go as far as I can this year," Cogan said. "Tomorrow, I'll start thinking about the state tournament."
Check back next week.