Scouting the boys tennis state tournament
When: Today (starting at 10 a.m.), Friday and Saturday (9 a.m.)
Where: First two days at Mid-Suburban League schools; Saurday's championship round at host site Hersey.
Top eight singles seeds: Robert Stineman (New Trier, 20-1), Ben Hoogland (Glenbrook South, 29-3), Blake Bazarnik (Stevenson, 23-3), Tim Kopinski (Stagg, 21-0), Ben Quazzo (Latin, 21-3), Toby Ma (Deerfield, 23-7), Augie Bloom (Hinsdale Central, 26-3), Branter Jones (New Trier, 14-3).
Top eight doubles seeds: Ian Tesmond-Dan Ballatine (Hinsdale Central, 29-0), Krishna Ravella-Sam Bloom (Hinsdale Central, 27-2), David Zak-Zach Brint (Highland Park, 20-3), Jared Hiltzik-Calvin Mang (New Trier, 6-2), Michael Sellitto-Michael Levin (Glenbrook South, 29-3), Richard Brej-Ryan Buxbaum (Stevenson, 4-0), Alex Gebert-Jake Wilson (Oak Park-River Forest, 14-5), John Mittvick-David Johnson (St. Charles North, 30-3).
A view from the top
Bazarnik, the defending state champion, finds himself listed as the 3-4 seed behind a talented field of players in which he has gone 2-3 against this season, including a superb 3-set win over Stineman for the Deerfield Invite title, and a 3-set loss last week to Hoogland, which likely doomed the Patriots captain's fate as a hopeful No. 1 seed."That loss to Ben did me in," admitted Bazarnik, "but he played well, and deserved the 1-2 along with Stineman."
Kopinski, who was passed over for the 1-2 seed after winning the prestigious 32, likely because of a weak schedule, and not talent, has Hoogland and Bloom on his side, while Bazarnik will see Ma, then Stineman in the semifinals, if all get through safely. "The defending state champion is a 3-4 seed - that would seem to be all the motivation Bazarnik will need this weekend," says respected Metamora coach Kelly Willard.
Double team(ed)
This field might lack the usual six to eight elite teams, but ask any coach or doubles team, and all will say it is wide open after the dynamic 1-2 duo from Hinsdale Central. With late entries into the show, two of the top eight teams have a short resume of achievements to present, but success at singles (Brej or Stevenson) and Hiltzik (New Trier) would help raise both teams to a higher level than others. The Hinsdale Central No. 2 team of Ravella-Bloom has only 2 losses - to their teammates and defending champs - while Oak Park's Gebert-Wilson duo is the wild card after wins over 3-4 Highland Park and 5-8 St. Charles and a 3-set loss to No. 1 Hinsdale Central.
After making a case for a 5-8 seed from its success at the 32 (with wins over 9-16 Metamora and Edwardsville) and 3-set loss to another 9-16 from Belleville West, Fremd's Kenta Shimizu and Ryan Kreis find themselves a 9-16 seed following a 3-set loss to Stevenson in sectional semifinals. "All the guys have to do (now) is go out and play, because this is the last time around for both of them," said Fremd coach Ken Goettsche.
Singles locals: Seeded 17-32: Eric Klawitter (Hersey, 22-5), Grant Thompson (Lake Zurich, 16-2), Jeremy Bush (Stevenson, 4-1); Others: Bryant Poggensee-Wei (Grayslake North, 27-5), Nate Campanile (Grayslake North, 29-1), Izzi Balaze (Schaumburg, 33-5), Kristiyan Trukov (Warren, 25-12), George Coll (Barrington, 21-14), Varen Parekh (Barrington, 27-10), Griffin Pols (Libertyville), Chris Federighi (Cary-Grove). Also in the field is Elgin Academy's David Kaufman, who will take on Patrick Waller of Belleville Althoff in the first round. The Hilltoppers' Charlie Vogel takes on Julian Kistinfeger of Chatham-Glenwood.
"This is the first time in the four years North has been around that we've qualified players in boys tennis, and both Bryant and Nate and excited, and so is the school and its students," said Grayslake North coach Jill Tomasello.
Doubles locals: Seeded 9-16: Kenta Shimizu-Ryan Kreis (Fremd, 28-4); Seeded 17-32: Jim Deroche-Joe Gasior (Barrington, 23-9), Nikola Trukov-Paul Schlais (Warren, 26-10), Jon Kiefer-Sam Pope (Prospect, 22-10), Chris and Geoff Butler (Carmel, 24-7); Others: Taylor Blaney-Dean Tanglis (St. Viator, 17-10), Connor Brownell-Ben Nuckles (Barrington, 28-8), Noah Mandell-Eric Seiler (Warren, 22-12), Brett Sacks-Takuma Ito (Conant). Larkin's Selwyn Hansana-Eddie Senesombath face Nick Fleming-Michael Sullivan of O'Fallon in the first round.
Team watch: Hinsdale Central goes for its fourth consecutive team title, and first following Jay Kramer's 16th and final crown after the legendary coach retired last season after his 51 seasons. With so much parity in and around the state, only a few have a chance to challenge the Red Devils when Saturday rolls around, including New Trier and coach Tad Eckert. "There aren't as many teams which qualified all four teams into the state tournament, so it's hard to make a run at (Hinsdale) without a full complement of players out there getting points for you, both in the front draw, as well as the back draw," Eckert said. "We've got a lot to prove this year, and if we can have a strong first day of play, and win head-to-head matches, then we can be right there on Saturday.
Oak Park, with its two strong teams at doubles, and 9-16 seed Devin Jones and 17-32 seed Luke Trinka, has to be considered the landing spot for the third-place team trophy.
Each score from every match played on all three days, in addition to updated team standings, can be found at ihsa.org throughout the tournament.