Boys tennis: St. Charles North claims Upstate Eight championship
Alex Gruber and Dillon Randazzo realized they had to change their strategy after dropping the first set Saturday morning of the second-doubles championship match in the Upstate Eight Conference River Division boys tennis tournament.
The St. Charles North players were quick learners.
Gruber and Randazzo rebounded in astonishing fashion, sweeping the final 12 games of their match against the top-seeded St. Charles East tandem of Nicholas Stellon and Zac Crane.
"Getting to the net and being aggressive at the net (is what turned the match around)," Gruber said. "That's when we shined, and it worked. The wind made it tough (to serve). We tried to stay positive."
Entering the conference tournament with a 6-point lead on both St. Charles East and Batavia as a result of its unblemished regular-season dual play, St. Charles North captured more than half of the contested titles in singles and doubles to win the combined championship with 75 points.
St. Charles East had 33 tournament points to the Bulldogs' 31 to break the tie with Batavia for runner-up status, 64-62.
Geneva was a distant fourth, followed by Streamwood, Elgin and Larkin.
"We had a lead going in and being able to win 4 of the (7) divisions is a testament to the kids and how they played this weekend," North coach Sean Masoncup said after his squad defended its league title at the two St. Charles high schools.
"It was a great way to win the regular season."
In the doubles competition at St. Charles North, the North Stars' Joe Mascha and Ajay Gustafson captured the third division over St. Charles East partners Kevin Cook and Josh Gadow.
St. Charles East hosted the singles competition at the two-day tournament, and the North Stars' Matt Ernst became a four-time conference champion with straight-sets triumph at second singles.
Holden Gilkey was the most improbable of the St. Charles North champions.
"He never even picked up a tennis racket until this year," Masoncup said after Gilkey won at No. 3 singles. "He was a baseball player."
Chris Veltcamp won the only title for one of the Elgin-area programs.
The top seed for Streamwood in the championship singles bracket, Veltcamp dispatched all comers in straight sets to win the No. 1 singles title.
St. Charles East and Batavia had one doubles team each account for the final pair of conference titlists.
The Saints' Charles Downing and Kevin Schreiner ground down the Batavia duo of Andrew Nelson and Emerson Hinzy to win first doubles.
"They got up on an early break in the first set," St. Charles East coach Rob Livermore said of his No. 1 tandem. "In the second set they just kind of took over. They were real determined to make it a 2-set match."
Batavia partners Robert Carr and Peter Novak secured the final title at No. 4 doubles.
"They mixed it up to keep (the North Stars' Calvin Murata and Matt McArthur) off-balance," Batavia coach Brad Nelson said.