Boys tennis: Jacobs' Panchapakesan, Streamwood's Veltkamp stay alive at state

Kailash Panchapakesan was this close to grabbing the headlines on the first day of the state tennis tournament on Thursday.

The four-time state qualifier extended Brandon Ancona (Rockford Christian) to three sets in Palatine, only to have the No. 2 seed fight off the charge of the Jacobs senior to advance into Friday's round of 16.

"I came in with that nothing-to-lose attitude in order to keep my expectations under control, but after coming back to force that third set, I felt that anything was possible from that point forward, but he had the better of it in that third set and deserved to move on," said the classy Jacobs star, who will face Streamwood's Christopher Veltkamp (26-2) Friday morning at the Wheeling High School venue.

With the possibility of stormy weather on the way, tournament officials have moved the start time for both the front draw, and consolation brackets to 8 a.m. Friday with the hope of getting in two rounds before sorting out the schedule for the rest of the tournament should the rain stay around.

Panchapakesan (30-8) was one of a few near misses suffered in the Fox Valley area, including his teammates at doubles, Kendrick and Kerwin Chong (39-4) as well as St. Charles North, which each registered wins in their first two matches, only to fall short of staying in the championship bracket for another day.

The Chong brothers rolled past their first two opponents, before dropping a heartbreaker to another 17-32 seed, Metamora's Ryan Willard-Fletcher Koehrsen (32-4) in a long three-set (4-6, 6-2, 6-4) match.

"We weren't sure if we deserved a 17-32 seed, but we're both happy to have earned it and after a nervous first set, we came out and played so much differently in that second match and after that we were playing with nothing to lose," said the senior Kendrick.

Their teammate, Riley Rowan (35-9) would see his career come to an end after going 2-2 on the day during his third trip here.

Rowan, who dominated play at No. 2 singles all season long, dropped just 11 games in his 17 FVC matches.

Although unable to get by 9-16 seed Patrick McGuigan-Jack Carroll of Benet in their third round match, the St. Charles North team of Matt Ernst-Matt Kramer still drew high praise from coach Sean Masoncup after the duo helped keep the North Stars' state record intact.

"It's eight years in a row that we've played into the second day of the tournament, and it was something I didn't even have to mention to the guys beforehand - they knew it and they went after it," said Masoncup of his Ernst-Kramer team, who are now 16-4 heading into Friday.

Luke Dunteman-Trevor Kurtzman (23-8) are done for the North Stars, as are their rivals from St. Charles East, UIC- bound Alexander Winters (15-13) and Peter Clancy (18-8) at singles, as well as their teammates at doubles, Charlie Downing-Kevin Schreiner (19-6), who went 2-2 on the day in Palatine.

"They played Metamora well in their opener, but you could tell the experience they had here at state might have been the difference, but the guys really came back and played well after that loss, which isn't an easy thing to do, and won their next two which I am very proud of," said Saints head coach Robert Livermore.

The Batavia duo of Andrew Nelson-Emerson Hinzy looked to be on their way to the round of 16 after a 6-3 first set victory over Lyons Township's Tanner Burke-Pat Caruso but it was rough sailing afterward with LT taking the next two to claim their spot in the round of 16.

"Our M.O. this year at weekend tournaments is to start slow with first set losses before we came alive after that but not today," said Bulldogs head coach Brad Nelson, who then watched his team be eliminated at the hands of Waubonsie Valley.

The Bartlett team of Brandon Pepa-Justin Hooves (15-4) finished 1-2 in their first state appearance.

"Those two have been just amazing all year for us and we're going to miss them next year for sure," said Hawks head coach, Colleen Brandner.

Pepa will attend Harper Junior College for two years before transferring to the University of Illinois to major in mechanical engineering, while his partner Hooves will be at Elgin Community College in the fall.

Veltkamp remains alive, after the Sabres' star went 3-1 on the day, with his lone defeat coming at the hands of 3-4 seed Brett Meyers of Neuqua Valley in the second round.

"Brett is such a solid, all-around player, and he obviously gave me trouble, which I expected, but I still felt comfortable in my other matches so we'll see how it goes the rest of the way," said Veltkamp, who won 28 last year, including two here on his first day.

Marmion Academy senior John King went 2-2 in his fourth and last state tournament, while Aurora Christian star and sectional champ Dawson Polling was eliminated after his 2-2 day.

"I was ready for the heat today - our sectional was really hot also and I felt good in my first match, but my second round opponent (9-16 seed Lucas Horve of Decatur Lutheran) was very good, and that just happens sometimes," said Polling.

Nicholas Welker (Burlington Central), Nick Thome (Crystal Lake South) and Raj Patel (South Elgin) each were 1-2 on this first day.