Boys tennis: Barrington first, Jacobs second at Huntley sectional
Total domination.
Placing first and second in both singles and doubles action, Barrington easily claimed the Class 2A Huntley boys tennis sectional championship Saturday with 36 points.
Jacobs was second with 21 points.
The top four finishers in both singles and doubles advance to the state meet beginning Thursday in Arlington Heights.
In singles play, Barrington's Bradley Yu defeated his Bronco teammate Ammar Wazir in the title match 6-2, 6-4 while the Broncos' duo of Kyle Er-Matt D'amore knocked off teammates Pranov Gadiraju-Aryan Sharma 6-3-6-0 to win the doubles title.
"It was a great day for our team," said Barrington coach John Roncone. "I am thrilled to win the sectional and very happy for the boys. We are looking forward to the state tournament. Both Bradley and Ammar played well in singles and our doubles teams played very well together. We were very consistent with our volleys and serves."
The highlight for runner-up Jacobs was Kyle Burton's third place finish in singles play.
Burton, who is making his fourth trip to the state finals, defeated Golden Eagle teammate Thomas Nelson 6-3, 6-3.
"I am really proud of Kyle qualifying for state for a fourth straight year," said Jacobs coach Jon Betts. "He had a really tough draw and played very well to qualify again for the state meet. Overall, Barrington had a really strong team. I am really proud of the way the boys played. It is nice to get both Thomas and Kyle to qualify for the state meet."
In the third place doubles match, Cary-Grove's Thomas Conneen-Daniel Sowa outlasted Hampshire's Blake Snider-John McCann 3-6, 6-3, 6-0. It is Sowa's second trip to the state meet while Conneen, who graduated earlier in the day, will make his first trek to the state meet.
"It took a while for us to get in the groove," said Conneen. "We didn't play well in the first game and missed a lot of serves. One of my goals was to make it to state this year as a senior. I am very excited."
Sowa is happy to advance to the state meet for a second straight year.
"I am excited for Thomas because he is a senior and has never made it to state," said Sowa. "We tried to stay positive after the first game and we did a better job of getting our first serves in in the second and third games. Our slice serve was really working. It never gets old qualifying for the state meet. I am very excited."
Cary-Grove was third behind Jacobs with 13 points.
Huntley, fourth with 10 points, failed to qualify anyone for the state meet.
In singles play, Burton defeated Huntley's Saarav Desai in the quarterfinals 6-4, 6-7, 6-3.
In doubles action, the Red Raiders' doubles duo of Julian Collins-Jack Adams were defeated by Conneen-Sowa 6-3, 4-6, 6-2.
"We were so close to getting a singles player and a doubles team qualified," said Huntley coach Barry Wells. "We had a couple of tough 3-set losses."