Boys tennis: Wauconda's Hackman keeps it going, rolls to sectional victory
Whether he can match what his twin sister accomplished last fall remains to be seen, but Wauconda senior Brian Hackman keeps winning tennis matches.
Hackman improved to 19-0 by capturing the singles championship in the Class 1A Carmel Catholic sectional on Saturday.
"I started playing tennis when I was about 7 or 8," Hackman said. "My grandparents got me started when they were close to retirement. I was super competitive growing up so I played every sport growing up."
Hackman was rarely challenged all the way to the finals. He beat North Shore Country Day sophomore Evan Fedin 6-2, 6-3 in the final. The state tournament is next for Hackman.
"He had a shoulder injury last year as junior," Wauconda coach Ryan Whitfield said of his three-time state qualifier. "He's feeling better and ready to go."
Sarah Hackman finished second in the Class 1A state tournament last fall. The Hackman twins will play tennis next year for Hillsdale College in Michigan.
How good is Sarah's twin?
"His knowledge of tennis is great," Whitfield said. "He can transfer from defense to offense so quickly. When he's clicking, there is no stopping him."
Wauconda's Dev Patel took third in singles to secure a state berth as well.
In a riveting doubles match, Prairie Ridge's Daniel Lamar/Patrick Nasta outlasted Vernon Hills' senior duo of Nikhil Mangtani/Matt Nguyen for the title. Vernon Hills also qualified its doubles team of Audrey Shor/Pravav Vaswani. Prairie Ridge's Devarsi Rawal/Ben Lingner beat Shor/Vaswani for third place.
"I've been playing only three years," said Vaswani, a sophomore. "I started watching tennis on TV. I thought I wanted to be like that. I like playing doubles because there is less running."
Vaswani was well aware going into the match with Prairie Ridge that winning would be a tough task.
"They are the No. 1 seed and we are the sixth seed," he said. "I think I bring energy to the team. I support this team."
Prairie Ridge (27 points) edged Vernon Hills (22) for the championship.
While Hackman plans to play college tennis, that might be the end of his competitive tennis play.
"I want to be a doctor," he said.