Scouting Cook and Lake boys tennis

Hinsdale Central, New Trier and Barrington took the top three spots at last year's Class 2A boys tennis state tournament while Benet was second to Latin at the Class 1A tournament.

Here's a look at some players and teams to watch this spring.

ANTIOCH

The Seqouits return senior Kiernan Thompson and juniors Anton Auguston, Ben Thomson and Sam Bowles.

Antioch, a Class 1A team, seeks a solid season in 2023.

"The Northern Lake County is tough conference," said coach Jamie DAndrea. "We want to finish in the top half of the conference and be competitive in the sectionals."

BARRINGTON

The Broncos certainly have the talent to navigate through the rugged Mid-Suburban League and make a run at a Class 2A state title.

Third in the state a year ago, Barrington returns 4 state qualifiers which include seniors Deven Carse (fourth singles), Gabe Mills (seventh doubles) and Sahill Mittal along with sophomore Shiv Sastry.

Other returners include junior Nolan Peterson and sophomore Aarav Namblar.

Hoping to break into the lineup are newcomers Avar Anand (sophomore) and freshmen Hadi Doassani and Shian Mittel.

"We hope to win the MSL title again," said Barrington coach John Roncone. "The MSL is a great conference. We hope to compete with teams like Fremd and Hersey. We want to finish in the top 10 in the state."

CARMEL

The Corsairs return seniors CJ Axente and Nate Starzek for coach Gina Borkowski's troops.

Carmel hopes to make some noise in the Class 1A postseason.

CONANT

Coach Matthew Marks' team returns seniors Vivek Sharma, Sakshan Gupta, Rady Kolev and Srish Vijay along with junior Kiril Anastov.

Junior Koko Anastasov is a newcomer for the Cougars.

FREMD

The Vikings should challenge Barrington for the MSL title and should be in the hunt for a Class 2A state title.

Coach Johnny Kent returns 4 state qualifiers and 4 others with experience from last season's fourth place in the state.

Junior Andrew Spurck placed third in the state in singles. Sophomore Shashwat Srivatsa finished in the top 16 in singles.

The doubles team of senior Jason Size and junior Amaye Shyani placed in the top 12.

Others with experience include senior Steve Veremis, junior Ansh Agqarawl and sophomore Ved Mistry. Newcomers looking to break into the lineup are juniors Liam Vance, Ethan Rybka and Levyn Mathew, sophomores Vedanth Srihari, Jason Pli, Pat Size and Jacek Kawczynski, and freshman Stanley Zeng.

GRANT

The Bulldogs return seniors Jake Siong, Jacob Foote and David Hernandez along with sophomore Kiatouskaysay.

"We want to have fun and develop players," said Grant coach Max Boton.

GRAYSLAKE CENTRAL

The Rams have a wealth experience back with seniors Aashay Patel, Matt Heuple, Pralay Ray, Ty Dia, Marcus Hansis, Vlad Miziak, Aiden Figueora, Connor Murphy, Mark Hornung and Charlie Mottola along with junior Will Surowiec.

Sophomore Anthony Shultis and freshman Sammy Soon are newcomers hoping to make a contribution to the program.

GRAYSLAKE NORTH

Senior state qualifier Varun Gullapalli is the top player back for the Knights.

Others returning are seniors Dan Bachinger, Gus Calhoun and Graham Gatewood along with juniors Vinny Marino and Ben Woyat.

Coach Kate Cole welcomes to the program senior Aiden McCaslen, juniors Lucas Adams and Anirudah Chinthagunta, sophomore Paul Chadick and freshman Aiden Munday.

Sophomore Anthony Shults and freshman Sammy Soon seek playing time for the Rams.

"We hope to qualify a singles and a double team for the state meet (Class 1A)," said Grayslake North coach Charles Lawson.

HOFFMAN ESTATES

The Hawks return senior Dhruv Chaudharij along with juniors Yash Dave, Khil Mallajosyula and Ohm Patel.

Newcomers include sophomore Vincent Klugstedt and freshman Svar Pandya.

"We want to develop depth," said Hawks coach Kenneth Harris. "I expect some of our experience to step up and show more leadership."

LAKES

The Eagles return 9 players from last season. They include senior Kevin Cellucci, juniors Eric Bendall, Drew Chamerink and Kyle Knodell, sophomores Nathan Popov, Jake Maloney and Nathan Sanabria, and freshman Cal Bradley.

"We have high hopes," said Lakes coach Bryan Plinske. "We have a solid core. It is an exciting team. They are very passionate about the sport."

LIBERTYVILLE

Returners for the Wildcats are seniors Josh Dobrin, Jonah Roberts and Andrew Cali, junior Grant Angelbeck and sophomore Jack Gerber. New to the program are sophomores David Taranowski, Carson Leighton and Eric Li along with freshman Chethan Nickerson.

MAINE WEST

The Warriors, coached by John Hauenstein in his 23rd year, are led by seniors Keegan Fleckenstein and Jeff Ittichera along with juniors Thomas Noonan and sophomore Pedro Fernandez.

Juniors Robert Koziol and Aaron Grata are new to the program.

MAINE SOUTH

Coach Jerry Smith returns seniors Anthony DiSimone, Jack Hartung and Nikita Stayanov along with junior Anthony Benbenek, Brandon Griffin, Giona Maccaferri, Oliver Marsalek and sophomore Walter Szulczewski.

Newcomers are Dexter Kelleher, Michael Simmons, Elliott Natura and sophomore Michael Simmons.

MUNDELEIN

Four-year varsity performer Brandon Hinkle is back for the Mustangs. Others back are seniors Logan Green and Caleb Beversdorf and juniors Kurt Dambaluskas, Aedan Cruz, Mike Berman, Brandon Kobsick, Alex Hucko and Emmaunel Bahena.

Newcomers include seniors Matt Franzen, Cade McGlothin and Henry Hogan along with juniors Enrique Gonzalez, James Bullington, Animesh Bijawat, Ein Gowan and Rohan Thakker and freshman Spencer Sauer.

Coach Greg Cohen realizes how tough the North Suburban Conference will be.

"We hope to improve on our sixth place finish in the conference," said Cohen. "Lake Forest and Stevenson are the top teams. Warren and Libertyville are very good. We want to improve the program. We work hard in the summer and those results show. We want to enjoy the effort."

PALATINE

The Pirates hope to challenge in the MSL.

Coach Jim Lange's troops are spearheaded by seniors Kyle Burgowski, Puneet Viraj and Ravi Shah along with junior Pablo Castro. Newcomers include senior Bill Shouts, juniors Martin Marimov, Nate Royer and freshman Ishaan Mishra.

"We hope to compete in the loaded MSL," said Lange. "Barrington is the favorite. Fremd and Hersey should challenge. There is fierce competition in the MSL. The MSL will be well represented at the state meet."

PROSPECT

The Knights return junior state qualifier Dimitry Hutnyk and sophomore state qualifier Dave Motorga. Others with experience are seniors Sammy Hong, Sam Panagopoulos, Will Gorstein and Jacob Popowski, juniors Andrew Grave, Allen Chennoth and Mike Kuczin and sophomore Dave Motorga.

"We are hopeful for the season," said coach Brad Rathe. "Our strength is our depth. We have a tough schedule. It is going to be tough to stick with Hersey, Barrington and Fremd (MSL)."

ST. VIATOR

The Lions return Mike McManaman, Andrew McKenna, Colin Kochera, Robby Wallen and Colton Schwabe.

Newcomers are freshman Chad Carlson, JP Wong and Nick Jacob.

"We want to do well in the conference (East Suburban) and qualify some for the state (Class 1A) meet," said coach Mary Louise Blaney. "We have a strong core."

STEVENSON

The Patriots return three players who qualified for the Class 2A state meet: seniors Ashy Madhushkar, Ervin Perkowski and Gautham Kappaganthuh.

Other returnees are Alex Jang, Dustin Zhoo, Tejas Sheth and Johnathan Wang while the Patriots welcome Ian Williams, Jaden Dai, Vrishan Kanari, Nathan Ma, Richard Xu and Akshay Maram.

"We are looking to place first in the NSC," said coach Izriz Balese. "We want to win conference and qualify for state in all positions. We want to finish as a team in the top three."

VERNON HILLS

The Cougars finished fourth in Class 1A the last seasons. Coach Doug Gerber is hoping for a little higher finish in 2023.

Sophomores who qualified for the state meet as freshman are Rohit Dashaputa, Dan Shchebalev and Aarush Vora.

Others back are seniors Rudra Kukian and Milan Raval.

Newcomers are senior Vivian Vaswani, junior Nick Dinh and sophomores Julian Dietz, Rodrigo Bautista and Ben Castle and freshmen Abdulah Kamal and Roman Stukow.

"We return a plethora of young talent and we want to make another run," said Gerber.

WARREN

With eight seniors, a junior and a talented sophomore, the Blue Devils have an experienced squad for the 2023 season.

Back for Warren are seniors Evan Wong, Anjuh Shah, Yash Sharma, Sam Bogot, Harry Lester, Mahil Ramash. Sojiv Kondu and Ansh Shah along with junior Brandon Passch and sophomore Archit Prakash.

Seeking playing time are senior Ben Isaac and juniors Ryan Vargas and Tegas Suresh.

The Blue Devils compete in the rugged North Suburban Conference.

"Lake Forest and Stevenson are the class of the conference and Libertyville is tough," said Warren coach Mike Edler.

Edler believes his team has the talent to enjoy a good season.

"This group worked hard in the off-season," said Edler. "They worked hard and measured up with quality teams. We want to do well in weekend tournaments and qualify for state for a position or two."

WAUCONDA

The Bulldogs return seniors Ryan Osborn, Jacob Kleimer, Ethan Carr, Evan Guffey and Brian Katorski. Also back are juniors Tyler Dobson, Peyton Helm, Jack Lonigro-Carver and sophomores Sean Lenhart and Marshawn Gallejo.

Junior Hayato Naylor and freshman Abbas Hussian are newcomers.

"The senior class is a special and competitive class," said coach Ben Volheimr. "We want to win conference and sectional."