New Trier Tennis Team Ranks 4th at State Meet

Hinsdale Central was nearly perfect in setting a state record Saturday at the Boys’ State Tennis Finals in Arlington Heights.

The Red Devils scored 59 out of a possible 60 points to win their 22nd title in the 98 years of state competition. Their score eclipsed the 56 points set by New Trier in 2002.

“This is the kind of thing that may not happen again,” said Hinsdale Central coach John Naisbitt, whose team won the state title last year.

“We have a ton of talent. And even with talent there is another piece. You have to perform on the big days and we did.”

Naisbitt’s squad did it in style with Martin Joyce winning the state singles’ title and Michael Lorenzini finishing third. Meanwhile, Eddie Grabill and Harold Martin topped fellow teammates and defending state champs Alex Hagermoser and Peter Henegen 6-4, 6-4 to win the state doubles title.

“That match was so difficult to watch,” Naisbitt said. “It was like having two of your kids battling. I congratulated the winners and consoled the losers. But the best thing was that our team was 1-2 in the event."   

Joyce, who lost last year in the semifinals, bounced Waubonsie Valley’s Eric Marbach 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 to win the state title.

“It feels great,” said Joyce, who is a sophomore. “It has really set in yet, but it was a really good feeling walking up to the net knowing that I won it.

I was pretty happy with my match. There were times I got a little frustrated, but I was able to work around it.”

Joyce was also glad to help lead they way to the state record.

“I don’t know if there ever will be as dominant of a team,” Joyce said. “It is a once in a lifetime thing.”

Earlier, Marbach defeated Lorenzini 2-6, 6-4, 7-6, winning the tiebraker 7-5. In that tiebraker, Lorenzini had a match point overturned by the officials. It was one of three controversial calls that went against Lorenzini during the tiebraker in the 3-1/2 hour match.

Lorenzini came back in the third place match to beat St. Charles East’s Jasper Koenen 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-1.

“This is very satisfying,” Lorenzini said. “The semifinal match was really brutal. It was great to come back and win third and help our team get the record.”

The battle for second place in the state almost was equally contested. Lake Forest led Stevenson by one point with that point up for grabs in the 5^th place singles match. Stevenson’s Jeremy Bush outlasted Peter Tarwid 7-5, 6-4, to not only capture 5^th place, but to move the Patriots into a tie for second in the state with each team scoring 36 points.       

“This was huge,” said Bush, who was mobbed by his teammates after the victory. “I am glad I was able to do it for the team. I played real well.”

Stevenson also got a big performance from doubles team Colin Harvey and Andrew Komarov. Fresh after the duo dropped a 3-set semifinal match to Grabill and Martin 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. Harvey and Komarov came back to claim third in the state by beating Jeremy Dixon and Graham Lehman of Oak Park 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-3.

“I am very satisfied,” Stevenson coach Tom Stanhope said. “This is a very close team. They work hard and they scrap for each other.

At the beginning of the year, we knew we had the talent to do it. The question was would we come together as a team? And they did.”

The Patriots doubles’ team Pawel Jaworski and Josh Lieberman lost in the consolation semi-finals while Benjamin Bush lost in the fourth round of the consolation bracket.

Lake Forest, which was third in the state last year, was able to move up a notch this year. Coach Corky Leighton was pleased with the performance by his Scouts.

“Second place is great,” Leighton said. “And I am not disappointed to share it. The kids played great tennis. There were a couple disappointing matches in this tournament. But they still played hard and they guys who beat them did real well. ”

John Zordani and Scott Christian, who lost to Harvey and Komarov on Friday 6-7 (4), 6-4, 6-4; rallied in the consolation bracket to claim 5^th place. The pair beat Christoph Goettler & Will Koehrsen of Metamora, 6-1, 7-6 (9).

The Scouts also got a strong performance from their other doubles team of Camron Bagheri and Connor O’Kelly, which finished in the top 16. Brice Polender also advanced to the 7^th round of the consolation bracket before bowing out.

New Trier, which was second in the state last year, finished 4^th this year with 29 points.

 “We are little disappointed that we are not coming home with a trophy,” New Trier coach Tad Eckert said. “But, if you looked at the seeds, that’s about where we should have finished up. I am really pleased with the new state performers.”

The Trevians doubles teams of Scott and Tom Bickel, who are both freshmen along with Chas Mayer and Drake Weyermuller each finished in the top 16.

Deerfield finished 5^th in the state for the second year in a row with a score this year of 21 points.

The Warriors Jake Kasbeer advanced to the consolation quarterfinals before losing to Jeremy Bush. Toby Ma advanced to the 4^th round before falling in the 7^th round of the consolation bracket.

“I am really happy I was able to advance to play at Hersey,” Kasbeer said. “That was a goal I had.”

Deerfield’s doubles team of Noah Rosenblatt and Harrison Crist finally were eliminated in the 5^th round of the consolations while George Vanderkloot and Andrew Pekin made it to the second round of the consolation bracket.

Glenbrook North finished tied for 22^nd with 9 points. The Spartans were led by Will Sauser who was eliminated in the 4^th round of consolations and the doubles team of David Zakhodin and Miguel Perez who were knocked out in the 6^th round of consolations.

Loyola also had 9 points with Anthony Arocho making it to the 6^th round of consolations and Patrick Rourke and Jake Sexton advancing to the 3^rd wound of consolations. Andrew Golota also competed in the singles but lost his first two matches.

Evanston finished tied for 29^th with 8 points. The Wildkits picked up all their points from Sam Wiener and Connor Woolf who lost in the consolation quarterfinals to Jaworski and Lieberman in 3 sets.

Glenbrook South was tied for 33^rd with 7 points. Will Lyon and Michael Baddeloo advanced to the 6^th round of the consolations while Ross Gan was eliminated in the second round of consolations.