Glenwood doubles duo Arshad, Patel advance to state tennis quarters
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Chatham Glenwood is the last area team standing.
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The Titans racked up 11 points, and their top doubles team of Talha Arshad and Aarav Patel advanced to the quarterfinals of the championship draw after the first day of play at the Illinois High School Association Class 1A Boys State Tennis Finals in the Chicago suburbs.
Arshad and Patel, a 5-8 seed, won their first three matches and the duo will play No. 2 seed Ryan Chernawsky and Blake Drexler of Deerfield in the quarterfinals at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 29 at Arlington Heights Hersey.
Arshad and Patel defeated Cary Grove’s Finnegan Karlovsky and Halen Young 6-3, 6-2 in the first round before dropping Marion’s Daily Sievers and Cooper Whiting 6-0, 6-1 in Round 2. The Titans tandem needed three sets in the third round to get by 9-16 seed Kyle Fan and Jameson LaFave of Urbana University 6-2, 6-7 (5), 7-6 (4) to advance.
Arshad and Patel, the Central State Eight Conference and Jacksonville Sectional doubles champs, helped Glenwood win the sectional on May 25.
Glenwood senior Ben Loeffler advanced to Day 2 in the singles draw.
Loeffler faced two familiar foes on the first day when he defeated Normal U-High's Ian Shin 3-6, 6-4, (10-5) in a third-set tiebreak in the first round. Loeffler lost to 9-16 seed Samay Patel of Grayslake Central 6-4, 6-2 in Round 2 before running into CS8 rival Kaden Smith of Sacred Heart-Griffin and earning a 6-1, 6-1 win in the consolation round.
Loeffler won his third-round consolation match by beating Metamora’s Matthew Poole 6-1, 6-2. Loeffler will face Gino Ventura of Lake Forest in the consolation’s fourth round at Wheeling on Friday.
Glenwood senior Connor Pollitt went 0-2 and finished his season with an 18-12 record. Pollitt lost to 9-16 seed Tyler Batt of Johnsburg 6-2, 6-2 in the first round and Carbondale’s Kai Manzano beat Pollitt 6-1, 6-1 in consolation play.
Glenwood’s second doubles team of Nikash Madanagopal and Yazan Said won a consolation match before bowing out with a 6-3, 7-5 loss to Declan Wagner and Frank Schuler of Joliet Catholic 6-3, 7-5 in the consolation’s second round.
Madanagopal reached state with junior Tripp Tomko, but Tomko fell ill and was replaced by Said. Madanagopal and Said opened the tournament with a 6-1, 6-0 loss to 3-4 seed Nick Schweitzer and Owen Kuehnle of Lake Forest. They replied by beating Troy Triad’s JD Dewitte and Cameron Holley 7-5, 6-2.
Glenwood is tied for sixth place with three other teams in the standings. Chicago Latin and Deerfield are tied for first place with 22 points apiece.
Misfortune ends Springfield High’s tourney
Coming into the state finals, the Senators had the sectional doubles champs in tow to make a run.
But unfortunately for Springfield, freshman Shrihan Aleti fractured a finger at the Mount Zion Sectionals and according to coach Jarod Ingebrigtsen, played through the sectional in believing it was jammed. He found out later that it was fractured and had surgery on Saturday, May 23. He was replaced by junior Ian Delcomyn.
Sophomore Jai Khurana and Aleti had compiled a 21-3 record before state, but Khurana and Delcomyn managed to finish 1-2 after posting a 7-6 (9), 6-2 win over Tommy Kacedan and Joey Los of Wheaton St. Francis in the first round of the consolation bracket.
Khurana and Delcomyn dropped to the consolation round after falling to unseeded Rory Senese and Matt Jones of Crystal Lake Prairie Ridge 6-2, 7-6 (2) in the opening round of the championship bracket. The Senators pair was ousted in the consolation’s second round, losing to Troy Triad’s Owen Litteken and Jackson Naylor 7-6 (4), 6-2.
Springfield sophomore Bennett Nelson went 1-2 in singles and ended his season with a 20-16 record. Nelson started with a 6-1, 6-0 loss to No. 2 seed Kiyan Alsikafi of Chicago Latin. Nelson rebounded and defeated Caleb Mortensen of Rochelle 6-0, 6-2 in consolation play. His 6-3, 6-4 loss to Bloomington’s Phillip Haning wrapped up his tournament.
Cyclones fall short of advancing
Sacred Heart-Griffin, which tied Springfield High for the sectional championship at Mount Zion, sent four players to state and finished with two wins.
Adam Wheeling, the sectional singles champion, dropped his first match to unseeded Brady Kneller of Rockford Christian 6-0, 6-0. Wheeling responded in the consolation round with a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Lake Forest’s Andrew Harris. His tournament concluded by losing to Manzano 6-1, 6-1 to finish 27-9.
Kaden Smith, making his first trip to state, won a consolation match by beating Carbondale’s Henry Thomas 6-0, 6-1. Smith lost his first match to 9-16 seed Cyrus Darki of Chicago St. Ignatius College Prep 6-1, 6-2. Smith’s tournament ended in his loss to Glenwood’s Loeffler and finished the season 20-11.
SHG’s doubles team of Joseph Bertaina and Charlie Unal lost both of their matches. Bertaina and Unal started with a 6-3, 6-3 defeat to Easton Schuld and Sam Eich of Sycamore in the first round. The Cyclones then lost to Tyler Dodson and Jonah Garlick of Herrin 6-1, 6-4 in the consolation bracket to finish the season 12-7.
Crimsons knocked out
With singles player Cole Nebel and the doubles team of Colin Knollhoff and Tristin Northrup, Jacksonville failed to win a match and were eliminated.
The unseeded Nebel, who placed third at the Jacksonville Sectional, lost to 3-5 seed Hunter Madigan of Champaign St. Thomas More 6-0, 6-0 in the first round. Nebel then lost his first-round consolation match to Metamora’s Matthew Poole 6-3, 6-0. He ends the season with a 28-12 record.
Knollhoff and Northrup had the task of facing the No. 1 seeded team of Michael Cho and Elliott Kastin of Deerfield in the first round and was beaten 6-0, 6-0. The Jacksonville duo ended the tournament with a 6-4, 6-3 loss to Ottawa’s Kaden Araujo and Ayden Sexton in the consolation’s first round. Knollhoff and Northrup finished 13-11.
Contact Trevor Lawrence: 788-1548, [email protected].
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Glenwood duo Arshad, Patel advance to state tennis quarterfinals