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Sports
Five area tennis players bound for state courts : Sports : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisFive area tennis players bound for state courts
| Wolves advance in singles, doubles for first time in school history, Panthers continue tradition
| by Kristin Sharp
| 5/24/2012
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Last Saturday's Plainfield Central Sectional was a historic day for the boys' tennis programs at both Oswego East and Oswego high schools.
The Wolves qualified for the state tournament for the first time in school history, sending both a singles player and a double steam - while the Panthers make their 21st consecutive appearance after one doubles team advances.
Neuqua Valley easily won the sectional with 36 points, sending both singles players and its two doubles teams into the state tournament. Oswego East finished in a tie for second place with Plainfield North with 14 points while Oswego and Plainfield South tied for fourth with 13 points.
"I'm so happy for Scott (Gengler) and they were excited when they qualified. It's vey exciting for their school," said Oswego head coach Linda Keely, who will retire at the end of the school year. "This is my 21st (state tournament) in a row. I'm going to miss it so much."
Oswego East junior Blaine Hrovat (16-5) placed fourth in the singles bracket to reach the state finals, which begin today, Thursday, at various sites in District 211, 214 and 220 in the northwest suburbs.
Hrovat opened the bracket with a 6-0, 6-0 sweep over Oswego junior David Mateyka, who won his first-round match to advance to the second round. The Oswego East singles player then defeated Plainfield South 6-3, 6-2 to set up a semifinal match against Neuqua Valley senior Mike Baiocchi.
Baiocchi won 6-2, 6-4 and went on to win the sectional championship while Hrovat ended the day with a 0-6, 1-6 loss to Plainfield South sophomore Austin Russell in the finals.
"He's been on the doorsteps of qualifying for state the last few years," Gengler said. "He's really excited to go down there and get a taste of the state tournament for the first time. I thought he played really well against Baiocchi; some of the best tennis he's played all year. He just came up short. I think he's really excited to get down there and see what our state offers as far as competition."
Hrovat will begin play at Hoffman Estates against Lyons freshman Alex Ross in the opening round of the state tournament. Ross earned a top 32 seed in the state finals.
Meanwhile in doubles play last weekend, Oswego East senior Dan Milenkovic and junior Austin Hwang placed fourth behind Oswego senior Austin McWethy and sophomore Jason Koesler in the finals.
McWethy and Koesler opened with a 6-0, 6-1 win over Plainfield East and defeated Plainfield North 6-2, 6-4 before falling to Neuqua Valley's No. 2 doubles team in the semifinals 6-3, 2-6, 3-6.
"We had Neuqua where we wanted them and won the first set. We were in control of the match, but in the second set we went down 2-1, they broke our serve and then we started to get upset with ourselves," Keely said. "That's something we've worked on all season is maintaining our intensity. That hurt us, obviously, but we played well. Neuqua is a good team."
Meanwhile, Milenkovic and Hwang (16-4) defeated Plainfield Central 6-3, 6-3 and won 6-4, 6-4 over Plainfield North before falling to Neuqua Valley's No. 1 doubles team in the semifinals.
"They struggled with the Plainfield Central team which they beat earlier in the year and they played Plainfield North, which is a very solid team they've played three times this year," Gengler said. "I thought Plainfield North was a really dangerous doubles team and as a team we showed heart. It's hard to win three times. They showed a lot of poise."
The semifinal losses set up a match between Oswego and Oswego East in the third-place finals. McWethy and Koesler won 6-4, 6-0.
Milenkovic and Hwang will play at Buffalo Grove today, Thursday, against Hinsdale Central freshman Michael Lorenzini and sophomore Chase Hamilton, who are seeded in top eight in the state tournament after winning the Lyons Sectional.
McWethy and Koesler will begin play at Palatine High School against Morgan Park Academy senior Suvrat Chandra and junior Nik Ranieri.
"You never know what can happen at the state tournament," Gengler said. "They just look forward to getting to that state meet and competing."
In other sectional matches, Oswego East senior Andrew Barron defeated Oswego sophomore Hudson Cross in singles play, but Barron lost in the second round to Yorkville's Jon Moment. Oswego East senior Ali Adnan and junior Matt Denor lost their opening match to Plainfield North, 6-0, 6-4.
For Oswego, senior Dan Nagel and junior Andrew Laning won their opening round, but were eliminated in the second round. Cross was eliminated by Barron, and Mateyka was eliminated from the bracket by Hrovat.
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