The singles championship at the Class 2A Cary-Grove Boys Tennis Sectional on Saturday looked a bit like one of Jacobs’ practices.
The Golden Eagles’ top two players, No. 1 Thomas Nelson and No. 2 Kyle McNally, met for the title. McNally came away with a 6-3, 6-0 victory over Nelson.
Jacobs won the team title with 27 points, Huntley was second with 17 points. Jacobs’ doubles teams of Justin Cunningham and John Kaiser, and Jed Sia and Justin Brzeski also will advance with Nelson and McNally.
Huntley’s Saarav Desai took third over Crystal Lake Central’s Logan Waslik, 7-5, 7-5. Both of them will advance in singles play.
Huntley’s doubles teams of Andrew Burkey and Thomas Patel, and Matt Grubbs and Stanley Kurtek also qualified for state.
Cunningham and Kaiser defeated Burkey and Patel, 6-1, 6-1, in the championship doubles match. Sia and Brzeski beat Grubbs and Kurtek, 6-3, 6-2, for third place.
Nelson, a junior, and McNally, a sophomore, often hit against each other in practice. Nelson won the Fox Valley Conference Tournament No. 1 singles title last week. McNally won at No. 2 singles.
“It’s kind of tough playing against a teammate in the finals,” McNally said. “I just had to be ready and focus on me. We practice against each other and know each other’s game better than anyone else. We’ve had a lot of competitive matches this season, it was nice to get one against each other.”
Nelson was battling a sinus infection during the week, but did not want to take away from his teammate’s match.
“Kyle played an amazing match, credit to him playing the way he did,” Nelson said. “I wish I could have given him a better match. All credit to him.”
The two have met three times as opponents in USTA events. Eagles coach Jon Betts thinks Nelson and McNally will fare well at the Class 2A State Tournament.
“I’m real excited. I love being given the opportunity to see how I match up against these top players,” McNally said.
Nelson hopes the Eagles can finish in the top 15 as a team with four entries in the state tournament.
“I just hope I can get my game back elevated to where it needs to be,” Nelson said. “I hope I feel better. I’m pretty confident, I’m hoping for a good performance by our team sending six guys to state.”
Class 1A Crystal Lake South Sectional: Rockford Christian’s Finley Buelte defeated South’s Jackson Schuetzle, 6-2, 6-4, for the singles championship.
Prairie Ridge qualified one singles player, Saif Karim, and two doubles teams and won the team title with 19 points. Rockford Christian was second with 14.
Prairie Ridge’s Samuel Kim and Nathan Kim defeated Rockford Christian’s Chatham McIlroy and Trevor Beale, 6-2, 6-0, in the doubles championship. The Wolves’ Nick Haisler and Brad Haisler lost to Freeport’s Caden Geiser and Owen Helm, 6-2, 6-7, 6-2, in the third-place match.
Schuetzle lauded the efforts of Buelte in the finals.
“He was a really consistent player,” Schuetzle said. “It was tough. I didn’t play very well today. I tried to go with what I have. My second set was a lot better. I did a good job of problem-solving and [Buelte] played some really good tennis.”
Schuetzle looks forward to the state tournament this week.
“I’m really trying to stay away from results-based goals,” he said. “I just want to stay focused on my match and play good tennis. That’s really my focus, get into my groove and my game.”
Class 1A Lakes Sectional: At Lake Villa, Woodstock’s Riley Ellegood and Brad Arnold won the doubles championship, beating Wauconda’s Dylan Brannick and Memphis Gallego, 7-6 (7-5), 4-6, 6-3.
GIRLS SOCCER
Elgin 2, Jacobs 0: At Elgin, the Golden Eagles were unable to score in the Class 3A regional championship loss.
The loss ended the season for Jacobs, while Elgin will advance to Tuesday’s sectional semifinal against Barrington.
Boylan Catholic 8, Woodstock North 3: At Rockford, the Thunder had their season come to an end in the Class 2A sectional quarterfinals at the hands of Boylan Catholic.
Addison Rishling scored two goals for Woodstock North in the loss, and Charlotte Noshay scored once.
Rishling extended her single-season scoring record to 34 goals to end the season.
Marian Central 4, Johnsburg 2: At Woodstock, four goals from Kelsi McThenia paved the way for the Hurricanes as they took down the Skyhawks in the Class 1A sectional quarterfinal matchup.
Gabriella Farraj assisted on three of McThenia’s goals, and Mattea Schmidt assisted on one.
Wynne Oeffling and McKenzie McQuiston scored a goal apiece in the loss for Johnsburg.
The Hurricanes will play Regina Dominican on Tuesday in Wilmette in a sectional semifinal.
BASEBALL
Alden-Hebron 12, Schaumburg Christian 2: At Hebron, Tyler Cunningham, Jesse Armbrust and Jake Nielsen each drove in two runs for the Giants (13-8) as they cruised past the Conquerors on Friday in their Class 1A regional game.
Parker Elswick picked up the win allowing two earned runs in four innings and striking out three.
Armbrust, Nielsen and Justin Gritmacker each had two hits. Gritmacker had a double and two stolen bases and scored twice. Ben Vole drove in a run.
A-H will meet North Shore Country Day at 4:30 p.m. Monday in Winnetka for a regional championship.
BOYS LACROSSE
Jacobs 17, Crystal Lake Central 3: At Algonquin, the Golden Eagles put together a solid offensive attack and cruised to a win over CL Central.
Luke Bertone scored five goals for Jacobs in the victory, Justin Gretz and Ayden Janchev scored four each, Brady Mollsen scored twice and Collin Gretz and Erik Tomson added one goal apiece.
Logan McCrea scored twice for the Tigers in the loss, and Ernest Metz scored once.
WRESTLING
Hampshire 54, Oregon 31: At Sycamore, the Whip-Purs picked up a strong win over Oregon in the first match of a triangular meet.
Matthew Muller, Nathan Larson, Dylan Mejdrich, Austin Seyller, Emanuel Montenegro and Patryk Parnas earned wins for the Whip-Purs in the victory.
Sycamore 52, Hampshire 31: At Sycamore, the Whip-Purs dropped the other match in their triangular to the host Spartans.
Muller, Palmer Larson and Nathan Larson notched victories in the loss for Hampshire.