BELLEVILLE – Edwardsville’s boys tennis team is sending a doubles team and one singles player to next weekend’s IHSA Class 2A Boys Tennis Championship tournament at Arlington Heights Hersey and schools throughout the area of the Chicago suburb.
Zach Trimpe, who teamed with Alex Gray to win last year’s state doubles title, advanced to the state tournament in singles by reaching the semifinals of the rain-delayed Belleville East Sectional Saturday; Gray, who is defending his state doubles title, teamed with Seth Lipe to also reach the state tournament as they reached the semifinals; the top four doubles teams and singles players move into the state tournament. The semifinals, third-place match and final will be played at East on Monday.
Edwardsville has a two-point lead on the host Lancers through Saturday’s play; the Tigers have 20 points to the Lancers’ 18. O’Fallon and Springfield are tied for third with 14 points each, followed by Quincy (10), Belleville West (8), Danville (6), Alton (4), Collinsville (2) and Granite City (0).
Following a first-round bye, Trimpe defeated Jaren Hotsinpillar of Danville 6-0, 6-0 in the second round and reached Arlington Heights with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Springfield’s Erik Martin in the quarterfinals; Drake Schreiber, the Tigers’ other singles entry, also had a first-round bye before eliminating the Senators’ Zeke Cross 6-1, 6-1 before Schreiber was eliminated by O’Fallon’s Dominic Macaluso 6-1, 6-0 in the quarterfinal.
Lipe/Gray had a first-round doubles bye before they advanced with a 6-0, 6-1 win over the Lancers’ Cory Erickson/Brayden Mizzell; the pair then reached a berth in Arlington Heights with a 6-0, 6-0 win over Sam Schmitz/Tyler Kinnikin of Belleville West in the quarterfinal. EHS’ other doubles team of Jason Pan/Logan Pursell had a first-round bye before they defeated Tony Scaturro/Ricky Coca of Collinsville 6-0, 6-0 in the second round, then were eliminated by the Lancers’ Carter Baldus/Cam Cagas 6-1, 2-6, 7-5 in the quarters.
Tigers’ head tennis coach Dave Lipe said he was proud of the efforts of all his boys in the sectional. He said winning the sectional championship is more of a secondary thought at this time of year compared to qualifying kids for state.
The doubles team of Jason Pan and Logan Purcell lost a difficult doubles match, which was hard to swallow because both are seniors.
“Jason Pan and Logan Pursell lost a very close match,” Lipe said. “They played two really great players; their coach said it was too bad somebody had to lose that one and I concur. Our kids played their hearts out. I also congratulate Drake Schrieber on a great season. He has been a really key component to our high finishes in tournaments and dual meets. Zack Trimpe played really well on Saturday. Seth (Lipe) and Alex (Gray) also played well. Those three kids feel they have a ways to go and they are all about playing their best at this point. These guys will do what they can to keep grinding and earn points for the team at state.”
Redbirds, Warriors also play at Belleville East
For the Redbirds, Ben Simansky was ousted in the first round of singles by O’Fallon’s Evan Potter 6-0, 6-0, while Walker Moan had a first-round bye before falling to Quincy’s Caleb Vonderheide 6-0, 6-1 in the second round; the AHS doubles team of Jared Engleman/Alex Bierman received a first-round bye before being ousted from the tournament 6-1, 6-0 by West’s Schmitz/Kinnikin while Carson Freeman/Sam Kane had a bye in the first round before they advanced with a 7-6, 6-2 win over Danville’s Caleb Stout/Sam Norton before they were eliminated by Springfield’s Raj Sinha/Shaul Latif 6-0, 6-0 in the quarterfinal.
Granite City’s Aaron Dawes was eliminated in the first round of singles by Joey Calhoun of Belleville West by default and Owen Cole was defeated by Springfield’s Zeke Cross in the first round; in doubles play, Joseph Moslander/Ryan Mihu were defeated in the first round by Quincy’s Greysen Arns/Blake Hayden 6-1, 6-0 and Noah Cain/Isaiah Mizell were eliminated by Collinsville’s Scatturo/Coca 6-1, 6-3.
