Downers Grove coach recognized for string of success

DOWNERS GROVE — Despite the name of the award, Peter Freischlag finds plenty of others to share credit in his Coach of the Year award: the boys on the team, his athletic director, even his father-in-law.

But, the Downers Grove South High School tennis coach says modestly, that’s just how deep the Mustangs’ tennis program runs.

Last week, Freischlag, the boys and girls varsity coach at Downers Grove South, was recognized as 2012 Coach of the Year by the Illinois High School Tennis Coaches Association during its awards ceremony.

The award recognizes the Freischlag’s team’s accomplishments in competition, but also his work with state and national tennis associations and the team overcoming the challenge of a tornado that left South’s tennis courts unplayable last year.

“It’s really good for the school. It’s a really nice honor for the community,” Freischlag said in a phone interview last week. “It’s just representative of our parents and our kids.”

And those players have had a stellar season. Last year, the Mustang boys posted a 21-1 dual meet record, including 6-0 in West Suburban Gold play, on their way to a sectional championship.

“Four straight conference titles. We’ve won four straight sectional titles, which is hard to do in this area,” Freischlag said, “and we’ve qualified the last four years every kid going to state.”

That means that of the six players Downers Grove South sends to sectionals — two singles players and two doubles partners — every one of them made it on to the state tournament. Last spring, the squad made it to an 11th place finish in the state.

The Mustangs’ talent on the team extends beyond the court, Freischlag said.

In the last several years, two players on the boys team have won the prestigious Tom Pitchford Memorial Sportsmanship Award — alumni Rahul Kamath in 2009 and Freischlag’s oldest son, Keith, in 2010 (plus one on the girls team, Katie Kargl in 2007).

The award recognizes not only ability but also sportsmanship and academics. It is bestowed on just one male and one female tennis player in the state each year.

“We’ve had some really quality kids in the program, some great players and some great students — the perfect student-athletes, essentially,” Freischlag said.

Freischlag knows something about a commitment to tennis that runs deep.

Not only do both his sons play tennis — his eldest now a junior at Central College in Iowa and his youngest, Cody, will be a senior captain at South this year — but wife, Debbie, is a Downers Grove South alumna who assists the team.

Her father, Jim Rees, was the tennis head coach before Freischlag took over in 1993. He founded the program and the laid the groundwork, Freischlag said.

“It’s a little bit of a legacy here,” he said.

But Freischlag isn’t resting his laurels after the coaching award. With two of last year’s three all-state players returning as well as a strong younger squad, he’s looking ahead to the spring season.

“We’re going to be really good again,” he said. “We’re deep all the way through.”