Hinsdale Central wins 29th state title; Marmion’s Benedict Graft is Class 1A singles runner-up for third time

PALATINE – To Conant’s boys tennis team: You have some explaining to do.

Nobody demanded that at Saturday’s Class 2A boys tennis tournament, but it must have been on the minds of many.

The Cougars tied for fourth place in the Mid-Suburban League and finished second at a sectional meet last month.

Not exactly glowing feats.

They then shone brightly at the three-day event with only three of the maximum four entrants, racking up 26 points to finish runner-up to now 29-time state champion Hinsdale Central’s 34 and claiming the program’s first state trophy.

“The pressure at the state meet made all of us play better,” said Conant sophomore Maximus Rysz after he and classmate Austin Wu placed fifth as a 9-16 seed in doubles and became the first two Cougars to garner a state medal in program history.

Conant’s Kabir Motwani — a 5-8 singles seed and another sophomore — joined them as a medalist after losing 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to sophomore and top-seeded Matthew Sikorski of Hersey in the 2A singles final.

“Our guys rose to the occasion,” said Cougars coach Matt Marks, whose other qualifying entrant, sophomores Nathan Desai and Haruki Watanabe, won three of five doubles matches at state.

“I never had to hope they would do that; I just expected it.”

Up 5-2 in the third set with Motwani serving at deuce, Sikorski dashed to a spot several feet behind the baseline to reach a scorching groundstroke.

The right-handed Husky somehow slapped a sharply angled cross-court forehand off his back foot. The shot landed in the corner of the service box for a clean winner and a match point.

Sikorski closed it out shortly thereafter, securing the program’s third state singles championship to match the accomplishments of Hersey graduates Mitch Sheldon (2024) and Brad Rosenbaum (1988).

“I could not have won the final without them,” Sikorski said of the thunderous support he received from his teammates and friends. “Every point in that third set was a grind. Kabir is an amazing player, handling the pressure as well as he did in the big points and making me earn points. He changed things up and got more aggressive in that second set.”

Hinsdale Central put together another memorable run, netting its fourth straight state title behind a runner-up showing in doubles (juniors Nicholas Marringa/Kyle McCain) and a sixth-place finish in singles (junior Barry Zhu). Senior Nathan Hernandez went 4-2 in singles and Winston Stangle/Bodie Teuscher matched that record in doubles.

“Talent that doesn’t work hard doesn’t go very far, and if you work hard, you gain talent,” said first-year HC coach Pete Alex, whose team clinched title No. 29 on Friday. “I’m proud of our guys for not thinking talent was all they’d need to succeed this weekend.”

Marringa/McCain (17-1) earned the top 2A doubles seed — as HC’s No. 2 team. New Trier’s Chris Ackerman/Jayden Dussias (12-0) edged the pair of Red Devils 7-6 (3), 7-5 in Saturday’s final. Ackerman medaled at each of his four state appearances with a different partner.

“Today it came down to four points,” Marringa said. “Four big points, all won by New Trier.”

“Both teams wanted to win that match badly,” McCain said. “There was some high-level tennis going on out there, along with a lot of fun.”

Alleman senior Nicholas Patrick won his fourth Class 1A singles title, downing Marmion Academy senior Benedict Graft 6-3, 6-0. It was their fourth state meeting, with Patrick defeating Graft in a 2022 semifinal.

Graft took third at state as a freshman and second three times.

“Tennis is an individual sport, but what I appreciated about playing in high school was the team environment,” Graft said.

Wauconda senior Sean Lenhart made program history for the second year in a row, this time as a doubles player with classmate Marshawn Gallego. After placing a program best fifth in singles a year ago, Lenhart/Gallego placed third in doubles as a 5-8 seed by downing 3-4 seed Jordan Beck/Wyatt Jurgensmeyer of Mascoutah 6-3, 6-3.

Lenhart/Gallego had defeated second-seeded Alex Fei/Ethan Mcraven of Dunlap 6-4, 7-6 (8) in a quarterfinal Friday after trailing 4-1 in the first set and overcoming deficits in the second set and in the tiebreaker.

“We were confident heading into our last match and trusted our shots,” Lenhart said.

Before the start of the Class 2A state meet Thursday, a Streamwood Sabre had never medaled. Sophomore and 5-8 singles seed Mathieu Veltkamp became the first.

Veltkamp (32-3) placed fourth after a 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 loss to Lane Tech senior and Case Western Reserve-bound Marko McRae.

“Mathieu played with determination and grit all weekend,” Sabres coach Mack Mowen said. “His work ethic, his drive, his family’s support — he’s got all that going for him.”

Others earning medals included Hinsdale South senior Zeke Bisharat (4th, 1A singles); Timothy Christian freshman Hudson Tseng (5th, 1A singles); St. Francis junior Umar Bajwa (6th, 1A singles); and Stevenson junior Jaden Dai (5th, 2A singles).

New Trier (19 points), Glenbrook South (17), Stevenson (17), Barrington (16), Glenbrook North (16) and Waubonsie Valley (15) finished fourth through ninthth in 2A. Chicago University (28) topped the 1A field ahead of Prairie Ridge (18). Dunlap (17), Alleman (17), Triad (16), Hinsdale South (14), Wauconda (14) and Marmion Academy (13).

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250531/boys-tennis/boys-tennis-conant-claims-first-state-trophy-hinsdale-central-nets-29th-state-title/