Boys tennis: 2023 Northwest Herald All-Area Team

Meet the 2023 Northwest Herald All-Area boys tennis team.

First team

Singles

Will Geske, Huntley, fr.

Geske (25-3) was the Fox Valley Conference champion, beating Prairie Ridge’s Jacob Kim and Crystal Lake Central’s Logan Wasilik, both by scores of 7-5, 6-4. Geske helped the Red Raiders to the team title at the Class 2A Harlem Sectional, winning the singles title, and went on to go 2-2 in the state tournament.

Jacob Kim, Prairie Ridge, so.

Kim (21-6) was No. 1 singles runner-up in the FVC Tournament, falling to Geske 7-5, 6-4, and helping the Wolves to the team championship. Kim finished third in the Class 1A Lakes Sectional, beating Crystal Lake Central’s Logan Wasilik 7-5, 6-3 in the third-place match. Kim went on to go 2-2 in the state tournament.

Logan Wasilik, Crystal Lake Central, sr.

The Tigers’ Wasilik (28-7) had the best state-tournament record of any area player, going 3-2 in Class 1A. Wasilik took third in the FVC Tournament at No. 1 singles, beating McHenry’s Mohsin Rizvi in that match. He lost to Kim in the third-place match at the Lakes Sectional.

Doubles

Cole Palese, so./Jaylan Tucker, sr., Prairie Ridge

Palese and Tucker (19-6) were No. 1 doubles champions at the FVC Tournament after taking third place last year. They beat Jacobs’ Augie Nelson and Soham Kalra in three sets. Palese and Tucker rolled through the Class 1A Lakes Sectional, losing only five games in four matches. They finished 1-2 in the state tournament.

Ben Hein, sr./Jonathon Stec, sr., Huntley

Hein and Stec finished 17-10 and advanced to the Class 2A state tournament, which was more remarkable given that Hein played with a shoulder injury that had him serving underhand all season. They took third place in No. 1 doubles in the FVC Tournament and won the Harlem Sectional. They went 0-2 at state, and Hein had surgery shortly thereafter.

Augie Nelson, so./Soham Kalra, fr., Jacobs

Nelson and Kalra (20-11) were FVC No. 1 doubles runners-up and took third in the Class 2A Cary-Grove Sectional behind Barrington’s two teams. The Golden Eagles duo was 1-2 in the state tournament.

Nate Neufeld, jr./Giacomo Romano, sr., McHenry

The Warriors (11-7) finished fifth in the FVC Tournament at No. 1 doubles and were 4-4 in FVC regular-season matches. Neufeld and Romano received an unfavorable seed in the Class 2A Stevenson Sectional and lost in the first round.

Second team

Singles

Mohsin Rizvi, McHenry, so.

Tyler Batt, Johnsburg, fr.

Marc Cheng, Woodstock, fr.

Doubles

Aaron Koh, sr./Jack Dacy, jr., Crystal Lake South

Brandon Oconer, jr./Kento Ono, sr., Crystal Lake Central

Ethan Hulewicz, sr./Liam Hulewicz, jr., Jacobs

Tyler Yu, sr./Matthew Crumlett, sr., Hampshire

Honorable Mention

(In alphabetical order)

Brogan Amherdt, sr./Tim Jones, fr., Prairie Ridge

Eryk Bucior, fr., Crystal Lake South

Austin Dinh, jr., Jacobs

Nolan Frey, sr., Prairie Ridge

Ryan Fulton, so., Jacobs

Lewis Johnson, jr., Cary-Grove

Noah Marrano, jr./Nate Deal, jr., Cary-Grove

Nick Miller, jr./Ben Riggio, jr., Dundee-Crown

Derek Passaglia, jr./Ryan Dixon, so., Cary-Grove

Vince Perez, sr./Liam Hanson, jr., Woodstock

Bryce Schechtman, so., Cary-Grove

Mark Sobolewski, sr., Huntley

Connor Trepanier, jr., Richmond-Burton