Who's going to state? How Peoria boys tennis players fared at the IHSA sectionals
PEORIA — Dunlap and Metamora won Illinois High School Association boys tennis sectional titles on Saturday as area players from Dunlap, Morton, Metamora, Notre Dame and Pekin earned trips to the Class 1A and Class 2A state finals.
The state finals are scheduled for Thursday through Saturday, hosted by Palatine High School and played out on several courts around the Chicago area.
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Dunlap emerged with a 28-26 victory over Morton in the Class 1A Dunlap Sectional. Metamora won its fifth straight sectional title, a 30-20 decision over the hosts at the Class 2A Ottawa Sectional.
Here's how the Peoria-area state advancers fared Saturday, broken down by sectional:
Class 1A Dunlap Sectional
SINGLES
Notre Dame senior Scott Anderson (24-3) won the singles title with a 6-3, 6-1 decision over Morton's Carter Kendall.
Morton junior Carter Kendall (21-9) and headed to state after that second-place finish.
Dunlap junior Aashish Pentela (21-5) finished third.
Dunlap sophomore Alex Fei (17-13) finished fourth.
It’s a lot easier when a team enjoys each other.
These 6 🦅 are headed to @IHSAState
We’ve got 2 more rounds to play tomorrow!
Let’s pack the courts - semis at 9am finals/3rd place around 11am! @DunlapAthletics @RollEagsAD @hoijim @KurtPegler @icetimecleve @eaglesnestDHS https://t.co/4dUd5IiG4I— Dunlap Tennis (@Dunlaptennis) May 20, 2023
DOUBLES
Morton seniors Aiden Belsly and Blake Shoemaker ran their doubles record to 26-3 with a title win. It was a three-set battle, 2-6, 6-2, 6-3 over Dunlap.
That Dunlap tandem — senior Graham O'Leary and junior Shaan Kashyap — head to state on their second-place finish.
The Dunlap tandem of senior Matthew Choy and sophomore Ethan McRaven finished third.
Morton duo senior Seth Klopfenstein and junior Asa Olden finished fourth.
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Class 1A Ottawa Sectional
SINGLES
Metamora senior Bryton Short rolled to a 34-2 season record with a championship win over teammate and senior Alex Schroff (31-6). Short beat his teammate — and doubles partner in some matches during the season — 6-2, 6-0, in that title match.
Sectional champs for these guys. First and second in singles. Second in doubles. Five team titles in a row for the Redbirds.
State tournament here we come. @MTHSAthletics @hoijim @KurtPegler pic.twitter.com/7XG1yNmAD9— Metamora Boys Tennis (@MetamoraTennis) May 20, 2023
DOUBLES
Metamora's doubles tandem of junior Hudson Shaw and freshman Dane Hutchinson finished second.
Class 2A Moline Sectional
SINGLES
Pekin junior Aidan Mulcahey (9-8) finished fourth after winning his first three matches.
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: IHSA boys tennis: Dunlap, Metamora lead Peoria state qualifiers
