Here are the SJ-R's boys tennis players of the year and all-area team for 2023
Springfield High sent five players to the Illinois High School Association Class 1A boys state tennis finals this spring.
Armed with the top doubles team of junior Noah Williams and senior David Lu, the Senators finished tied for fifth place with Chicago University in the team standings. Williams and Lu headline The State Journal-Register's All-Area team as co-players of the year.
The all-area team is separated into singles and doubles, with the singles honorees being in alphabetical order.
Noah Williams/David Lu (Springfield High)
The doubles tandem improved on its fifth-place state finish from 2022 with a fourth place showing in 2023.
Williams and Lu, seeded No. 2, won four championship bracket matches in straight sets before losing to a pair of doubles teams from state champion Chicago Latin in the state semifinals and third-place match, respectively.
It was their only loss as the duo completed the season with a 34-2 record. They gave Springfield High 10 points as the Senators finished with 16 total.
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Williams and Lu finished 2023 as back-to-back Central State Eight Conference and sectional champions, including winning the top doubles flight of the J.D. Sinnock Tournament at the Velasco Tennis Center in Washington Park.
In two years as a doubles team, Williams and Lu compiled a 64-4 record. Williams was player of the year in his freshman and sophomore seasons, while Lu ended his career with his first recognition.
DOUBLES
Evan Aleman/Adam Wheeling (Sacred Heart-Griffin)
A pair of wins in the consolation bracket at state gave the sophomore/freshman combination an impressive finish to the season and an 11-6 record.
Aleman did team up with senior Jackson Pitz at times, before creating a solid tandem with Wheeling. Aleman and Wheeling eventually stepped up for the Cyclones with a third-place showing at the Chatham Glenwood Sectional. They finished fourth at conference and helped SHG take third as a team.
Aleman was SHG’s No. 1 singles player, with Wheeling following at No. 2.
Luke Harvey/Jeff Wernsing (Sacred Heart-Griffin)
As a 9-16 seed, the top SHG doubles teams reached state for the second straight season, and they won two matches in the consolation bracket to finish the season with a 19-9 overall record.
After going 0-2 at state last season, their first win in 2023 was a 6-0, 6-0 victory over Rockford Lutheran in the first round of consolation play. That led to a third-set tiebreak win over Troy Triad in the next round before losing 7-5, 6-4 to Effingham St. Anthony in their final match.
The senior Wernsing, and the junior Harvey, placed second in both the CS8 and sectional tournaments. They finished fourth in the No. 1 doubles flight at the J.D. Sinnock Invite.
Will Wang/Bryce Pound (Springfield High)
As seniors, it was the first state tournament for Wang and Pound and the unseeded duo showed up by winning two matches in the consolation draw to end the season with a 23-14 record.
A tough third-set tiebreaker (4-6, 6-1, 10-3) in the championship bracket’s first round to Geneseo dropped Wang and Pound to consolation play where they had wins over Crystal Lake South and Darien Hinsdale South.
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Wang and Pound had to summon up a major comeback at the sectional to even qualify for state. They trailed Chatham Glenwood’s Joseph Doerfler and Ben Loeffler 4-6, 2-5 in the quarterfinals and came back to record a 4-6, 7-6 (3), 6-3 win to advance.
Wang and Pound finished fourth at the sectional and contributed to Springfield’s third straight conference championship with a third-place finish.
They placed fourth in the No. 2 doubles flight at the J.D. Sinnock Invite.
SINGLES
Paxton Garland-Sutter (Rochester)
As the only state participant for Rochester, the junior won a championship bracket and a consolation match to finish the tournament with a 2-2 overall record.
His first-round victory was a 6-2, 6-0 triumph over Jorge Crespo of Casey-Westfield. He beat Tyson Phillips of Princeton 6-3, 6-4 in the consolation round.
It was Garland-Sutter's second trip to state after going during his freshman season. He needed a 7-6 (2), 7-6 (6) win over Glenwood’s Talha Arshad in the sectional quarterfinals to return to the Chicago suburbs.
Garland-Sutter ended with an 11-10 record.
Krish Khurana (Springfield High)
The sophomore worked himself into tennis shape after competing on the boys swimming and diving team during the winter months.
Khurana won his first CS8 singles championship when he defeated Ubaydah Mahmood of Glenwood 6-2, 6-2 in the final. He then lost to Mahmood 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in a 3-hour, 25-minute match in the semifinals of the sectional.
Khurana bounced back to defeat Garland-Sutter 6-3, 6-2 for third to earn his second straight trip to state. His contribution at state earned him a top-16 finish and provided Springfield with four important points.
The unseeded Khurana won two championship bracket matches in straight sets and he nearly took a set from fourth-place finisher Akshay Garapati of Chicago Latin in the third round before falling 7-6 (3), 6-1. Khurana ended the tournament with a 2-2 mark, while concluding the season 25-8.
Ubaydah Mahmood (Chatham Glenwood)
The junior qualified for his first state meet and his three-set win over Khurana in the sectional semis was one of his signature wins this season.
Mahmood’s other statement win came in the semifinals of the conference tournament when he took down top seed Abhay Hiredesai of Normal U-High 6-3, 6-4. Hiredesai, the 2022 CS8 singles champ, eventually placed third and went on to the state finals to place sixth overall.
As an unseeded player, Mahmood won a consolation match at state and ended the tournament 1-2. He notched second place at both the CS8 and sectional tournaments and finished fourth at the J.D. Sinnock Invite.
Including state, Mahmood compiled a 19-9 record.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Springfield boys tennis players of the year, all-area team for 2023
