16 from CS8 stamp tickets for boys tennis state finals appearance
The Central State Eight Conference is sending 16 players to the Illinois High School Association Class 1A Boys State Tennis Finals.
Chatham Glenwood, which won the Jacksonville Sectional with 27 points, qualified six players and Jacksonville (nine points, second place) sent three players.
Sacred Heart-Griffin and Springfield High tied for first place with 25 points each at the Mount Zion Sectional. The Cyclones are sending four players, and the Senators advanced three.
The top four placers in both singles and doubles at each sectional advance to state.
Here is a closer look at the CS8 players divided by singles and doubles that will compete at the state finals in the Chicago suburbs from May 28-30.
Doubles
Talha Arshad/Aarav Patel, Chatham Glenwood
The J.D. Sinnock Invitational and CS8 champions lost just two games at the sectional and defeated Macomb’s Marc Simmons and Alex Simmons 6-1, 6-1 in the title match.
Arshad and Patel, the No. 1 seed, reached the championship match with wins over Alton Marquette’s Daniel Bennett and Chase Pruitt (6-0, 6-0), Quincy Notre Dame’s Peter Damm and Jacob Damm (6-0, 6-0) and Jacksonville’s Colin Knollhoff and Tristin Northrup (6-0, 6-0).
Arshad, a senior, will make his second trip to state after advancing last season with graduate Will Ehrlich in Class 2A. The freshman, Patel, earned his first trip. The tandem enters state with a 24-2 record.
Jai Khurana/Shrihan Aleti, Springfield High
The sophomore-freshman combination is showing maturity when it matters the most. Khurana and Aleti won the Mount Zion Sectional doubles title in fashion.
As the No. 1 seed, they defeated Drew Morr and Lukas Kuzel of Maroa-Forsyth 6-2, 6-1 in the title match. They beat Rochester’s Krish Patel and Soren Transue 6-0, 6-0 and Decatur St. Teresa’s Adrian Madrigal and Andrew Larry 6-0, 6-1 in the quarterfinals and semis, respectively.
The Springfield duo placed second at the CS8 Conference tournament after losing in three sets to Glenwood’s Arshad and Patel in the championship match. They enter state with a 21-3 record.
Joseph Bertaina/Charlie Unal, Sacred Heart-Griffin
A three-set win (7-6 (6), 4-6, 6-2) in the quarterfinals over Faaiz Qureshi and Charlie Watson of Springfield High sent the Cyclones pair to their first state finals.
They fell to Moor and Kuzel of Maroa-Forsyth 6-1, 6-0 in the semifinals before finishing third with a 3-6, 6-0, 6-2 victory over Madrigal and Larry of St. Teresa at Mount Zion.
Bertaina and Unal lost to Arshad and Patel in the quarters at the conference tournament and take a 12-5 record to state.
Tripp Tomko/Nikash Madanagopal, Chatham Glenwood
The junior-senior combo defeated sixth seed Logan Anderson and Oliver Stevenson of Alton Marquette 7-5, 6-1 in the quarterfinals to advance to their first state tournament.
As the third seed, they defeated Hillsboro’s Beto Quiroz and Noah Andrews 6-4, 6-1 in the first round. Tomko and Madanagopal lost to the Simmons’ of Macomb 6-3, 6-1 in the semis before beating Knolloff and Northrup of Jacksonville 6-4, 6-1 for third place.
The teammates go into state with a 24-3 record after mostly playing in the No. 2 doubles spot in dual meets.
Colin Knollhoff/Tristin Northrup, Jacksonville
After finishing 0-2 with graduate Bennett Karr at state last season, Knollhoff, a senior, returns to state in doubles for the second straight time, and it will be the senior Northrup’s first trip.
Knollhoff and Northrup claimed a 6-0, 6-0 win over Bunker Hill’s Elijah Combs and Sam Devell in Round 1, and the Jacksonville duo stamped their ticket to state with a 6-1, 7-5 victory over No. 5 seed Paul Slusser and Michael Roberts of Jerseyville. Their losses to the two Glenwood doubles teams earned them a fourth-place finish.
Knollhoff and Northrup head to state with a 13-9 record.
Singles
Ben Loeffler, Chatham Glenwood
The senior finished the mission this season with a sectional championship after defeating teammate Connor Pollitt 6-1, 6-1 for the title at Jacksonville.
Because of an injured shoulder in 2025, Loeffler could not compete at last season’s sectional and missed his opportunity to qualify for state. This season, he repeated as CS8 singles champion and pulled off the double feat as sectional champ.
He defeated Quincy Notre Dame’s Isaac Steinkamp and Hillsboro’s Will Yeske 6-0, 6-0 in his first two matches before beating fourth seed Cole Nebel of Jacksonville 6-4, 6-2 in the semifinals. Loeffler finished second at No. 1 singles at the J.D. Sinnock Invitational on April 25 and takes a 16-5 record into the state finals.
Connor Pollitt, Chatham Glenwood
Pollitt, a senior, has given Glenwood another singles player that can deliver the team some points.
As a fifth seed, his second-place finish at the sectional included wins over Jacksonville’s Lennox Davidsmeyer (6-1, 6-1), Hillsboro’s Mark Mattson (6-3, 6-4) and an upset semifinal victory over No. 2 seed Hubert Allen of Alton Marquette 6-4, 7-5.
Pollitt placed second at the CS8 tournament behind Loeffler in a walkover, and he nabbed second place at the J.D. Sinnock Invite at No. 2 singles. He goes into his second state finals with an 18-10 record.
Adam Wheeling, Sacred Heart-Griffin
The senior faced his own teammate, junior Kaden Smith, in the championship match at Mount Zion and won the sectional title 6-1, 6-3.
Wheeling defeated Rochester’s Dylan Ho (6-0, 6-0), Springfield’s Quan Dickirson (6-0, 6-0) and Mount Zion’s Ryne Reatherford (6-0, 6-2) en route to the championship.
Wheeling finished third at the CS8 meet and has a 26-7 record in singles heading to state. It’s his fourth trip to state and his second time going in singles when he went in 2024 as a sophomore. Wheeling and graduate Evan Aleman advanced to state in doubles in 2023 and the tandem got to the consolation quarterfinals last season.
Kaden Smith, Sacred Heart-Griffin
The junior continued his solid play in the championship season with a second place showing at the sectional, earning his first trip to state.
Before his loss to Wheeling, Smith defeated Mount Zion’s David Albrecht (6-1, 6-1), Rochester’s Timothy Lee (6-1, 6-4) and avenged a previous loss to Springfield’s Bennett Nelson 6-2, 6-2 in the semifinals. Smith lost to Nelson 6-1, 2-0 when he retired in the quarterfinals at the CS8 meet on May 15.
He goes into state with a 19-9 record.
Bennett Nelson, Springfield High
The sophomore eventually finished third at the sectional by beating Reatherford of Mount Zion 6-2, 6-4.
He got to the semifinals with wins over Decatur St. Teresa’s Ben Klafeta (6-0, 6-0) and Maroa-Forsyth's Matthew Brown (6-0, 6-1).
Nelson finished fourth in the CS8 after losing to Wheeling 6-2, 6-1 in the third-place match. He is 19-14 going into state.
Cole Nebel, Jacksonville
The senior advanced to his second straight state tournament with a third-place finish at Jacksonville.
As the fourth seed, Nebel defeated Jerseyville’s Ethan Edwards 6-0, 6-1 and Alton Marquette’s Ryan Joehl 6-4, 6-1 to start the tournament. His straight-sets loss in the semifinals to Loeffler gave him the opportunity to avenge a previous loss to Marquette’s Allen. Nebel rallied in the final two sets for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-1 win over Allen for third.
Nebel lost in the first round of the CS8 tournament to SHG’s Smith and due to rain, the back-draw was not completed that included the fifth-place matches. He goes into state with a 28-10 record.
Contact Trevor Lawrence: 788-1548, trevor.lawrence@sj-r.com.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: Which area tennis players are going to boys state finals?
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