Good sports teams feel like a family.
Freeport’s NIC-10 boys tennis champions really are a family. Four of the eight players who dominated the conference Friday and Saturday are cousins.
Diego Robles-Sanchez paired with Cadan DeJong to outlast Auburn’s No. 1 seeds Austin Altangerel and Cooper Kruchten 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 Saturday at Guilford High School. Robles-Sanchez didn’t start playing until five years ago, but has now won three conference titles, winning at No. 3 doubles his first year and No. 2 doubles as a sophomore last year. He is also a two-time team champion as the Pretzels, who hadn’t won in 28 years before last season, have now won back-to-back.
“It was the COVID spring. My dad asked me to go play tennis,” Robles-Sanchez said of his tennis-playing origins. “We were all locked up and he wanted us to go do something. I said I’d give it a try and thought it was fun hitting the ball around, back and forth.”
Soon after, he talked three cousins into trying the sport: No. 1 singles runner-up Alex Cuatlatl and No. 3 doubles champs Cristian Ruiz-Paliero and Jonathan Escamilla.
“I am glad they all supported it,” Robles-Sanchez said. “Now that we won conference back to back, it feels even better. My family is here with me at all times. I know I have their support no matter what. They will always be there with me through the good or the bad and they will always know whether I win or don’t win.
“And mostly in moments like this, we really are together.”
Last year’s title was a bit of a surprise. This year was a formality.
Coach Ed Schradermeier’s wife ordered a Pretzels’ back-to-back NIC-10 champions for him shirt three weeks ago. And Freeport was so dominant it clinched the title on the first day of the tourney Friday. It wound up taking second at No. 1 singles and sweeping the other four titles to score 57.4 points, far ahead of runner-up Auburn (46.2) and third-place Hononegah (45.8).
Guilford freshman Ryan Hunter, the No. 4 seed at No. 2 singles, pulled the only big upset of the tournament, edging No. 1 seed Nick Patel of Auburn 6-0, 1-6, 6-1 in the semifinals before losing 7-5, 6-3 to Freeport’s Colin Helm in the finals.
“I am seeing a bright future and am hoping I can do better in the future and maybe get to state,” Hunter said.
Helm needed a full two hours to outlast Hunter before coming to the net and clinching the win with an overhead smash.
“That’s what I was looking for,” Helm said. “You are anxious when you are out there for so long. You just want to end it, but you’ve got to stay mentally strong.”
Freeport’s JC Herrera and Carlo Delavin won 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 doubles, while Ruiz-Paliero and Escamilla won 6-4, 6-3 at No. 3 doubles.
Hononegah junior Braden Monson, already a two-time NIC-10 MVP, dominated Freeport’s Alex Cuatlatl 6-0, 6-0 in the No. 1 singles final.
Robles-Sanchez, after winning all three doubles titles the last three years — and getting his cousins to join in on the fun — joked that his next challenge would be moving up to singles.
“The three-peat of doubles and to repeat as a team feels just amazing,” Robles-Sanchez said. “Three doubles as a freshman, won that. Two doubles sophomore year, won that. One doubles, won that. I am going to try to take down Braden next.
“That,” he said after a pause, “is going to be a challenge.”
NIC-10 tennis standings
Finals matches
No. 1 singles: Braden Monson (Hononegah) def. Alex Cuatlatl, 6-0, 6-0
No. 2 singles: Colin Helm (Freeport) def. Ryan Hunter (Guilford) 7-5, 6-3
No. 1 doubles: Cadan DeJong/Diego Robles-Sanchez (Freeport) def Altangerel/Krutchen (Auburn), 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4
No. 2 doubles: Herrera/Delavin (Freeport) def. Williamson/Parrovechio (Belvidere NorthP 6-2, 6-1
No. 3 doubles: Ruiz-Paliero/Escamilla (Freeport) def. Powell/Abinhav (Auburn) 6-4, 6-3
Matt Trowbridge is a Rockford Register Star sports reporter. Email him at mtrowbridge@rrstar.com. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @MattTrowbridge.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Four cousins lead repeat to repeat NIC-10 boys tennis title; complete conference standings
Reporting by Matt Trowbridge, Rockford Register Star / Rockford Register Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
