Edwardsville doubles team of Gray/Trimpe, Explorers' tandem of Claywell/McCluskey alive at state tennis

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS – Edwardsville's doubles team of Alex Gray/Zach Trimpe reached the quarterfinals of the IHSA Class 2A state tennis tournament with a pair of wins Friday. Gray/Trimpe will meet Lake Forest's Jack Armstrong/Connor Polender in the quarters Saturday morning at Arlington Heights Hersey, the main venue for the tournament.

Marquette Catholic's Jon Claywell/Daniel McCluskey reached the sixth round of their consolation bracket Friday; they will meet Chicago Latin's Connor Kaniewski/Ben Mitchell when play resumes Saturday morning.

Following Friday's play, the Tigers were in ninth place in the team standings with 14 points, a point ahead of Rockford Auburn. Naperville Central led the team competition at 24 points, with Winnetka New Trier a point down at 23; Glenbrook North of Northbrook was third at 22 points while Lake Forest and Hinsdale Central were equal fifth with 21 points each.

In the Class 1A competition, the Explorers held sole possession of 18^th place with seven points, a point ahead of a pack that incuded Belleville Althoff. Jersey was tied for 32^nd with Geneseo and Glen Ellyn Glenbard South with four points each. Chicago Latin and Dunlap were tied for the lead with 22 points each, with Lisle Benet trailing with 21 points, Normal University fourth at 16 points and Chicago University fifth at 15 points.

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Gray/Trimpe reached the quarterfinal with a 6-2, 6-2 win over Lincolnshire Stevenson's Matthew Harvey/Brian Weisberg and a 6-2, 1-6, 7-6 (7-4) win over Naperville Central's Bill Zhang and Martin Malov, while Seth Lipe was eliminated in the singles side of the tournament in a 6-0, 6-2 loss to Downers Grove South's Lawrence Hiquiana.

Claywell/McCluskey started the day with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Geneseo's Avery Dunker/Mick Haverland, then advanced with a 6-0, 6-3 win over Jersey's Drake Blackwell/Trevor Davis before eliminating Chicago University's Ajay Chopra/James Dill 6-4, 6-7 (4-7), 10-7 to reach the sixth consolation round. Blackwell/Davis were relegated to the consolation bracket with a third-round loss to Normal University's Josh Friesen/Carter Bunk 6-1, 6-1 before their ellimination by the Explorer duo.

Play continues this morning, with the finals in singles and doubles in both classes set for Saturday afternoon.

Edwardsville head boys tennis coach Dave Lipe said he couldn’t have been more proud of his doubles tandem of Gray-Trimpe and Seth Lipe for their performances on Friday.

“Zach and Alex had a very big day today,” Dave Lipe said. “They are back up today in the semifinals where they were last year Saturday morning. They are playing great and are focused. They won a really dramatic third-set tie-breaker on Friday and you can’t get any closer than that. Seth had an excellent post season and played well today.”Brent Feeney also contributed to this story.

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