2019 was a record-setting year for all facets of Edwardsville tennis. The boys team was undefeated in Southwestern Conference play and won the conference tournament to extend their streak of SWC championships to 19 consecutive years, a truly staggering total. The next weekend the boys won the IHSA sectional, advancing 2 singles entries (Zach Trimpe and Drake Schreiber) and one doubles entry (Seth Lipe and Gabo Montanari) to state.
At the state tournament, the team finished 7th, tied for the 3rd best boys finish of all-time. Seth Lipe and Gabo Montanari finished 7th in doubles, receiving 1st-team all-state honors, and tying for the fifth highest doubles finish in school history. Zach Trimpe placed ninth, good enough not just for 2nd team all-state, but also for the 3rd highest singles finish in EHS history. The second? Zach’s mark of 7th from last year. During the course of the year, Zach became the all-time boys wins leader, and over the summer was the first EHS player in history to be named a high school All-American.
The boys team again participated in the DecoTurf High School National Championship in Chattanooga and added a new tournament this year in the Derby City Championships in Louisville, Ky., where they finished 2nd in a field of teams from Kentucky and Ohio. Zach placed 1st in the 1 singles flight, Drake took 3rd in the 2 singles flight, and Seth and Gabo won the 1 doubles flight.
For the first time in 10 years, Edwardsville tennis offered Junior Team Tennis and the season was a resounding success. The 10u Orange team won the St. Louis District under coaching from Emily Cimarolli and Emma Lipe. The 18u team won the District and advanced to Missouri Valley Sectionals in Tulsa, taking 7th place out of all the teams in the Missouri Valley. As a top-off, Kirk Schlueter and Emily Cimarolli were named JTT Coordinators of the Year for the USTA St. Louis District.
ETA and TTC enjoyed fantastic spring, summer and fall sessions with record enrollment in each period. Other offerings included twice-weekly fitness sessions open to kids of all ages from the community, winter hitting at the YMCA, and weekly yoga.
The Edwardsville Futures saw its 9th year as the only professional tennis in St. Louis and the only professional tournament in the world at a high school. This year saw record attendance along with a record number of community sponsors and parteners, including coin tosses from Mayor Jackstadt of Glen Carbon, Mayor Patton of Edwardsville, and IL State Representative Katie Stuart.
The Futures introduced a new doubles wildcard event, the one day Sunday shootout for a wild card into main draw doubles. Local players Zach Trimpe and Seth Lipe were narrowly defeated in the finals by Preston Touliatos and McClain Kessler, who went on to reach the semifinals.
This year’s singles champion was Cyrpus’s Petros Chrysochos, and the doubles champions were Nathan Ponwith and Liam Caruana, with Caruana becoming the first player in Edwardsville Futures history to defend a title from the year before. As always, we had tremendous help and volunteers from so many in the community, and we would especially like to thank all our great ball kids. All the players commented how rare it was for this level of attendance and passion at an event of this level.
The girls team claimed another SWC title with an undefeated regular season and a conference tournament victory. The wins highlighted an impressive season where the girls placed 2nd at the Lockport Invitational and 4th at the Heather Bradshaw tournament. Two entries qualified for state, with Chloe Koons in singles, and Chloe Trimpe and Hannah Colbert in doubles. As a freshman, Chloe Koons tied the school record for the best singles finish at state, placing 3rd team All-State and being awarded SWC Newcomer of the Year. The JV girls added a conference title of their own, sweeping the SWC tournament.
In junior competition, five juniors stood above the rest, as Dia Kannan continued to dominate 10u play. In the boys 12 and 14 divisions, Colton Hulme, Jesse Hattrup, Jade Dynamic, and Michael Karibian excelled throughout the year.
2019 was Dave’s 25th year coaching, and a year in which he achieved more than 400 wins for both girls and boys, with a career total of more than 800.
To cap off the year, Edwardsville High School and Edwardsville Tennis Academy was named Member Organization of the Year by the USTA St. Louis District.
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