How Chatham Glenwood won its first CS8 boys tennis title in eight years
The streak has ended.
Springfield High’s four-year reign as Central State Eight Conference tennis champs came to a halt on Saturday, May 17, after Chatham Glenwood won its first boys title in eight seasons when it tied with the Senators in 2017.
Glenwood finished with 29½ points, and U-High was second with 26. Springfield took third with 24½ points, followed by fourth-place SHG (22), Jacksonville (17), Rochester (9), Lincoln (2), Decatur MacArthur (2) and Southeast/Lanphier (0).
The relief and joy could be seen amid the Titans’ celebration after they shook off their conference rivals at the Velasco Tennis Center in Washington Park.
“It’s been a long time — I knew it was going to take some work since I got here five or six years ago,” Glenwood coach Sonthana Thongsithavong said. “This past year, these boys just put in some work in the summer, during wintertime and even in the spring. It’s nice bringing the conference back to Glenwood, and hopefully we can maintain it for several more years.”
Behind the scenes, Thongsithavong said he had a strategy on how the Titans could navigate a route to holding up the trophy.
“We had a plan coming into the conference — what matches we have to win and what matches we can afford to lose,” he noted. “The boys have been wanting this since the summer, talking about conference, conference. I’m glad that plan worked out.”
Glenwood junior Talha Arshad said he knew how much the title meant for the Titans.
“It’s been eight years,” Arshad said. “We huddled up yesterday, and I told the team, ‘We put in hard work all year just for this moment,’ and it all paid off.”
Senior Ben Loeffler had never tasted a conference title.
“It means a lot to this team,” Loeffler said. “I know I’m excited, and I’m sure the rest of the team is really excited about our win. We have a great team, and half our junior varsity came to support.”
Titans’ depth paves way
Loeffler won his first singles conference championship, and the doubles team of Will Ehrlich and Arshad rallied past No. 3 seed Chase Boester and Ian Shin of U-High 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 in the semifinals before taking second place. Fifth seed Connor Pollitt played true to his seed and brought home fifth place in singles.
Loeffler, the top seed, came into conference battling an inflamed shoulder, and he served underhand for the entire tournament. But the rest of his game made up for his handicap as he defeated sixth seed Kaden Smith of Sacred Heart-Griffin 6-4, 6-0 in the semifinals before winning the crown with a 6-0, 6-2 triumph over No. 2 seed Cole Nebel of Jacksonville in the title match.
“It was great, especially playing injured right now,” said Loeffler of his singles championship. “It was very important to push through.”
Thongsithavong credited Loeffler for his effort.
“He’s hitting well, and his serve is very effective, but with his shoulder we didn’t want to go too much,” he said. “For each match, we would see how his opponents would do with his underhand serve, and as long as it didn’t affect the return so much, he would keep it. He has good groundstrokes, and I told him to be confident with his underhand serve.”
Brothers deliver for Senators
In a spirited doubles final, the top-seeded duo of Krish Khurana and Jai Khurana went head-to-head with the No. 2 seed Ehrlich and Arshad. With a loud fan base that included four-time All-Area Player of the Year and Springfield graduate Noah Williams watching, the Khuranas collected a 6-3, 6-2 victory for the title.
Krish and Jai advanced to the doubles final after beating fourth seed Evan Aleman and Adam Wheeling of SHG 6-0, 7-6 (1) in the semis.
Krish, a senior, has tutored his freshman brother this season, and the tandem made some clutch shots on the sunny, breezy afternoon.
“Just seeing how he’s progressed during the season, he’s played great,” Krish said of his younger brother. “He started off nervous, and as the season has gone, he’s done great. We’ve lost some tough matches partly me, partly him, and we win or lose as a team. We figured out how to be the team that can edge out the wins. (Jai) returns on the (advantage) side, and his returns set me up so well at the net.”
Jai, in return, commented on what it’s like playing with his big bro.
“It’s the mental aspect (of the game),” Jai said. “Throughout the season, my mental (state) hasn’t been the best, and he’s calmed me down and restrained me. My net game has improved over the season because of him.”
Thongsithavong congratulated the Senators’ top doubles team while praising his players on a great final.
“We knew coming in that they are a tough team,” Thongsithavong said of Springfield. “They got a No. 1 seed for a reason. Krish is a heck of a player, and it is tough to work around him. I think mentally we stuck in there, but they just made plays, yet we kept our mistakes very minimal.”
Despite its third place showing, Krish Khurana said he appreciated Springfield’s following throughout the weekend and season.
“We’ve had so many people come back and watch our matches,” Krish said. “I feel like a freshman or sophomore again. I get so energized when I see the old guys. We feed off each other.”
CS8 sees new contenders
The CS8 tournament created some new faces that contributed to their respective teams’ outcome.
Nebel, a junior, got to his first singles title match with a 1-6, 6-4, 6-1 win over fourth seed Parker Kim of U-High in the semis. Smith advanced to the semifinals after upsetting third seed Vivaan Bommareddi of U-High 6-3, 5-7, 6-2 in the quarterfinal round. Smith eventually placed fourth when Kim defeated him 7-5, 0-6, 10-7 in the third-place match.
Chase Boester and Shin took third place by beating Aleman and Wheeling 6-4, 7-5. Springfield’s Rohan Ugrappa and Matthew Sommer earned fifth place in doubles with a 6-0, 6-2 win over U-High’s Bryce Boester and Will Blum.
This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: CS8 boys tennis results: Chatham Glenwood wins 2025 title
