Edwardsville tennis eyes IHSA state tournament return (original) (raw)

Edwardsville's Schaefer Bates against Huntley on April 3, 2026, inside the EHS Tennis Center in Edwardsville.

Matt Kamp/The Intelligencer

Edwardsville enters this weekend’s Class 2A O’Fallon Sectional chasing its seventh straight sectional championship while trying to keep alive a 30-year streak of sending at least one entry to the state tournament.

Joining Edwardsville in O’Fallon on May 21-22 will be the host Panthers, along with Alton, Belleville East, Belleville West, Collinsville, Granite City and Quincy. The sectional tournament was moved up a day.

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All but Quincy and Granite City were in last weekend’s Southwestern Conference Tournament in O’Fallon. The Tigers swept all six singles and three doubles flights to secure their 25th straight conference championship.

“The additions of Quincy and Granite City are going to make a tough tournament tougher,” EHS coach Dave Lipe said following his team’s SWC championship win.

This weekend, the top four finishers in singles and doubles will advance to the Class 2A state tournament, scheduled for May 28-30 in suburban Chicago. Palatine High School is the host school.

Edwardsville qualified all four entries last season for the state tournament for the third time in four seasons. The Tigers have achieved that feat 16 times.

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Three of those four entries are back this season, including Brandon Wong at singles and the doubles teams of Schaefer Bates and Isaac Chleboun and Lucas Rudd and John Almos.

Wong finished fourth at last year’s sectional to earn his first state tournament berth, while Chleboun and Bates won the doubles sectional championship and qualified for state together for the third time. Rudd and Almos took fourth to secure their first state appearance.

Edwardsville’s other sectional entry this season will be Jake Brinker in singles.

All four sectional entries are coming off championships at the SWC Tournament.

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In singles, Edwardsville received flight championships from Jake Brinker at No. 1, Brandon Wong at No. 2, Isaac Chleboun at No. 3, John Almos at No. 4, Schaefer Bates at No. 5 and Lucas Rudd at No. 6.

Bates and Chleboun added the No. 1 doubles title, while Brinker and Wong won at No. 2 doubles and Almos and Rudd captured the No. 3 doubles championship.

“I thought we were a little bit better (in singles). We were very dominant. (In doubles), I thought we were a little tight in certain spots, which surprised me. To win all nine flights of this tournament is a remarkable achievement,” Lipe said.

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Seniors Almos, Bates, Chleboun, Rudd and Wong will try to carry that momentum into the sectional and cap their Edwardsville careers by extending the Tigers’ long-standing postseason tradition.

May 21, 2026

Matt Kamp is the sports editor of the Edwardsville Intelligencer. He has been with the newspaper since 2010, serving in multiple roles, including as sports editor since 2013. Kamp has won multiple awards from the Illinois Press Association, is a member of the IBCA Hall of Fame, and is a recipient of a Special Recognition Award from the Edwardsville High School Athletic Hall of Fame.