Healthy net returns

Last summer, Oswego senior Collin McWethy made a tough decision.

Nursing a sore wrist and burned out from constant tennis, McWethy took six months off prior to his senior season with the Panthers.

The rest did McWethy wonders as he went 30-2 and earned Beacon News Boys Tennis Player of the Year honors.

McWethy went 25-0 in the regular season, winning the Southwest Prairie Conference and Oswego Sectional titles, before going 5-2 at the state meet -- the fourth trip to the season-ending competition in his decorated career.

"He's just a very organized, high goal-setting, nice young man," Oswego coach Linda Keely said. "I can't say enough about him. Just a classy young man."

Despite his track record and his spotless regular season, McWethy was not seeded in the top 32 heading into the state meet. Making that disappointment even tougher was the fact that in the second round he drew the state's No. 1 seed, Michael Moore of Glenbrook South.

"When I first looked at that, I was nervous, kind of angry, but all the lower seeds were on his side of the draw, so it helped me in a way," McWethy said.

Sure enough, after winning his opening match and falling to Moore, 6-1, 6-0, McWethy went on an impressive run through the consolation draw. He won four straight matches before finally falling to Stagg's Tim Kopinski, 7-6 (7-1), 6-0. McWethy said by the time he got to that match, he was suffering from muscle cramps, blisters on his feet and fatigue.

He had to play seven matches in a 28-hour span at the tournament.

"He played the best tennis of his life," Keely said. "To come back and finish in the top 24 at state is awesome. It's a good thing he was in great shape going into state. He did a great job."

McWethy continued his run after his high school career finished up as well. Last weekend, he played in the Northern Illinois Qualifier, a tournament in which the top five players in the region gain entry into Midwest and national tournaments that are closed to players who haven't qualified.

Not only did McWethy qualify, he won the tournament outright.

"It boosted my ranking in the (United States Tennis Association) 100 or 200 spots," McWethy said. "I've never qualified for this before. I'm pretty excited. Now I'm playing in the Midwest tournament in Indianapolis in July."

That gives McWethy a great chance to continue his tennis career in college. He chose Washington University in St. Louis because of its engineering program. Washington also is a Division III powerhouse in men's tennis.

McWethy will play in a tournament with other potential walk-ons Labor Day weekend, and the top four will be added to the roster. The finish to his high school career and his big win last weekend will go a long way toward putting him on the squad.

"It will be a plus if he can continue on with his game," Keely said. "He hasn't even matured all the way yet. He could be a real force on the court. Once he gets to college, he'll get even better." Boys Tennis Player of the Year