Chesterton No. 1 singles Luke Sorgic earns spot as one of final six tennis players in individual state tournament

Patrick Mochen
Onwardtrojans.com

Senior Luke Sorgic won both of his regional matches last Saturday in order to move on to the state tournament as a singles tennis player, becoming the first Chesterton boys tennis player to do so. Sorgic will play his opening round Friday at 1 pm central time at Park Tudor High School in Indianapolis. The next two rounds will be the following day.
His path to the regional started when Chesterton competed at sectionals, winning as a team. At regionals, the Trojans beat Laporte and then lost in the championship to South Bend St. Joseph. However, Sorgic’s position as the Trojans’ No. 1 singles player and his perfect postseason record kept him alive. He moved into the individual postseason sectional, where he defeated Andrean and advanced to the individual regional. At the regional, everyone competing went into the match with a perfect record, until they concluded their match with Sorgic. In the first round, Sorgic defeated freshman Nick Vukas of Illiana Christian 6-3, 6-1.
“I was very nervous opening up,” Sorgic said, “because I’ve known the kid and he’s always been better than me. I just had to relax and try to play my game and find my groove.”
In the ticket round match, Sorgic came out hot, going up 5-1 in the first set. He won the set 6-3, and then fell behind in the second set 1-3. He then won 5 straight games to win the second set 6-3, and won the match to send himself to state.
"I'm sure Luke would agree that he didn't play his best tennis, especially in Round 1,” Chesterton Coach Tom Bour said. “In the second round, he put together a pretty clean match and basically outworked his opponent”
Sorgic’s family members weren’t the only ones at the North Central regional to cheer him on.
“It’s super nice. Not many teams had people cheering them on,” Sorgic said. “(Junior) Shane (Henry), (senior) Jake (Bell), and (junior) Peyton (Belegal) went. One of the managers went. I know more guys are coming this weekend.”
Bour added, “Everyone respects Luke and is rooting for him. Getting down to Indy to watch him can be tough and everyone understands that, but for those teammates who made it, that meant a lot to us coaches and Luke."
Sorgic will face sophomore Casey Beckmann of Indianapolis Bishop Chatard in the first round of the tournament, which is single elimination. Win or go home. The winner will face Yuvraj Dasari of Center Grove in the semifinals. Dasari moved into the individual state tournament after finishing last weekend's team state competition with an undefeated postseason record.
Bour pointed out that Sorgic has become much more mentally strong over his senior campaign.
“Tennis is such a mental game, so to watch him not only play better, but to experience him being mentally tougher this year was great to see,” Bour said.
Sorgic has accomplished many feats that are a first in program history. Any more wins he racks up puts him further into uncharted territory for Chesterton.
“Herb Brooks once said, 'great moments are born from great opportunity.’ Everyone is already so proud of him, win or lose, but the opportunity is right in front of him and he has a great chance to make a hell of a memory,” Bour said.