Senior Ricardo Palma reached the finals and nine other Foresters participated at the 2017 Illinois Handball Association Joe Ardito Contenders Tournament.
Palma was seeded third out of the 30 players in the bracket. He took his opening round match 15-2, 15-1, came from behind to win 10-15, 15-9 11-0 in round two, and eliminated fellow Forester senior Carter Kounovsky 15-5, 15-7 in the quarterfinals. After being knocked out of the tournament in the semifinals wach of the last two seasons, Palma edged out the #2 seed 15-12, 14-15, 11-4 this year before falling 15-2, 15-14 in the championship.
Kounovsky defeated his first round opponent 15-1, 15-2 and eeked out a 15-13, 15-14 victory in round two before falling to Palma. Sophomore Chandler Straw joined Kounovsky and Palma in the quarterfinals after prevailing 15-7, 15-3 and 15-12, 15-14 in his first two matches.
Freshman Devin Peters was the only other Forester to get past the opening round. He knocked off his opening round opponent 15-6, 15-13 and took the second game against the #2 seed before falling in the third.
Senior Jon Vargas came out on top of a 31-8 decision in the first round of the consolation bracket and advanced to the semifinals after a 31-18 triumph in round two.
The Foresters's next tournament will be the Milwaukee Classic December 1-3. Friday's play will begin at 1:00 p.m.
