Mehilos Dominant at Gordon Park Handball Tournament

Bill Mehilos' training paid off big time.

The Des Plaines handballer has frequently found himself runner-up to his friend and rival Dane Szatkowski, of Itasca, over the past few years.

But on the final day of the La Grange Park District 21st Annual Three-Wall Handball Tournament at Gordon Park July 15th - 18th, it was all Mehilos' show as he easily defeated Szatkowski in both the open singles and open doubles finals, claiming a $750 prize, along with $500 to split with doubles partner Marco Lemus of Chicago.

Mehilos was deadly, sprawling across the concrete courts to keep rallies alive before ending them with kill shots that connected mere inches high on the back wall, all en route to a 21-15, 21-2 thrashing of his rival. When joined by Lemus, against a duo of Szatkowskis—Dane and his brother Adam—the scores shifted little: 21-12, 21-3 in favor of Mehilos's team.

"Dane [Szatkowski]'s on his way towards getting back in shape and I've been training really hard for a while," said Mehilos. "He just didn't have the energy to get [the ball] to the ceiling today, and I had to make him pay for it, or he would have made me pay later."

Though playing well up until the finals, the favored Szatkowski struggled to make strong contact, frequently shanking shots from deep in the court, and hitting weak lobs that Mehilos regularly punished. He got no help from a jokey gimmick: a T-shirt mocking the Chicago Cubs, of whom Mehilos is an ardent fan.

"When you get tired, your legs don't get you to the right spot, and you miss," said Szatkowski, who took home a $250 singles second-place prize, and split the doubles $250 prize with his brother. "This is his first year getting me in a long time, so it's time for me to get back in shape and beat him."

Both Mehilos and Szatkowski are ranked in the 1oth-20th range worldwide for three-wall players. Last year's champion, No. 1-ranked Irishman Paul Brady, did not defend his title.

Ninety-five players competed across seven divisions of play, which also included A singles, B doubles, master A doubles, master B doubles, and 120 doubles—in which the combined ages of the two players had to meet or exceed 120.

Of the 95 players in competition, only one—Megan Mehilos, a former women's three-wall world champion—was female. She advanced to the second stage of the A singles before being knocked out.

Two finals went to three games. In the A singles bracket, the unseeded Matt Recker of St. Louis surprised by upsetting No. 2-seed Chicago local Greg Kolerich, 21-7, 7-21, 11-7. At the master B doubles final, Mike Evon of Wheaton and Bill Moritz of Palos Hills came back in a lengthy duel against Mike Zahorik of La Grange—who organized the tournament—and Kevin Nealis of Chicago, 7-21, 21-9, 21-3.

International team Brant Bidegain of San Diego, Calif., and John Audet of Niagara Falls, Ontario, took the B doubles final over Munster, Ind., residents Cary Dohman and Mike Dorneker, 21-18, 21-10. In master A doubles, Bob Androwski of Streamwood and Kevin Hill of Indianapolis beat Dave Dohman of Munster and Tim Sterrett of Oak Park, 21-13, 21-14.

Finally, in the 120 doubles division, Sean Conneeley of Palos Hills and Ray Zielinski of Burr Ridge triumphed 21-15, 21-13 over John Bercher of Addison and Frank Minik of La Grange.

The Chicago area is a hub for the otherwise little-known sport of three-wall handball, also called American handball to differentiate it from Olympic handball, which is a team sport with goals. Three-wall handball is more closely related to racquetball (in fact, the four-wall version is played in a racquetball court,) but is played without racquets. A one-wall version can also be played.

"We have some of the better players in the country at this tournament," said Mike Zahorik, the La Grange man who competed in and organized the tournament. "Chicago, if you look historically, is one of the few places [in the world] that had three-wall courts. Down at Rainbow Beach [in Chicago,] there have been three-wall courts since the '60s."

And along with Szatkowski—who will be out for friendly revenge—Zahorik is looking forward to the 22nd annual tournament in 2011.