EDWARDSVILLE – Marquette Catholic's Daniel McCluskey battled his way through the consolation bracket to take the consolation title Sunday afternoon in the Tiger Classic tournament presented by Leskera Law Firm and Scott Credit Union, defeating Drake Schrieber of Lebanon 7-6, 6-1 in the consolation bracket final. McCluskey went to the consolation bracket after falling to eventual champion Leonardo DaSilva of O'Fallon in three sets of the second round of the main draw.
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“It's a good feeling,” McCluskey, a rising junior at MCHS, said. “it's fun playing in this (tournament). I'm playing in a lot of tournaments and preparing for next season and hopefully be more prepared if I go back to state (the IHSA Class 1A state tournament) next year; that's the goal.”
Prior to this past weekend, McCluskey played in a doubles tournament with Explorer teammate A.J. Bower, in a USTA futures qualifying tournament at Dwight Davis Tennis Center at Forest Park in St. Louis and the Alton Closed tournament; starting Tuesday, he'll be playing in the Alton Closed doubles tournament. “We just sign up for them as we go,” McCluskey said. “Hopefully every week or every other week, we're going to play in one and hopefully keep getting better.”
McCluskey's goal over the summer is a simple one. “I just want to keep getting better as a player,” McCluskey said, “get better with strokes, shot selection, better serve, more consistency and so forth.
“It was a lot of fun to play (in the Tiger Classic); being consolation champion is a good achievement.”
