Sweeney, Youel have winning history

Sam Sweeney and Gabe Youel share a laugh in between sets during the County Tennis Tournament at Crystal Lake South High School on July 17, 2009. Sweeney and Youel have been playing doubles in the tournament for 11 consecutive years. (Lauren M. Anderson – landerson@nwherald.com)

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When Sam Sweeney and Gabe Youel took to the tennis court Friday in the McHenry County Classic’s men’s open doubles competition, it was their 11th consecutive appearance as doubles partners in the tournament after meeting at the Classic as fifth-graders. 

During the past 11 years, the pair have become best friends and each has gone on to significant athletic success – Sweeney in tennis and Youel in wrestling.

Both attend North Central College in Naperville, where Youel earned All-America status in wrestling and placed fourth at this year’s Division III national championships. Sweeney finished the spring season ranked No. 15 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association’s Central Region rankings with a 21-2 record for the Cardinals at No. 1 singles.

This year, Sweeney has won the Classic’s men’s open championship for the fourth consecutive year and the mixed doubles title with Kathleen Pudlo. The tournament takes place at Crystal Lake’s three high schools: Crystal Lake Central, Crystal Lake South and Prairie Ridge.

Youel claims that he was the better tennis player when he met Sweeney. Sweeney acknowledges that the two were at least even early on but said that didn’t last for long. 

“It was probably a year,” Sweeney said this week before a practice session with Youel.

“Give me a year and a half, come on,” Youel said in mock disgust.

Who was better was a major point of contention between the two when they were younger.

 “We used to keep a journal for a couple of summers,” Youel said.  “We’d write down scores, and then we had to sign it.”

The necessity for a signature verification also was a bone of contention between the two.

“Gabe was writing in some wins he didn’t have, so we decided we both had to sign it,” Sweeney said.

Despite the competition, Youel said the longevity of the friendship does not have anything to do with athletics. He cites having the same value system and both having a good sense of humor as important factors.

“We do a ton of stuff together. We get along on a lot of levels,” he said. “We just have a good time.”

After receiving a first-round bye in this year’s tournament, Sweeney and Youel lost to Michael O’Neil and Barry Saltzman, 2-6, 6-1, 6-3, in the men’s open division quarterfinals Friday. The open division is the only doubles title the two have yet to win. They have won championships in the 12-, 15-, and 18-year-old divisions.

Like the friendship, playing in the Classic is as much about camaraderie as it is about competition.

 “We do it because it’s fun,” Youel said. “It’s enjoyable to compete together.”

Sweeney still has a competitive streak with his friend, though. After the college tennis season, Sweeney bet Youel that he could beat him in tennis playing on one foot. As a measure of their competitive nature, the two actually played the match with Sweeney hopping around on one foot.

“Of course, he lost horribly,” Youel said with some satisfaction.