Loyola Academy’s Zach Holecek controls the ball during action against De LA Salle last week. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER
Loyola Academy boys water polo players were lifting weights one day when a Q-and-A session about chess interrupted their reps.
A Rambler had a question for senior driver/chess whiz Zach Holecek, who held court between a bench and barbells. Holecek — a Lincolnshire resident who earned four varsity swimming letters and played his first water polo game in his sophomore year — was a chess tournament player with a top-50 national ranking as a freshman.
“I was there then, listening to Zach talk chess,” Loyola Academy water polo coach Daniel Hengelmann recalled on March 29, when his crew thumped visiting De La Salle 11-4. “I can’t play chess, but I was engaged as Zach spoke. I love hearing people talk about strategy, no matter what the subject is.
“I like to be around people when their wheels are turning.”
Holecek’s sharp mind above water-polo water forced Hengelmann to keep him in the water before the midway point of last spring’s season. Speed and toughness helped, too.
You can’t teach the ability to anticipate.
Holecek has that knack — in spades (and rooks and bishops).
And he uses it to his advantage, be it in a chair or in chlorinated water.
The Checkmate Kid is adept at checking for open — and cutting — mates.
“He’s got great vision, and he was seeing things and creating opportunities for himself [last year],” Hengelmann said. “We had a senior-laden team, but Zach worked his way into our starting lineup and stayed there.”
Holecek and friend Brendan Egan started a chess club at Loyola Academy. It meets once, sometimes twice, a week in an architecture classroom, which is home to expansive tables.
“Dedication and recognizing what’s going on during games,” Holecek said of the keys to success in chess.
Water polo, as well.
The 6-foot-1, 165-pound Holecek, a tri-captain, tossed in four goals — matching teammate John Merucci’s total — in LA’s 14-7 defeat of St. Rita on March 15. His goal at the 4:43 mark of the second quarter, in the De La Salle game, was the Ramblers’ third in a span of 1:48 and gave the hosts a 6-0 lead.
LA (7-5-2) went 2-2 at the York Invitational in Elmhurst last weekend, three weeks after taking runner-up honors at the nine-team Palatine Invite.
“Zach is fast, with a lethal shot and a pretty good shooting percentage,” said Ramblers senior driver Cole Morgan, another tri-captain who made his water-polo debut as a sophomore. “He’s more physical this year, more confident, and he’s one of our leaders. As a leader, he is not loud. His leadership style is a one-on-one kind, more of a personal kind, with an emphasis on being helpful and encouraging.”
Holecek came up with the varsity swimming team’s motto, “Stay Tropical,” this past winter, but he didn’t create it intentionally. The temperature of the home water at practice one day wasn’t its usual cold.
“It was really cold,” recalled Holecek, whose uncle, John Holecek, is Loyola Academy’s head varsity football coach. “When we were warming up, I told the guys, ‘Stay tropical.’ ”
That led to Hawaiian Shirt day. All of the Ramblers showed up for a practice wearing loud, garish suits. Holecek took the theme of the day to another level by toting a boogie surf board as he entered the natatorium.
“Stay Tropical” stuck.
The boys, you could surmise, warmed up to it.
The highlight of Holecek’s final prep swimming season was the Ramblers’ championship effort at the Metro Catholic Athletic Conference Meet, where he touched fifth in the 100-yard butterfly and helped LA’s 200 medley relay medal.
“Our coach [Mike Hengelmann, Daniel’s brother] told us before the meet, ‘We can win this,’ ” Holecek said. “We believed him and then went out there and did it.”
The field of engineering interests Holecek, who is considering Princeton, Notre Dame and Purdue. But before settling on a college, there are polo games to be won, chess opponents to conquer.
Holecek is game.
And he’ll go about his business in both arenas like he always has: quietly and humbly and intellectually.
“I like Zach’s chess mentality when he plays polo,” Daniel Hengelmann said. “It’s like he’s a step ahead of a lot of others in the water. He’s well aware of how plays should develop. Back to his junior year, I remember noticing he always seemed to be in the right place at the right time. He’s doing the same thing this season.
“So fast, so long,” the coach added. “So smart.”
Notable: Loyola Academy beat Mundelein and Niles West but lost to New Trier and Lyons Township at the York Invite in Elmhurst March 31-April 1. … LA’s John Merucci poured in four goals in an 11-4 defeat of visiting De La Salle on March 29. His first goal — at the 6:31 mark of the second quarter — barely beat the 30-second shot clock. Cole Morgan and Charlie Freedman tallied two goals apiece for the victors, as LA improved to 3-2 in the Metro Catholic Athletic Conference (MCAC). The winning goalie was senior Nathaniel Guenther. … LA freshman goalie Jake Carr finished with a combined 30 saves, two assists and seven steals as the Ramblers placed second at the Palatine Invite last month. LA’s Tony Spallone had a team-high 16 goals in the tourney. … Loyola Academy’s Charlie Caestecker accounted for three goals in a 14-7 defeat of St. Rita. The win evened LA’s MCAC record at 1-1. … Morgan, senior Zach Holecek and Quinn Carr are serving as LA’s tri-captains this spring. Morgan is looking at Rice, USC and Washington University in St. Louis.
Zach Holecek. PHOTOGRAPHY BY GEORGE PFOERTNER