Kosiorowski is the Home News Tribune Boys Tennis Player of the Year

There were days when Jack Kosiorowski wondered if he’d ever return to his old tennis self. After the St. Joseph High School junior suffered a back injury last summer, he couldn’t exercise for two months and gained about 15 pounds.

“Yeah, some days I had those doubts,” he said. “I really just told myself, ‘All right, if you really want to get back to what you were doing before, you just got to work a lot more harder. You got to stay a lot more disciplined.’”

So Kosiorowski hit the treadmill and practiced shot after shot to transform into a leaner, quicker player. This spring, it all paid off. He captured the Greater Middlesex Conference first singles title and advanced to the third round of the NJSIAA Individual Tournament. For his accomplishments, Kosiorowski is the Home News Tribune Boys Tennis Player of the Year.

READ: MONTOMGERY'S JOSHI IS THE CN TENNIS PLAYER OF THE YEAR

“He’s a workhorse,” St. Joseph tennis coach Tony Clark said. “He’s a beast. He does what it takes to win. … He takes instruction real well, and he’s the hardest worker I’ve ever seen, ever, coaching. He does the little things good and that’s what I think brought him over the edge this year. … He hustles all the time.”

In 2016, Kosiorowski lost in the GMC first singles semifinals in three sets to East Brunswick’s Josh Marchalik, who was a three-time GMCT champ and a former NJSIAA state champ. In the summer, Kosiorowski polished his game with constant playing.

But in mid-August, he suffered back spasms that wiped out any court activity until October. He said it was probably the result of an accumulation of minor back pain that he had for some time. Unlike a broken bone that gets set in a cast with a timetable, Kosiorowski had to go to a chiropractor for treatment and be patient.

He returned in the fall a tad heavier and felt that extra weight right away.

“I was able to tell the difference,” he said. “I was really struggling with a lot of confidence, just coming back after not playing for a while. … I had to basically find myself. Fortunately, it happened before the season started.”

So he ran and rode a bike at the gym and played as much tennis as he could. By February, a few weeks from the start of the season, Kosiorowski finally felt like his old self.

“After I lost the weight, I felt it again in my play,” he said. “I was playing a lot better after that.”

He’s also upped his mental game, staying level-headed in heated moments.

“I improved on that the most since last year,” Kosiorowski said. “Because I remember last year, I would just get mad after every single point that I lost. Sometimes, unfortunately I still do that a little bit, but not as much as I used to.”

READ: Tennis: J.P. Stevens wins fifth-straight GMCT

That was evident in the GMC final against J.P. Stevens freshman Derek Hsieh. Kosiorowski won the first set 6-2 but then lost 6-2. He didn’t get frazzled and calmly came back to take the third set 6-2.

“I admit, he was playing a lot better,” Kosiorowski said. “I just told myself, ‘All right, pretend like you’re playing the first set again. Just keep moving your feet non-stop and you’re going to pull it out.'”

It was a loss, though, that perhaps gave him the most momentum heading into the offseason. In the NJSIAA Individual Tournament, Kosiorowski advanced to the third round where he faced top-seeded Kabir Sarita of West Windsor-Plainsboro South. The St. Joseph player took the first set 6-4, but Sarita pulled out the match by winning the second set 6-1 and the tiebreaker 10-1.

Despite the defeat, Kosiorowski showed that he could serve with the best of them.

“I was pretty pleased with myself,” he said. “Some people didn’t really expect me to do so well against him. But I kind of proved some people wrong. That match gave me a lot of confidence and made me believe that I’m able to play with these players. So it was a good experience.”

Now, he intends to continue playing tournaments and college showcases this summer. Most importantly, he's healthy and fit.

“This is by far the best shape I’ve been in so far,” he said. “Hopefully by the end of this summer, I’ll be in a lot better shape.”

2017 All-GMC TENNIS

(As selected by the league’s coaches)

All-CONFERENCE

Jack Kosiorowski, St. Joseph; Arjun Krishnan, J.P. Stevens; Alex Telson, J.P. Stevens; Nihar Parabhala, J.P. Stevens; Hrishikesh Bopalkar, J.P. Stevens; Ruhan Waghmare, J.P. Stevens; Akshay Khanna, J.P. Stevens; Patrick Lin, Highland Park; Derek Hsieh, J.P. Sevens; Anjor Tripathi, Piscataway; Abhinav Bhamidipati, East Brunswick

ALL-RED DIVISION

Arjun Krishnan, J.P. Stevens; Alex Telson, J.P. Stevens; Nihar Parabhala, J.P. Stevens; Hrishikesh Bopalkar, J.P. Stevens; Ruhan Waghmare, J.P. Stevens; Derek Hsieh, J.P. Sevens; Anjor Tripathi, Piscataway; Abhinav Bhamidipati, East Brunswick; Vikram Manisankar, Monroe; Avi Ranadive, South Brunswick; Akshay Khanna, J.P. Stevens

ALL-WHITE DIVISION

Jack Kosiorowski, St. Joseph (Met.); Wencesloa Lara, North Brunswick; Josh Chen, Highland Park; Jonathan Tayts, Highland Park; Chian-Li Hang, Highland Park; Kevin Lin, Highland Park; Felix Rojas, Highland Park; Patrick Lin, Highland Park; Abhie Maharana, North Brunswick; Krishna Bommu, Iselin Kennedy; Justin Chang, Highland Park

ALL-BLUE DIVISION

Vahid Drazanin, South Amboy; Hubert Maslowski, South Amboy; Jose Silva, Middlesex
Kurt Vogl, Middlesex; Anthony Harnandon, Middlesex; Ramik Rizwan, Metuchen; Anwar DeSantis, Middlesex; Derek Miller, Spotswood; Daniel Pena, South Amboy; Jason Vallejo, Dunellen; George Lescano, Dunellen