Schaumburg, IL, WPH Press, 1/18/26
The Illinois Handball Association and tournament director Dave Munson proudly presented the 2026 IHA Men’s and Women’s State Singles at Schaumburg Tennis Plus, featuring 90 players in the most prestigious 4-Wall singles event in Illinois.
Men’s Open Singles
Current Race 4 Eight Memorial champion and R48 #5 Ray Ure headlined the IHA State Singles Men’s Open field. Ure was joined by Dave and Mike Munson, Matt Job, Dane Szatkowski, and a number of the Midwest’s top players.
Ray Ure was ruthless in Schaumburg, serving two bagels against a ranked pro in the upper bracket semifinals.
Dave Munson won the “Munson Bowl” in three games, dropping the first game of the bottom bracket semifinals and storming back to defeat his brother Mike in the next two to meet Ure in the final.
Munson gave his faithful following hope at the start of the final, striking two diving kills and forcing several Ure errors to lead 6-1. The Munson Maniacs were silenced after Dave’s strong start, as they and Dave watched helplessly as Ure struck unreturnable laser serves down the right, crushed deep court kills, and ran down Munson’s best shots. Ure ended the first game on a 20-1 run and continued to dominate in the second to seize the 2026 IHA state title.
Semifinals
Ure def Job 21-0, 21-0
D. Munson def M. Munson 18-21, 21-1, 11-6
Final: Ure def D. Munson 21-7, 21-5
Watch the IHA Men’s Final HERE
Women’s Open Singles
Lake Forest’s Emma Kinane entered the IHA Women’s Open Singles as the top seed. Kinane would face a strong field that included Ireland’s Hannah Grace, Izzy Klicker, Carly Munson, and Audrey Peters.
The top two seeds met in the final, as Kinane defeated Carly Munson in two games and Grace defeated Klicker in two games in the semifinals.
Kinane and Grace played the match of the tournament in the final, with Grace taking the first game and Kinane rallying to force a tiebreaker. After one hour and forty minutes of play, the match was tied at 8-8 in the third, with nearly every rally extending past 15 shots. Kinane surged in the final stretch of the match, scoring the final five points to claim the IHA state title.
Semifinals
Kinane def Munson 21-16, 21-12
Grace def Klicker 21-11, 21-12
Final: Kinane def Grace 13-21, 21-14, 11-8
Watch the Women’s Final HERE
Thank you to the IHA and tournament director Dave Munson for a great event.
Watch the matches from the 2026 IHA State Singles on the Illinois Handball YouTube page HERE
Follow all of the results from the 2026 IHA Men’s and Women’s State Singles HERE
David Fink
WPH Senior Writer