Boys tennis team tops East Grand Forks for state berth
Sports | Published on May 24, 2024 at 12:22pm CDT
• Bleick-LeClair win 8A doubles title
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The Minnewaska Area boys tennis team earned a state berth after winning the Section 8A Team Tournament with a 4-3 victory over East Grand Forks last Tuesday at Courts Plus Community Fitness in Fargo, ND.
The Lakers were seeded first and beat Fergus Falls (6-1) and Thief River Falls (6-1) in the first two rounds last Monday before edging the Green Wave in the finals.
Minnewaska Area also improved to 22-3 with the three victories, giving it the most wins in boys tennis program history.
This is also the second trip to state for the Waska boys team. The Lakers also advanced to state in 2022, going 1-2 during the state tourney to place sixth.
The 2022 season was also the year when the Lakers had 21 victories, going 21-7 to set the record for wins in a season until this year.
Two of the members of that team were Connor Quelle and Tenzin Dahl, who currently play first and second singles for the Lakers, but who played second doubles in 2022, picking up the key win during the section tourney.
“It’s been such a fun experience because we have so many young kids on the our team,” coach Tara Reichmann said. “Connor and Tenzin were the only two kids that were on our team that went to state two years ago.
“It’s just so cool to see some younger kids just be able to step in and clinch their victories, which, of course, really lifted everyone’s spirits. It was an exciting match.”
The Lakers also had six members of the team play in the Section Individual Tourney. Riley Thorfinnson and Landon Schiffler played singles and the pairings of Connor Quelle-Tenzin Dahl and Carter LeClair-Drew Bleick competed in doubles.
LeClair and Bleick, who were fourth last season, earned the Section 8A doubles’ title while Quelle and Dahl finished third and didn’t have a chance to play a true-second match.
The State Boys Tennis Tournament is set for June 4-7 at the Read-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.
Section 8A Team
The Lakers survived their first two matches last Monday to reach the championship against East Grand Forks, which was set for last Tuesday.
In the quarterfinals, the Lakers routed Fergus Falls, 6-1, getting a sweep of the four singles’ matches and losing only at first doubles.
Connor Quelle keyed the win with a 6-1, 6-2 victory at first singles, while Tenzin Dahl prevailed 6-0, 6-1 at second singles, Drew Bleick won 6-0, 6-0 at third singles and Carter LeClair earned a 6-2, 6-1 win at fourth singles.
Overall, the Lakers lost just seven total games in the four singles’ matches combined.
In doubles, Landon Schiffler and Marshall Kopp continued their great season with a 6-2, 6-2 victory at second doubles and Carson Beyer and Carter Myrom gave Minnewaska a sixth point with a 6-1, 7-5 win at third doubles.
• The Lakers also beat Thief River Falls in the semifinals, 6-1, getting a sweep of doubles.
Riley Thorfinnson and Tyler Kohn won 6-2, 6-3 at first doubles, Marshall Kopp and Landon Schiffler won their 22nd match together this season with a 6-0, 7-5 victory at second doubles, and Xavier Johnson and Carson Beyer won in three sets at third doubles, 6-2, 3-6, 6-3.
In singles, the Lakers lost at first singles as one of the top players from the section, Jett Cornelius, beat Connor Quelle (6-2, 6-3), but Minnewaska Area countered that with victories at second through fourth singles by Tenzin Dahl (6-4, 6-0), Drew Bleick (6-2, 2-6, 6-4) and Carter LeClair (6-2, 6-3), respectively.
• In the championship match, the Lakers went with their strong singles’ lineup and picked up three points by Tenzin Dahl at second singles (6-4, 6-2), Drew Bleick at third singles (6-1, 6-1) and Carter LeClair at fourth (6-4, 6-2).
However, that meant the Lakers still needed a fourth point from doubles.
East Grand Forks, which won at first singles over Connor Quelle (6-3, 6-2), also picked up straight-set victories at first and second doubles, setting the stage for the match at third doubles.
Eighth-graders Carson Beyer and Xavier Johnson teamed up for a 1-6, 6-1, 6-1 victory at third doubles, giving the Lakers the fourth point they needed and a berth at state
“I don’t think I’ve seen Carson play better than he played during that match,” coach Reichmann said. “He just kind of took over at the net and Xavier just places the ball so well. The two of them just click together and once they clicked, there was really stopping them. They just dominated.”
Section 8A Individuals
The Lakers competed in the Section 8A Individual Tourney last Wednesday and Thursday at Osakis.
Placing first in the doubles tourney were sophomore Drew Bleick and freshman Carter LeClair, who earned the doubles’ title with four-straight wins.
LeClair (28-2) and Bleick (27-4) won their first two matches easily in straight sets before winning in the semifinals over a pair from Detroit Lakes 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4. In the championship, the Lakers were extended to a tiebreaker again before prevailing 6-1, 7-6 (7-5).
Bleick and LeClair are undefeated playing doubles together this year. “Drew and Carter play great as a team and they are very tough to beat,” coach Reichmann said. “It should be fun to see how they do at state.”
Also playing doubles were senior Connor Quelle and junior Tenzin Dahl, who also won their first two matches in routs. In the semifinals, the Laker duo was defeated by the top seed from Perham, 6-2, 7-5.
Quelle (20-11) and Dahl (27-4) came back to win the third-place match 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, but were unable to play for a true-second.
“We were hoping to get two doubles’ teams to the state tourney,” coach Reichmann said. “Connor has been a leader for us for the last few years and we really would have liked him and Tenzin to join Drew and Carter in the state individual tourney, but it just didn’t work out.”
Landon Schiffler and Riley Thorfinnson competed in singles, losing both of their first-round matches. Schiffler (23-6) fell to Nolan Meulebroeck of East Grand Forks, 6-1, 6-1, while Thorfinnson (14-14) lost to Max Mercil, of Detroit Lakes, 6-1, 2-6, 6-3.
Section 8A Team Tourney
Waska 6, Fergus Falls 1
SINGLES results:
(1) Connor Quelle, Min def Jackson Lysne 6-1, 6-2 (2) Tenzin Dahl, Min def Jose Rodriguez 6-0, 6-1 (3) Drew Bleick, Min def Clayton Peppel 6-0, 6-0 (4) Carter LeClair, Min def Leo Scheirer 6-2, 6-1
DOUBLES results:
(1) Lance Johnson-Trey Smith, FF def Riley Thorfinnson-Tyler Kohn 6-4, 6-4 (2) Landon Schiffler-Marshall Kopp, Min def Adrian Blondeau-William Nuss 6-2, 6-2 (3) Carson Beyer-Carter Myrom, Min def William Vaughn-Tyler Heruth 6-1, 7-5
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Waska 6, Thief Riv Falls 1
SINGLES results:
(1) Jett Cornelius, TRF def Connor Quelle 6-2, 6-3 (2) Tenzin Dahl, Min def Spencer Hempel 6-4, 6-0 (3) Drew Bleick, Min def Lucas Rantenen 6-2, 2-6, 6-4 (4) Carter LeClair, Min def Kaleb Funk 6-2, 6-3
DOUBLES results:
(1) Riley Thorfinnson-Tyler Kohn, Min def Noah Burkel-Ike Olson 6-2, 6-3 (2) Marshall Kopp-Landon Schiffler, Min def Nathan Dearth-Jack Dodson 6-0, 7-5 (3) Xavier Johnson-Carson Beyer, Min def Wyatt Williams-Carter Svesgaard 6-2, 3-6, 6-3
Championship
Waska 4, E Grand Forks 3
SINGLES results:
(1) Carson Knutson, EGF def Connor Quelle 6-3, 6-2 (2) Tenzin Dahl, Min def Thomas McMahon 6-4, 6-2 (3) Drew Bleick, Min def Nolan Meulebroeck 6-1, 6-1 (4) Carter LeClair, Min def B. Walter 6-4, 6-2
DOUBLES results:
(1) Luke Hanson-Tate Steenerson, EGF def Tyler Kohn-Riley Thorfinnson 6-0, 6-3 (2) Ryan McMahon-Aaden Wavra, EGF def Marshall Kopp-Landon Schiffler 6-2, 6-3 (3) Carson Beyer-Xavier Johnson, Min def Oliver Kalenze-Austin Kovar 1-6, 6-1, 6-1
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Section 8A Individuals
Minnewaska results
SINGLES results:
• Riley Thorfinnson, Min lost to Max Mercil, DL 6-1, 2-6, 6-3 (eliminated)
• Landon Schiffler, Min lost to Nolan Meulebroeck, EGF 6-1, 6-1 (eliminated)
• Semifinals: Isaac Thomforde, Crookston def Jackson Barber, NLS 6-2, 6-0; Jowell Gamez, NLS def Jett Cornelius, TRF 4-6, 6-2, 6-1
Championship: Thomforde, Crook def Gamez 4-6, 6-0, 7-5 . . . Third place: Barber, NLS def Cornelius 2-6, 6-2, 6-0 . . True second: Gamez, NLS def Barber, NLS 6-2, 6-1
DOUBLES results:
• Connor Quelle-Tenzin Dahl, Min def Clayton Peppel-Jose Rodriguez, FF 6-1, 6-3; def Carson Knutson-Thomas McMahon, EGF 6-3, 6-0
• Drew Bleick-Carter LeClair, Min def Kaleb Funk-Ike Olson, TRF 6-0, 6-2; def Hudson Hackel-Reid Wokasch, Per 6-2, 6-3
• Semifinals: Happel-Wokasch, Perham def Quelle-Dahl, Min 6-2, 7-5; Bleick-LeClair, Min def Buboltz-Winter, DL 6-7 (4-7), 6-4, 6-4
Championship: Bleick-LeClair, Min def Happel-Wokasch 6-1, 7-6 (7-5)
Third place: Quelle-Dahl, Min def Buboltz-Winter 4-6, 6-2, 6-4