LeClair, Bleick, Palmer, Dahl and Quelle lead boys tennis team in wins
Sports | Published on June 19, 2023 at 2:26pm CDT
The Minnewaska Area boys tennis team boys tennis team finished 11-8 this spring, including a 5-1 mark in the WCC to place second behind NLS. The Wildcats, who beat the Lakers in a close match at MAHS, 5-2, finished 6-0 in league play, followed by Minnewaska Area (5-1), Benson-KMS (4-2), Montevideo (3-3), LQP-DB (2-4), MACCRAY-RCW (1-5) and YME (0-6).
The Lakers were seeded fourth in the Section 8A Team Tourney, but fell to fifth-seeded Fergus Falls in the opener, 4-3.
Thief River Falls went on to earn the section title with a 6-1 win over third-seeded NLS.
In the individual tourney, Drew Bleick and Carter LeClair made it to the Section 8A individual semifinals before losing two-straight to finish fourth in the doubles’ tourney.
Connor Quelle and Tenzin Dahl won their first match at sections before being eliminated in the second round, while Riley Thorfinnson and Landon Schiffler played in the singles’ tourney, but lost in the first round.
The only senior lost to graduation from this year’s team is Noah Palmer, who finished the season with an 18-4 overall record playing mostly at third singles.
Season recap
The Lakers had eight players with double-digit wins this season, including the first doubles’ pair of Carter LeClair and Drew Bleick, who both finished the season with a team-best 19-7 records.
Noah Palmer finished 18-4 playing mostly at third singles, while Tenzin Dahl was 17-7 mostly at second singles, Connor Quelle was 14-10 at first singles, Marshall Kopp (13-7) and Landon Schiffler (13-8) mostly at third doubles, and Riley Thorfinnson (10-11) at fourth singles and second doubles.
Overall, the Lakers had 16 players who played at least one varsity match this season and all but one will return for the team next year.
With only Noah Palmer graduating, there will be a lot of competition in the offseason to see who can improve enough to grab the available starting spots in the lineup.
Final Minnewaska boys tennis records
Name Gr W-L
Carter LeClair 8 19-7
Drew Bleick 9 19-7
Noah Palmer 12 18-4
Tenzin Dahl 10 17-7
Connor Quelle 11 14-10
Marshall Kopp 8 13-7
Landon Schiffler 8 13-8
Riley Thorfinnson 10 10-11
Tyler Kohn 8 7-10
Tayte Wasilowski 9 3-6
Xavier Johnson 7 3-4
Tate Hanson 9 3-2
Easton Palmer 7 2-1
Carson Beyer 7 1-3
James Nichtern 9 1-0
Ethan Klick 8 1-0
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