WILLMAR - The Willmar Cardinals are off to a 5-1 start after sweeping their home invite on Saturday, winning 18 of 21 points.
Isaac Yoakum, Drew Corneil and Jarod Swoboda were each 3-0 at the top of the singles line-up. No. 4 Manny Obregon went 2-1, losing vs Monticello on a super tiebreaker.
The Cardinals topped the Magic 5-2, Hutchinson 6-1 and New London-Spicer 7-0.
Also last week, Willmar beat Alexandria and Brainerd after an opening loss to Mankato West on Monday - each match by a one-point differential. The 4-3 win over Brainerd was the Cards’ first vs. the Warriors since the 2007 season.
At doubles Saturday, Tate Hovland/Nick Courtney went 3-0 at the one spot.
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The fast start comes with a bare minimum of outdoor practice.
“We told the kids at the city auditorium that you had better concentrate on working hard here because once the season starts there won’t be much [practice] time to correct things,” said head coach Jim Anderson.
Willmar has two more matches this week prior to Good Friday. Today’s scheduled match against St. Cloud Tech has been postponed due to cold and windy conditions. The Cardinals are slated to play at Sartell on Tuesday and host Fergus Falls on Thursday.
Willmar 5, Monticello 2
Singles
(1) Isaac Yoakum, W, def Frank Hammiller 6-3, 6-4 (2) Drew Corneil, W, def Levi Biasco 6-2, 7-5 (3) Jarod Swoboda, W, def Ryhan Nitz 6-2, 6-1 (4) Dylan Nitz, M, def Manny Obregon 6-4, 3-6 (10-1)
Doubles
(1) Tate Hovland/Nick Courtney, W, def. Logan Bican/TrevorBautch 6-3, 6-1 (2) Tom Kersetter/Nick Revier, W, def Tony Phillips/Chase Olson 7-5, 6-3 (3) Mitch Hayes/Derrick Stoffer, M, def Alex Reynolds/Jordan Wright 6-1, 6-3
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Willmar 6, Hutchinson 1
Singles
(1) Yoakum def Tyler Wambeke 6-4, 7-6 (7-1) (2) Corneil def Ben McKimm 6-4, 6-1 (3) Swoboda def Joey Muller 6-4, 6-0 (4) Obregon def Ryan Schmidt 6-1, 6-0
Doubles
(1) Hovland/Courtney def Alex Jing/Jake Lenz 7-6 (7-2), 6-1 (2) Mitch Koelln/Alex Messner, H, def Kersetter/Revier 7-5, 3-6 (10-5) (3) Reynolds/Wright def Mason Hoel/Colin McKimm 7-5, 6-2
Willmar 7, NLS 0
Singles
(1)Yoakum def Cody Treptau 6-4, 6-1 (2) Corneil def Eli Nelson 6-0, 6-1 (3) Swoboda Jonny Jacobson 6-1, 6-3 (4) Obregon def Alex Meder 6-1, 6-0
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Doubles
(1) Hovland/Courtney def Logan Eckhoff/Ethan Chvala 6-1, 6-0 (2) Kersetter/Revier def Lucas Rogers/Evan VanGulijk 6-1, 6-0 (3) Reynolds/Alec Bateman, W, def Josh Proehl/Ely Rogers 6-1, 6-4
Alexandria Invite
Litchfield’s Mathew Wedin picked up the Dragons’ lone victory Saturday. Wedin defeated Alexandria’s Spencer Vogel at 4-singles but the Dragons lost to the Cardinals 6-1.
Litchfield also lost 7-0 to Becker and Crookston.
Alexandria 6, Litchfield 1
Singles
(1) Devin Crow, W, def. Josh Prahl 6-1 5-7 7-3 (2) Mark Kallevig, A, def. Jordan Carew 6-1 6-3 (3) Brendan Holm, A, def. Zach Kaiser 6-1 6-1 (4) Mathew Wedin, L, def. Spencer Vogel 6-2 1-6 7-6 (7-4)
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Doubles
(1) Andrew Storm/Jack Schneider, A, def. Jon Madsen/Andrew Fisher 6-3, 6-2 (2) Codi Hoffman/Lucas White, A, def. Nick Lundin/Peyton Aller 6-2 3-6 7-3 (3) Chase Hovel/Graham Hepstad, A, def. Shaun O’Leary/Ted Magel 6-0 6-0
Becker 7, Litchfield 0
Singles
(1) Dawson Brown, B, def. Prahl 6-0 6-0 (2) Josiah Borst, B, def. Carew 6-2 6-0 (3) Austin Hill, B, def. Kaiser 6-2 6-2 (4) Jackson Lefebvre, B, def. Wedin 6-2 6-2
Doubles
(1) Eric Tungland/CJ Howard, B, def. Madsen/Fisher 6-1 6-3 (2) Joe Gudim/Josh Duke, B, def. Lundin/Aller 6-1 6-0 (3) Branden Roeme/Tyler Lundquist, B, def. O’Leary/Magel 6-1 6-0
Crookston 7, Litchfield 0
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Singles
(1) Bobby Tiedemann, C, def. Prahl 6-1 6-0 (2) Andy Gregg, C, def. Carew 6-0 6-0 (3) Matt Garmen, C, def. Lundin 6-0 6-0 (4) Jake Widseth, C, def. Aller 6-2 6-2
Doubles
(1) Kal Salentiny/AJ Biermaier, C, def. Madsen/Fisher 6-1 6-0 (2) Harrison Bjorgo/Jacob Roesch, C, def. Kaiser/Wedin 6-1 6-0 (3) Elijah Phaiah/Adam Erickson, C, def. O’Leary/Jordan Green 6-2 6-1
