NEW LONDON — The Litchfield doubles team Alex Draeger and Tyson Michels won three matches in New London to move into Day 2 of the Section 6A individual tournament.
The second day is Thursday in Pine City. The two top singles players and top two doubles teams advance to the Class A state tournament June 8-11 at St. Cloud Tech High School.
Section 6A
How Litchfield fared
Singles
Mason Woelfel
Woelfel def. Jack Barney, NLS, 6-1 6-0; Carter Reinbold, Mound-Westonka, def. Woelfel 2-6, 6-3, 6-4; Woelfel def. Chandler Hendricks, St. Cloud Cathedral, 6-1
Blake Aller
Reinbold, M-W, def. Aller 6-1 6-2; Aller def. Barney 8-0; Logan Larson, NLS, def. Aller 8-6
Doubles
Alex Draeger/Tyson Michels
Draeger/Michels def. E. Anderson/J. Manar 6-0 6-1; Draeger/Michels def. Alex Brown/Harry Moen, Mound-Westonka, 6-1 6-3; Draeger/Michels def. Nolan Hanson/Dylan Skaja, M-W, 6-1, 6-2
Garrison Jackman/Braden Olson
N. Hanson/D. Skaja def. Jackman/Olson 5-7 6-3 6-0; Jackman/Olson def. Jack Noeldner/Dylan Mueller, NLS, 8-0; Jackman/Olson def. Kyle Denz/Kenneth Schmiesing, NLS, 8-4
How NLS fared
Singles
Logan Larson
Chandler Hendricks, St. Cloud Cathedral, def. Larson 6-3 6-0; Larson def. Matt Gohman, Cathedral 8-1; Larson def. Blake Aller, Litchfield, 8-6;
Jack Barney
Mason Woelfel, Litchfield, def. Barney 6-1 6-0; Aller, Litchfield, def. Barney 8-0; Barney def. Gohman, Cathedral, 9-7
Doubles
Kyle Denz/Kenneth Schmiesing
Alex Brown/Harry Moen, Mound-Westonka, def. Denz/Schmiesing 6-1 6-2; Denz/Schmiesing def. Elliot Anderson/jacob Manar 8-0; Jackman/Olson def. Denz/Schmiesing 8-4
Jack Noeldner/Dylan Mueller
Jonah Prom/Grant Martin, Cathedral, def. Noeldner/Mueller 6-0 6-0; Jackman/Olson def. Noeldner/Mueller 8-0
Section 3A
Yellow Medicine East ’s Ean Clarke earned a spot in the Class A state tournament after taking second place in the Section 3A singles tournament at Redwood Falls.
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Clarke is the first Sting boys tennis player to make state since 2002 with the doubles team of Jason Ford and Mark Sheggaby, according to YME head coach Jeff Lalim.
Clarke won his semifinals match against Luverne’s Griffen Jarchow, 7-5, 6-4. In the finals, Clarke won the first set before eventually falling to section champ Pierce Cunningham of Luverne, 2-6, 7-5, 6-0.
“He had a heck of a battle in the finals,” Lalim said. “In the semis against the other Luverne kid (Jarchow), he took a lot out of Ean.”
In doubles, the Dawson-Boyd/Lac qui Parle Valley duo of Tyler Buer and Wylie Wiebe lost their semifinals match to Luverne’s Blake Frahm and Ben Jarchow, 6-1, 6-0. They finished in fourth place.
The Class A state tournament will be seeded on Monday. The individual tournament will get underway on Thursday, June 10 at St. Cloud Tech High School.
