Boys tennis roundup: NLS Wildcats advance to Section 8A championship

CROOKSTON — Third-seeded New London-Spicer advanced to the Section 8A championship after beating seventh-seeded Perham on Monday.

In the quarterfinals, the Wildcats opened the postseason with a win over No. 6 East Grand Forks.

The Yellowjackets opened the quarterfinals with a 4-3 victory over No. 2 Crookston.

NLS went 2-for-3 in doubles play against Perham. Jack Barney and Ethan Spors won at No. 1 doubles with a 6-0, 6-1 win against Michael Anderson and Hudson Hackel. Then at No. 3 doubles, Austin Okuly and Jackson Barber locked up a 6-1, 6-1 victory against Noah Brasel and Sam Brown.

The Wildcats got singles wins from Kenneth Schmiesing and Jowell Gamez at Nos. 1 and 2, respectively.

“What a day,” said NLS head coach Chad Schmiesing. “We barely snuck by East Grand Forks. We were down 0-3 and came back to win 4-3.”

It was a similar story in the semifinals. The match was tied 3-3 with Perham before the Wildcats prevailed.

NLS faces top-seeded Thief River Falls in the section championship 9 a.m. Tuesday back in Crookston. The Prowlers opened with a 6-1 win over No. 8 Osakis, then a 5-2 victory against No. 5 Fergus Falls. Following the section championship, the individual tournament for Section 8A begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday.

At singles, Schmiesing has the No. 4 seed and plays No. 13 Nick Flugstad of Fergus Falls. Jowell Gamez has the No. 6 seed and plays No. 11 Ryan McMahon of East Grand Forks.

At doubles, Barney and Spors have the No. 4 seed and will compete against No. 13 Bryce Moen and Micah Moore of Osakis. Josh Soto and Sam Gamez have the No. 15 seed and take on No. 2 Rhett and Reece Janisch of Thief River Falls.

Singles
(1) Kenneth Schmiesing, NLS, def Jack Birkeland 6-2, 6-2 … (2) Jowell Gamez, NLS, def Mason Happel 6-7, 6-0, ret. … (3) Brekken Wokasch, P, def Joe Brouwer 6-0, 6-0 … (4) Soren Anderson, P, def Owen Lee 6-0, 6-3

Doubles
(1) Jack Barney/Ethan Spors, NLS, def Michael Anderson/Hudson Hackel 6-0, 6-1 … (2) Maddax Happel/Reid Wokasch, P, def Josh Soto/Sam Gamez 6-1, 4-6, 6-0 … (3) Austin Okuly/Jackson Barber, NLS, def Noah Brasel/Sam Brown 6-1, 6-1

Singles
(1) Kennedy Schmiesing, NLS, def Carson Knutson 6-0, 6-0 … (2) Jowell Gamez, NLS, def Thomas McMahon 6-3, 6-2 … (3) Nolan Meulebroeck, EGF, def Joe Brouwer 6-4, 6-4 … (4) Ryan McMahon, EGF, def Owen Lee 6-2, 6-1

Doubles
(1) Jack Barney/Ethan Spors, NLS, def Jeb Haaven-Farstad/Trey D’Heilly 7-5, 6-2 … (2) Tate Steenerson/Luke Hanson, EGF, def Josh Soto/Sam Gamez 6-1, 4-6, 6-1 … (3) Austin Okuly/Jackson Barber, NLS, def Austin Kovar/Bauer Walter 6-2, 6-7, 6-3

Going 3-1 in singles play, fifth-seeded Fergus Falls took out fourth-seeded Minnewaska in the Section 8A team quarterfinals in Crookston.

The Lakers’ lone singles win came at No. 1. Connor Quelle beat the Otters’ Grant Ackerson 6-3, 6-3.

In No. 2 doubles, Fergus Falls pulled off a three-set victory. The Otters’ Christian Reed and Aiden Shern defeated the Lakers’ Riley Thorfinnson and Tyler Kohn, 2-6, 7-5, 6-3.

Section 8A individual play begins at 11 a.m. Tuesday at Crookston.

At singles, Thorfinnson has the No. 12 seed and will face No. 5 Jack Birkeland of Perham. Landon Schiffler will be the No. 15 seed up against No. 2 Jett Cornelius of Thief River Falls.

At doubles, Drew Bleick and Carter LeClair will be the No. 2 seed up against Perham’s Michael Anderson and Hudson Hackel, who are the 12th seed. Quelle and Tenzin Dahl come in at No. 3 and will face No. 14 Tate Steenerson and Jeb Haaven-Farstad of East Grand Forks.

Singles
(1) Connor Quelle, M, def Grant Ackerson 6-3, 6-3 … (2) Reno Schierer, FF, def Tenzin Dahl 6-1, 7-6 … (3) Ethan Leopold, FF, def Noah Palmer 6-4, 7-6 … (4) Jackson Lysne, FF, def Carson Beyer 6-0, 6-0 

Doubles
(1) Carter LeClair/Drew Bleick, M, def Joey Johnson/Nick Flugstad 6-3, 6-2 … (2) Christian Reed/Aiden Shern, FF, def Riley Thorfinnson/Tyler Kohn 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 … (3) Marshall Kopp/Landon Schiffler, M, def Peyton Marquette/Jose Rodriguez 4-6, 6-4, 6-2

Top-seeded Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg won five matches in straight sets and recorded two forfeit victories to beat No. 8 Luverne in the Section 3A quarterfinals at Benson.

Benson plays Lac quI Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd in the semifinals.

The semifinals begin at noon Tuesday at Redwood Valley High School in Redwood Falls. The championship game follows with the semifinal winners playing for a state tournament berth.

Singles
(1) Hunter LeClair, B/KMS, def. Ethan Nath 6-4 6-2 … (2) Blake Brehmer, B/KMS, def. Parker Carbonneau 6-3 6-2 … (3) Max Young, B/KMS, def. Ross Bergman 6-0 6-0 … (4) Alex Carlson, B/KMS, def. forfeit

Doubles
(1) Harold Habben/Isaac Carlson, B/KMS def. Caleb Kracht/Zander Carbonneau 6-0 6-2 … (2) Logan Schauer/Jonathan Ilstrup, B/KMS, def. Elijah Henrichs/Austin Sandbulte 6-0 6-0 … (3) Joey Wilcox/Carson Petrak, B/KMS, def. forfeit

Four-seeded Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd advanced to the semifinals with a victory over No. 5 MACCRAY at Madison.

LQPV/D-B swept singles play and won at No. 1 doubles to beat the Blackjacks.

Jackson Buer at No. 1, Gavin Stulz and No. 2, Matthew Martinson at No. 3 and Broady Nelson at No. 4 earned straight-set victories in singles.

Gunnar Olson and Luke Stock beat Willie Miller and Andy Osario 6-1, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles.

Singles
(1) Jackson Buer, LQPV/D-B, def. Josiah Seehusen 6-1 6-1 … (2) Gavin Stulz, LQPV/D-B, def. Daniel Seehusen 6-3 6-1 … (3) Matthew Martinson, LQPV/D-B, def. Andre Gates 6-0 6-1 … (4) Broady Nelson, LQPV/D-B, def. Dylan Hardebeck 6-4 6-0

Doubles
(1) Gunnar Olson/Luke Stock, LQPV/D-B, def. Willie Miller/Andy Osario 6-1 6-4 … (2) Josh Castaneda/Juan Del Bosque, M, def. Mitchell Myers/Brody Bothun 6-2 4-6 7-5 … (3) Hugo Vargas/Mike Cisneros, M, def. Tony Reep/Gannon Andrews 7-5 6-0

Third-seeded Montevideo advanced to the semifinals after beating sixth-seeded Yellow Medicine East at Montevideo. The Thunder Hawks face No. 2 seed Redwood Valley in the semis. The Cardinals advanced with a 7-0 win over No. 7 Pipestone.

Montevideo went 3-0 in doubles play while not dropping a set. The No. 1 pairing of Andrew Soden and Connor Hagen won 6-0, 6-2. Sam Ostendorf and Kyle Canatsey lost just one point at No. 2 doubles, 6-0, 6-1.

YME’s lone win came from Ryan Syring. He won 6-2, 6-0 over Tyson Quigley at No. 1 singles.

Singles
(1) Ryan Syring, YME, def Tyson Quigley 6-2, 6-0 … (2) Simon Fitzkappes, M, def Karter Canatsey 6-0, 6-0 … (3) Gabriel Lindemann, M, def Liam Hadfield 6-2, 6-0 … (4) Talan Brock, M, def Evan Christianson 6-0, 6-0 

Doubles
(1) Andrew Soden/Connor Hagen, M, def Gage Corner/Ryan Brouwer 6-0, 6-2 … (2) Sam Ostendorf/Kyle Canatsey, M, def Devin Ladwig/Mathias Vonderharr 6-0, 6-1 … (3) Nick Kluver/Jackson Viessman, M, def Cyril Chase-Pendleton/Hlaing Aung 6-3, 6-3

Top-seeded Litchfield was eliminated from the Section 2A tournament with the loss to St. Peter in the Section 2A championship at the Swanson Tennis Center on the Gustavus Adolphus College campus in St. Peter.

St. Peter advances to the state Class A team tournament June 6 at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

Litchfield’s points game at Nos. 1, 2 and 4 singles, where Alex Draeger, Braden Olson and Nathan Wuotila recorded victories, respectively. Wuotila beat St. Peter’s Ezekiel Ribar 2-6, 7-5, 6-1.

St. Peter then swept the doubles. The Saints’ toughest points came at Nos. 1 and 2 doubles. St. Peter’s Anders Dixon and Will Elias beat Tyler Pennertz and Josh Blomberg 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 at No. 1. At No. 2, Quinn Dixon and Ben Taylors defeated the Dragons’ Gray Nelson and Dawson Richardson 6-1, 6-7, 6-4.

Top-seeded Litchfield advanced by beating No. 4 Southwest Christian 7-0. Southwest Christian beat No. 5 St. James 7-0. Second-seeded St. Peter beat No. 3 Holy Family Catholic 6-1. St. Peter beat No. 7 Farimont and Holy Family Catholic defeated No. 6 Blue Earth 5-2.

The Section 2A individual tournament begins Wednesday at the Swanson Tennis Center and concludes Thursday.

Singles
(1) Alex Draeger, L, def. Marty Anderson 6-3 6-1 … (2) Braden Olson, L, def. Tyson Schmitz 4-6 7-5 6-2 … (3) Colten Ables, SP, def. Lincoln Dille 6-1 6-0 … (4) Nathan Wuotila, L, def. Ezekiel Ribar 2-6 7-5 6-1

Doubles
(1) Anders Dixon/Will Elias, SP, def. Tyler Pennertz/Josh Blomberg 6-2 4-6 6-2 … (2) Quinn Dixon/Ben Taylors, SP, def. Gray Nelson/Dawson Richardson 6-1 6-7 6-4 … (3) Luke Gilbertson/Magnus Soderlund, SP, def. Alex Nelson/Mathias Bruning 6-2 6-2

Singles
(1) Alex Draeger, L, def. Sean Johnson 6-1 6-0 … (2) Braden Olson, L, def. Mateo Schneibel 6-1 6-1 … (3) Lincoln Dille, L, def. Daniel Bozanich 6-4 6-2 … (4) Nathan Wuotila, L, def. Matthew Brands 6-0 6-7(3) 14-12

Doubles
(1) Tyler Pennertz/Josh Blomberg, L, def. Garrett Lyles/Benny Strain 6-7(5) 6-4 10-4 … (2) Gray Nelson/Dawson Richardson, L, def. Cameron Thomas/Evan Johnson 6-2 6-4 … (3) Alex Nelson/Mathias Bruning, L, def. Austin Kimble/Brock Walmer 6-0 6-1