Three in a row for Wildcat tennis

Eagan boys win Class 3AA tourney, sweeping every match

Are Eagan’s players happy about reaching the state boys tennis tournament for the third consecutive year?

Of course. Who wouldn’t be?

Are they satisfied they made it again?

That is so last year.

“In previous years, getting to state was the goal,” coach Jordon Stevens said following the Wildcats’ 7-0 victory over Two Rivers in the Section 3AA championship match May 17. “We’re excited to win this match, obviously, but we want to take a match at state as well. We’re looking forward to that.”

“One of our goals this season was making sure we took every practice and match seriously to make sure we were improving for state, so we could hopefully win a match there,” said senior captain Omer Mitha, one of the Wildcats’ doubles players.

Whether they can win a match at the state tournament is yet to be determined. The Class AA team competition doesn’t start until June 4 at the University of Minnesota Baseline Tennis Center, and the Wildcats won’t know their first-round opponent until next week.

What is known is they’re one of the hottest teams in Class AA. Eagan, which was tied for ninth in the final state regular-season rankings, is 17-3 in team competition and has lost only once since April 6. The team cruised to its third consecutive Section 3AA championship, winning all three of its matches 7-0.

A May 6 non-conference match against Orono, the team that shared ninth place in the Class AA rankings with Eagan, was big from a confidence standpoint. The Wildcats have been able to hammer some opponents with a strong singles lineup, but against Orono they won all three doubles matches and No. 4 singles in a 4-3 victory.

“We fell short against them last year, but we knew we were improved and we were able to win the doubles. That’s something we’ve really been focused on,” Mitha said.

“Omer won that match for us by saving five match points,” said senior Owen Heidtke, Eagan’s No. 1 singles player.

The Wildcats’ ability to take the point in any of the seven singles and doubles matches is a benefit – and something they haven’t always had, Stevens said.

“We’ve won matches in various configurations,” the coach said. “Sometimes we’ve swept the singles and lost all the doubles. Against Orono, we eked out one of the singles and won all the doubles. We’re able to get points everywhere.”

Owen Heidtke, Carter Michaels, Jack Gustafson and Will Heidtke have been mainstays in the singles lineup. Senior Luke Poppinga and eighth-grader Will Gleason have formed an effective No. 1 doubles team. The teams of Mitha and Jacob Braginsky (second doubles) and Sowmik Garishakurti and Blake Prouty (third doubles) were undefeated in the section team tourney.

Overall, it’s probably a stronger lineup than last season because the Wildcats were able to adequately replace the two seniors in last year’s postseason team lineup, Stevens said.

“We got stronger during the off-season and our doubles definitely stepped up,” Stevens said. “Guys who played exhibition or JV last year came up and did a really good job.”

Having most of last year’s team back helped Eagan get a fast start on preparing for the 2024 season, Owen Heidtke said.

“We played a lot of tournaments in the off-season and started captains’ practice three months out,” he added. “It’s been a lot of team bonding and just working together to improve.

“We worked on the mental side of things and built a strong community. It’s just knowing that not only are we going to win, but the guys next to us are going to win, too. We’re all strong and we’re going to win together.”

Michaels and Gustafson are Eagan’s entries in the Section 3AA singles tournament that was to start Tuesday at Two Rivers. The Heidtke brothers, who qualified for state as a doubles team last year, are giving it another shot this year. Poppinga and Gleason also are entered in the section doubles tourney.

The Class AA team tournament will be June 4-5, with the singles and doubles tournaments June 6-7.