New look Prowlers drop close duals to Minnewaska, Moorhead

by Scott DCamp Sports Editor Defending Section 8A boys tennis champion Thief River Falls featured several new faces in its varsity lineup during the season-opener Thursday afternoon at Courts Plus in Fargo, N.D. The Prowlers suffered a pair of 4-3 losses to Minnewaska Area and Moorhead. Head Coach Shawna Spears is in her third season at the helm of the boys tennis team. The first day of practice was Monday, March 25 and the season began three days later. “Our team made lots of adjustments from losing five seniors last year, having to fill both one doubles spots, a two doubles spot, and the one singles spot,” Spears said. “Jett Cornelius confidently stepped up and into the one singles spot, which had Spencer [Hempel] move up to two singles. Lucas [Rantanen] played two doubles last year, so his transition was smooth to one doubles. We put Noah Burkel at one doubles with Lucas, Ike Olson and Carter Svendsgaard at two doubles, and Wyatt Williams and Nathan Dearth at three doubles. Then for singles, we slid Kaleb Funk over to three singles, and Ian Lundeen filled in at four singles.” Raynee Bruggeman, Sebastian Baltierra, and Luquis Moser rounded out the opening day roster competing in varsity exhibition matches. “We brought in some experience through some of these boys but at very different positions,” Spears said. “Noah and Wyatt played lots of exhibition doubles last year, so they are stepping up. Ike and Kaleb were our three doubles, so Ike moved up and Kaleb took a new direction with the singles. Otherwise, the rest of our team is pretty young.” The Prowlers and Lakers split singles matches in the opening dual, with Cornelius and Hempel claiming wins in the one and two spots. Cornelius was a 6-2, 6-2 winner over Connor Quelle, while Hempel defeated Drew Bleick 6-0, 7-6 in straight sets. The Lakers countered with wins from Tenzin Dahl over Funk in the three spot, and Ethan Klick over Lundeen, who made his varsity debut, in the number four spot. On the doubles side, the Prowlers got a win from Rantanen and Burkel over Riley Thorfinnson and Tayte Wasilowski, but that would be it. The Lakers took the second and third doubles matches with Marshall Kopp and Landon Schiffler defeating Olson and Svendsgaard in the two spot, and Easton Palmer and Xavier Johnson defeating the duo of Williams and Dearth in the number three spot. “We tried out some new things to see what we can do,” Spears said. “We have lots of determined and hard working boys, but without being fully out on the courts, we can’t see the full potential each one has quite yet. We still have lots of time to experiment and see what else we can do with the talent that we have. We saw lots of good things, and lots of things that we can improve and practice. Again, for being only the fourth day of the season, the boys all did a great job performing.” The Prowlers had similar results in the afternoon’s final dual. Cornelius and Hempel picked up singles wins, and the number three doubles team of Williams and Dearth picked up the lone doubles win against the Spuds. The Spuds got wins in the number three and four singles spots and top two doubles spots to clinch the dual. The dual ultimately came down to the number one doubles match, with the Moorhead tandem of Brody Hansen and Fi Kjos defeating Rantanen and Burkel in three sets 6-2, 7-6, 7-4. “Overall play was done well,” Spears said. “Practice was a little funky and it was only three days of it before the match, so still a little fresh for some with the winter season. But for being a young team and not a lot of court time, we were very impressed with the level of competition that the boys brought. “We just lost 3-4 to two good teams and it was nice being able to get some tennis in. It definitely got the excitement sparked in us all and gave the boys some good motivation as we get the season fired up with week two.” Minnewaska Area 4, Thief River Falls 3 Singles: No. 1 - Jett Cornelius, Thief River Falls def. Connor Quelle, Minnewaska, 6-2, 6-2; No. 2 - Spencer Hempel, Thief River Falls def. Drew Bleick, Minnewaska, 6-0, 7-6 (6); No. 3 - Tenzin Dahl, Minnewaska def. Kaleb Funk, Thief River Falls, 6-1, 6-0; No. 4 - Ethan Klick, Minnewaska def. Ian Lundeen, Thief River Falls, 6-3, 6-1; Doubles: No. 1 - Lucas Rantanen/Noah Burkel, Thief River Falls def. Riley Thorfinnson/Tayte Wasilowski, Minnewaska, 6-1, 6-1; No. 2 - Marshall Kopp/Landon Schiffler, Minnewaska def. Ike Olson/Carter Svendsgaard, Thief River Falls, 6-2, 6-2; No. 3 - Easton Palmer/Xavier Johnson, Minnewaska def. Wyatt Williams/Nathan Dearth, Thief River Falls, 6-0, 6-4. Moorhead 4, Thief River Falls 3 Singles: No. 1 - Jett Cornelius, Thief River Falls def. Jinu Lee, Moorhead, 6-0, 6-0; No. 2 - Spencer Hempel, Thief River Falls def. Elliot Lien, Moorhead, 6-2, 6-2; No. 3 - James Rothisberger, Moorhead def. Kaleb Funk, Thief River Falls, 6-2, 6-4; No. 4 - Zachary Dohn, Moorhead def. Ian Lundeen, 6-1, 6-0. Doubles: No. 1 - Brody Hansen/Fi Kjos, Moorhead def. Lucas Rantanen/Noah Burkel, Thief River Falls, 6-2, 7-6, 7-4; No. 2 - Drew Hancock/Will Hazeldine, Moorhead def. Ike Olson/Carter Svendsgaard, Thief River Falls, 6-3, 6-4; No. 3 - Wyatt Williams/Nathan Dearth, Thief River Falls def. Jasper Etter/Jason Donahue, Moorhead, 7-5, 6-3.