It was a familiar foe that stopped the third-seeded Stillwater boys tennis team in the semifinals of the Section 4AA tournament on Friday, May 17 at Mounds View High School.
Mounds View took advantage of its strong singles lineup to topple the Ponies 7-0, the same score it posted while handing Stillwater its only conference loss on the way to another SEC championship earlier this season.
The second-seeded Mustangs were eventually stopped by top-seeded Mahtomedi 4-3 in the section finals on May 21. Mounds View has advanced to state 20 times in the past 26 seasons, but this will mark Mahtomedi’s third trip to state since 2019 and 10th since 2001.
Stillwater did not go quietly in doubles while trying to avoid the sweep. Logan Liveringhouse and Ben Most pushed Mounds View’s Christian Forbes and Bryan Hule to a tie-breaker in the first set before eventually falling 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 at third doubles.
Mounds View’s Sidharth Sharma and Michael Wang outlasted Oren Hamilton and Garin Warner 6-4, 6-3 at the first spot while Parker Bryntesen and Andrew Hermes turned back Stillwater’s Joe Potucek and Dustin Jurca 6-3, 6-4 at second doubles.
Carter Magistad was defeated by Mounds View’s Soren Swensen 6-1, 6-2 at first singles and Nolan Jones dispatched West Dell 6-0, 6-2 at the second spot. The Mustangs did not drop a game in victories at third and fourth singles.
Stillwater finished the season with a 12-4 record, with three of those losses coming against Mounds View and Mahtomedi.
Mounds View 7, Stillwater 0
Singles
No. 1 — Soren Swenson (MV) def. Carter Magistad, 6-1, 6-2.
No. 2 — Nolan Jones (MV) def. West Dell, 6-0, 6-2.
No. 3 — Anders Swenson (MV) def. Jack Myers, 6-0, 6-0.
No. 4 — Max Daigle (MV) def. Gavin Schuna, 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles
No. 1 — Sidharth Sharma-Michael Wang (MV) def. Oren Hamilton-Garin Warner, 6-4, 6-3.
No. 2 — Parker Bryntesen-Andrew Hermes (MV) def. Joe Potucek-Dustin Jurca, 6-3, 6-4.
No. 3 — Christian Forbes-Bryan Hule (MV) def. Logan Liveringhouse-Ben Most, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1.
Ponies advance to semis
Two of Stillwater’s entries for the Section 4AA individual tournaments advanced to semifinals following early-round matches on Wednesday, May 22 at St. Paul Harding and Eastview.
Carter Magistad, the No. 4 seed, received a first-round bye and then won two matches in straight sets to advance to the semifinals in the singles tournament. After knocking off Trent Silverthorn of Roseville in the second round, he cruised to a 6-0, 6-4 victory over fifth-seeded Michael Sipahimalani of Irondale in the quarterfinals.
This is the fourth trip to the semifinals in four seasons for Magistad, who played doubles with older brother Dylan Magistad in 2021 and 2022. He finished third in the section singles tourney a year ago.
The senior was scheduled to face top-seeded Sam Rathmanner of Mahtomedi in the semifinals on Thursday, May 23 at the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center.
Stillwater’s other singles entry, Logan Liveringhouse, defeated Brooke Peltier of White Bear Lake in the opening round before falling to third-seeded Swenson in the second round.
The Ponies boasted two strong doubles entries and sixth-seeded West Dell and Dustin Jurca earned a spot in the semifinals with a bye and two victories on Day 1. The Stillwater duo lost just one game in a victory over Joaquin Ochocki and Ray Say of Columbia Heights and then outlasted third-seeded Will Fleming and Andrew Kolenich of White Bear Lake 7-5, 3-6, 6-1 in the quarterfinals.
Dell and Jurca, who played second and third singles most of the season, were scheduled to face second-seeded Parker Bryntesen and Nolan Jones of Mounds View in the semifinals. The other semifinal included top-seeded Jack Allaben and Aiden Wald of Mahtomedi vs. fourth-seeded Sidharth Sharma and Max Daigle of Mounds View.
Oren Hamilton and Garin Warner, who made up Stillwater’s first doubles team this season, breezed to a 6-0, 6-0 win in the first round before getting stopped by fourth-seeded Sharma and Daigle in the second round.
“It was a very successful day for the Ponies,” Stillwater coach Dave Kahl said. “Everyone won at least one match, with Logan falling to the No. 2 seed and Warner and Hamilton losing an extremely tight match with the fourth seed.”
Stillwater results
Singles
#4 Carter Magistad — Bye; def. Trent Silverthorn (Ros) 6-0, 6-0; def. #5 Michael Sipahimalani (Ir) 6-0, 6-4. Semifinals: vs. #1 Sam Rathmanner (Mah).
Logan Liveringhouse (1-1, DNP) — def. Brooke Peltier (WBL) 6-0, 7-5; lost to #2 Soren Swenson (MV) 6-0, 6-0.
Doubles
Oren Hamilton-Garin Warner (1-1, DNP) — def. Brandon Xiong-Patrick Young (NSP) 6-0, 6-0; lost to #4 Sidharth Sharma-Max Daigle (MV) 7-5, 6-4.
#6 West Dell-Dustin Jurca — Bye; def. Joaquin Ochocki-Ray Say (CH) 6-0, 6-1; def #3 Will Fleming-Andrew Kolenich (WBL) 7-5, 3-6, 6-1. Semifinals: vs. #2 Parker Bryntesen-Nolan Jones (MV).
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