Minnewaska Tops Litchfield As Class A Boys Tennis Chaos Rolls On

Minnewaska walked into Litchfield, stared down a top-10 matchup, and walked out with a 5-2 win that looked more comfortable on paper than it probably felt on the courts. In boys tennis, that usually means somebody somewhere survived a third-set super tiebreak and somebody else is trying not to remember it.

The Lakers, ranked sixth in Class A by the Minnesota Tennis Coaches Association, handled the eighth-ranked Dragons in the marquee matchup of the roundup. Then Litchfield turned around and reminded everyone it is still very much a problem, blitzing Fairmont 6-1 with the kind of efficiency coaches love and opponents resent.

Minnewaska Wins The Ranked Battle

Minnewaska leaned on its singles depth and enough doubles punch to tilt the match. Drew Bleick, Carter LeClair, and Carson Beyer delivered singles wins for the Lakers, while the team took two of the three doubles points to finish the job.

The best drama came at No. 3 doubles, where Tyler Kohn and Aidric Vold outlasted Everett Carlson and Mason Beckstrand 6-4, 5-7, 10-2. That was the only Litchfield- Minnewaska matchup to go the distance, which is either efficient or rude, depending on your rooting interest.

Litchfield did get points at No. 4 singles and No. 1 doubles. Zeke Bruning, a seventh-grader, beat Ethan Klick 6-3, 6-4, and Josh Blomberg and Matthias Bruning took care of Marshall Kopp and Landon Schiffler 6-4, 6-4.

There was also a doubles win for Minnewaska at No. 2, where Easton Palmer and Carter Myrom posted a 6-3, 6-2 result over Isaac Elwell and Matt Defries. It was the kind of team balance that makes a coach hum in the parking lot afterward.

Litchfield Bounces Back In A Hurry

Less than 24 hours later, Litchfield looked refreshed, or at least properly annoyed. The Dragons beat Fairmont 6-1, and the scoreline arrived before anyone had time to sharpen a pencil or update a spreadsheet.

Josh Blomberg and Matthias Bruning nearly achieved tennis tyranny at No. 1 doubles, rolling to a 6-0, 6-0 win. Matt Defries and Grayson Swenson matched the mood at No. 2 doubles with another 6-0, 6-0 victory, while Isaac Elwell and Everett Carlson added a 6-2, 6-0 win at No. 3 doubles.

Tommy Wittrock, Max Grabow, and Zeke Bruning also won their singles matches for Litchfield. Fairmont’s lone point came via a retired ruling, which is the sort of scoreboard footnote that always feels like a sentence that forgot its ending.

Around The Area, Tiebreaks Kept Showing Up

This roundup had no shortage of schools finding ways to make life complicated. Hutchinson beat Litchfield in the triangular at Litchfield, winning three singles and two doubles matches, while Minnewaska also beat Hutchinson 6-1 in the same event.

Ethan Klick did get a three-set win for Minnewaska against Hutchinson, 6-3, 2-6, 10-4 at No. 4 singles. Carson Beyer and Carter Myrom added another marathon, winning 5-7, 6-2, 10-5 at No. 2 doubles against Hudson Petersen and Jayden Tankersley.

Hutchinson’s lone point in that match came from Silas Benson at No. 3 singles, a 6-3, 4-6, 10-6 win over Easton Palmer. Elsewhere, Willmar dropped a tight one to Detroit Lakes at Willmar, with Carter Newberg and Mason Munkholm both losing in three-set matches before the Cardinals fell overall.

Osakis also made its doubles work count against Lac qui Parle Valley/Dawson-Boyd, sweeping those matches at Morris. Two of those wins were especially tense, because apparently the area decided normal tennis was too tidy for one day.

What Comes Next

The schedule keeps moving fast, as these teams rarely get the luxury of sitting still and admiring their rankings. Litchfield heads to the St. Cloud Crush triangular with Bemidji, while Minnewaska joins Osakis in the Detroit Lakes triangular later this week.

New London-Spicer, meanwhile, continues to live in the middle of a busy stretch after splitting results against stronger opponents. Zack Lundeen handled his business at No. 1 singles for Redwood Valley against NLS, while NLS picked up points from Coleman Davis and the doubles teams of Jensen Davis and Quinn Wenke.

The broader takeaway is familiar. In Class A boys tennis, the rankings matter, but the margins matter more, and a hot doubles pair can turn a dual in a hurry. For one afternoon in Litchfield, Minnewaska had the sharper answers, then Litchfield came back swinging with the kind of response that keeps a season from drifting into polite mediocrity.