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Lots of heat, no surprises on first day of boys’ tennis team championship matches

By JIM PAULSEN, Star Tribune, 06/08/21, 6:00PM CDT

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With temperatures reaching 95 degrees, favorites Wayzata and Breck sailed through the quarterfinals of the Class 2A and 1A state tournaments being played outside this year.

Heat was certainly a concern Tuesday on the first day of the boys’ tennis state tournament. But while players had to be careful as temperatures reached 95 degrees, there were no surprises.

The tournament was played outdoors for the first time in more than two decades because of lingering concerns about COVID-19. The Class 2A meet is at Prior Lake High School, Class 1A at St. Cloud Tech. The meet schedule has been adjusted through Thursday to reflect the continued warm weather.

Class 2A
Wayzata, the unofficial No. 1 seed in the team brackets, remained undefeated with a 7-0 victory over Duluth East. The Trojans (23-0) swept six of the seven matches in straight sets, with only No. 3 singles going to a third set.

Wayzata eighth-grader Aaron Beduhn defeated Duluth East sophomore Ryan Delaney 10-4 in a champions’ tiebreaker, which was played in lieu of a full third set. In a champions tiebreaker, the winner is the first player to reach 10 points and lead by two.

Wayzata will face Rochester Mayo in the semifinals. The Spartans defeated Mahtomedi 4-3, thanks to a three-set victory by No. 1 doubles tandem Spencer Busch and Caleb Neisen. They rallied from a first-set loss to defeat Mahtomedi’s Wyatt Hanson and Jack Allaben 5-7, 6-3, 6-4.

Edina did not drop a set in a 7-0 victory over Bemidji, making its first tournament appearance since 1973. The Hornets will meet Orono, a 4-3 winner over East Ridge.

Click here for complete Class 2A team results.

Class 1A
Breck, considered the favorite in the small-school class, defeated St. Paul Academy 6-1 in the first quarterfinal match of the day. The Mustangs swept all four singles matched, losing only a champions’ tiebreaker at No. 1 doubles.

Breck will play Rochester Lourdes in the semifinals Wednesday. Lourdes lost all three doubles matches to first-round opponent Virginia, but went 4-0 in singles. Junior Ethan Leeser lost the first set at No. 3 singles but rallied to win the next two, 6-3, 6-0 to help the Spartans advance.

In the other bracket, Mounds Park Academy — winners of the last Class 1A tournament in 2019 — advanced with a 5-2 victory over Luverne. Their semifinal opponent is Mound Westonka, a 5-2 winner over Thief River Falls.

Click here for complete Class 1A results.

Adjusting for heat
The Class 2A team semifinals will both be played at 8 a.m., with the Edina-Orono match moved to the courts at Twin Lakes Middle School in Prior Lake. The championship at Prior Lake and third-place match at Twin Lakes have both been moved up to noon.

The times have been moved up in Class 1A as well, with semifinals at 8 a.m. at St. Cloud Tech and St. Cloud Apollo. The finals will be held at Tech, the third-place match at Apollo.

On the first day of individual competition Thursday, the first rounds of singles and doubles will begin as scheduled at 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. Start times for the quarterfinals have been pushed back to 5 p.m.

No changes have been made to Friday’s schedule.

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