The Minnewaska boys tennis team continued its good start to the season with a 6-1 win over the Osakis Silverstreaks on Tuesday.
“We have a lot of returning experience that has played together for a few years,” head coach Tara Reichmann said. “We don't have a super amount of depth, but we have a decent amount of depth with seniors and some underclassmen.”
The Lakers are off to a 13-3 record this season and it has players confident with the section tournament coming up on May 23 and 25. Minnewaska is looking to get back to the Section 8A Championship match this year after falling in the 2021 Section 8A Championship to Thief River Falls.
“We have big goals,” Reichmann said. “We're hopefully going to be the second seed in the section. We have the potential to knock off the number one seed if we have a good day.”
While the Lakers look like one of the top teams in Section 8A, they’re not about to overlook anyone.
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“We also could get knocked off ourselves if we let up on their guard because there's a lot of good teams in the section,” Reichmann said.
Against Osakis, Minnewaska swept the doubles matches and went 3-1 in the singles matches.
In doubles, the teams of Nik VanDyke/Damon Uhde and Tenzin Dahl/Noah Palmer earned victories. The final doubles match was won by forfeit with a young Osakis program not fielding a third team in doubles.
The Lakers won the second through fourth singles spots, with Ethan Quelle defeating Bryce Moen (6-2, 6-1), Connor Quelle defeating Tyler Stier (6-0, 6-0) and Konner Hansondefeating Micah Moore (6-0, 6-0).
Osakis’ lone win came at No. 1 singles by junior Isaac Maddock. Maddock left Tuesday’s match with his undefeated record still intact. Maddock defeated Minnewaska senior Tate Reichmann (6-1, 6-0).
“I thought I matched up with him really well,” Maddock said. “I just tried to keep an even head and just kind of play my game and try to do my best.”
Reichmann is the defending Section 8A champion and has a 13-3 record this season. He is also a two-time state qualifier.
“He's been the best player in the section for a long time now and he still is,” Osakis head coach Ryan Maddock said about Reichmann.
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Isaac Maddock is 11-0 this season and is gunning to be one of the best singles players in the section.
“They have a really strong number one, and so do we,” Tara Reichmann said. “So that's been a good thing for us to be able to play against them. They have a really young team, and they're just going to keep getting better and better. If they keep playing and getting some more kids in their program, they're probably going to be a pretty quality program because Ryan has a really good girls program too. And I can only assume he'll do a great job getting the boys program up.”
Ryan Maddock is at the helm of the Osakis program, which is just in its second season of the program’s relaunch after having been on a hiatus from the early 90s.
Osakis has an 0-11 record this year but isn’t dwelling on it.
“We're seeing a lot of good things,” Ryan Maddock said. “I know we're not seeing a lot of overall team success yet, but we’re really young. We have no seniors, but we've seen some big improvements. One message that we have told our team is that our time will come. And if it happens on a particular day, great. Otherwise, we’re trying to keep an eye on the big picture. The kids are really getting a good experience.”
Maddock said the biggest noticeable improvement he’s seen from the team has been in their movement.
“Sometimes kids right away when they're playing, they're just focused on hitting the ball and they don't move,” Ryan Maddock said. “I feel like we're moving on the court better. Our doubles teams are getting into the net better. In the singles, the kids have been able to stay in points longer and we’re just generally getting better in most aspects.”
Osakis’ next match comes in a triangular on Thursday against New London-Spicer and Mora. Thursday’s matches at New London-Spicer begin at 2 p.m.
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Minnewaska is looking to keep up its winning ways again on Thursday as it is on the road at Detroit Lakes for a match at 3 p.m.
