We are part of The Trust Project.
MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnewaska/Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa boys tennis team dropped its first match at the Minnesota Class A state tournament Tuesday morning, falling 4-3 to Rock Ridge of Virginia.
Minnewaska/BBE defeated Luverne 6-1 in the consolation semifinals Tuesday evening.
Minnewaska/BBE plays Litchfield for fifth place in the Class A state tournament at noon Wednesday.
In its first appearance at state, Minnewaska/BBE won one singles and two doubles matches at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center.
"It was a great experience, the first time ever for the Minnewaska/BBE boys. They made school history," Minnewaska/BBE head coach Tara Reichmann said. "We just ran a close match with a very competitive team."
ADVERTISEMENT
Tate Reichmann, Tara's son, won the only singles match in the quarterfinals for Minnewaska/BBE in two sets.
Tate, who is ranked fourth in the state in singles, had a back-and-forth battle with Rock Ridge junior Jared Delichm winning 7-6 in set one and 11-9 in set two.
"It was pretty fun," Tate said of Tuesday's quarterfinals experience. "I wish our team could've got four wins in the first round, but it was a close match. It was a good match."
As Tate settled into the match against Delich, he started to notice him shut down, so he continued to attack throughout the match en route to the victory.
Minnewaska/BBE's other success came in the doubles matches.
The pairings of seniors Damon Uhde and Nik VanDyke and junior Noah Palmer and senior Alec Larson secured the other two wins for Minnewaska/BBE.
Uhde and VanDyke won their quarterfinals matches, 6-4, 6-4, defeating Rock Ridge senior Keegan Ruedebusch and sophomore Kasey Lamppa.
"It was probably the most fun thing I've done in my high school career," VanDyke said. "This team is like a family, so getting to spend time with my family is awesome."
ADVERTISEMENT
The senior duo felt some nervousness heading into the match, but found a rhythm early in the match that guided them the rest of the way.
"We just had to stay calm, focused, and hit our shots," Uhde said. "We both know we can hit our shots and do well with each other."
Alongside the senior duo, Larson and Palmer won the last match of the morning competition in three sets. Larson and Palmer dropped their first set 6-3, but regrouped to win the next two sets 7-4 and 10-8.
"The whole experience, it's just fun to be here," Tara said. "Hopefully, we can get a team win out of the deal and if we can be a medalist, that would be great. We have to go after consolation champ, but we can certainly try to get that too. It's not over yet."
Rock Ridge plays St. Paul Academy at 8 a.m. Wednesday in the semifinals of the Class A state tournament.
Class A state quarterfinalsRock Ridge 4, Litchfield 3
Singles
(1) Tate Reichmann, M/BBE, def Jared Delich 7-6 10-8... (2) Gavin Benz, RR, def Gannon Walsh 6-2 6-4... (3) Jake Bradach, RR, def Ethan Quelle 6-4 6-1... (4) Owen Buggert, RR, def Konner Hanson 6-1 7-6 7-3 (3)
Doubles
(1) Damon Uhde/Nik VanDyke, M/BBE, def Keegan Ruedebusch/Kasey Lamppa 6-4 6-4... (2) Ryan Manninen/Peyton Bialke, RR, def Connor Quelle/Tenzin Dahl 4-6 6-2 6-3... (3) Noah Palmer/Alec Larson, M/BBE, def Grady Dimberio/AJ Roen 3-6 7-4 10-8
Class A state consolation semifinalsMinnewaska/BBE 6, Luverne 1
