|
Tennis season ends, but Boyer plays on
|
|
|
|
Wednesday, 04 June 2008
|
Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
The 2008 Forest Lake tennis season finished in much the same way as last year, with Grand Rapids sending the boys home in the section semifinals, while the Rangers’ Dusty Boyer defeated all comers at No. 1 singles to move on to the state tournament.
In the team competition that concluded on Tuesday, May 27, Forest Lake reverted back to an April habit and let a narrow victory get away, as the Grand Rapids Thunderhawks took the 4-3 decision.
Head coach Greg Patchin pointed out that four of his team’s eight losses this spring were of the frustrating 4-3 variety. The final one escorted his squad out of the Section 7AA tourney.
“That made for an enjoyable competitive season, but we would have liked to have a shot at champion Duluth East,” he said.
What really left an impact on the Rangers was having to face Grand Rapids with an overhauled doubles lineup. Ben Mullen smashed his fingers, and when he was unable to play, Minnesota high school guidelines state that three new doubles teams need to be created.
All three would fall to the ‘Hawks, including the pairing of Andrew Rupar and Seth Bostrom at No. 3, who went down in a third-set tiebreaker.
This put the pressure on the Forest Lake solo artists, which started out looking like they would hold down the court.
“Dusty Boyer, Spencer Conrad and Jeff Isaacson all notched victories in singles, (and) Sam Steiner raced to a 6-1 win in the first set,” Patchin shared.
After that, though, Grand Rapids’ Bryce Bjerk outscrapped Steiner to pick up the 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 win for the deciding fourth point.
Individual play
A day after the team dream was ended, Boyer, Conrad and Steiner were back in action, hoping to qualify on their own for a Thursday trip to the University of Minnesota’s Baseline Tennis Center.
Conrad and Steiner competed as a doubles team, with Boyer going it alone in singles. After dismissing three different opponents in straight sets, Boyer has more high school tennis left to play this year, while the Conrad/Steiner duo fell just short of their senior goal.
“Spencer Conrad and Sammy Steiner had a nice run in the tourney, only to lose true second 6-3, 4-6, 4-6 to Tom Bymark and Adam Johnson from Hibbing,” Patchin said. “It was their fourth match of the day, and quite simply, they ran out of energy.
“They have been the cornerstone of the tennis program for the past four years, and it would have been fulfilling to end their career at state.”
Someone whose career is just beginning is the eighth-grade Boyer, as he is already going to his second state tournament in as many attempts.
Patchin said Boyer won the section “handily,” taking care of Trevor Tabaka from Grand Rapids in the quarterfinals, J.R. Mackey in the semis (another Thunderhawk), and Duluth East’s Anders Sandholm, 6-4, 6-3 in the championship match.
“Dusty proved that he is one of the premier players in the state, even though he is only an eighth-grader,” Patchin said. “One of his preseason goals was to win the section and get a couple of Ws in the state tourney...maybe he will.”
|
