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Glen Strandberg
Sports Editor
One of a handful of sporting events to actually see the light of day last week was the April 8 Forest Lake boys tennis match against Blaine.
Too bad the rain or snow or sleet or cold wasn’t just a little more intense, as the Rangers were dismissed by the Bengals, 7-0.
And the weather was still unpleasant, just not nasty enough to postpone the competition.
“Blaine, as expected, was tough and experienced, led by their senior, Paul Swanson,” head coach Greg Patchin said. “We competed well in spurts, but the focus could have been better.”
At No. 1 singles, Forest Lake’s Dusty Boyer may be good, but Swanson proved to be better. Coming off a runner-up finish at state last June, Swanson downed Boyer, 6-2, 6-2.
The other Rangers singles players didn’t fare much better, with Spencer Conrad and Jeff Isaacson losing in two sets, while Sammy Steiner was knocked off in three.
“The seniors have to finish better,” Patchin said of Conrad and Steiner. “Both Spencer and Sammy were in control of their matches early only to let Blaine come back and win easily.”
In doubles, the Rangers were shutout as well, but Patchin liked their overall performance.
“The doubles were a pleasant surprise even though losing, with (Andrew) Rupar and (Tony) Wilcox really playing very well in their first varsity match, but doublefaulting at critical times,” he said.
“Good teams win 6-4 sets...we didn’t.”
Thursday’s and Friday’s matches were postponed due to weather, but the boys’ calendar is packed this week.
Forest Lake trounced Chisago Lakes on Monday, and then head to Centennial on Wednesday, before hosting Cretin-Derham Hall on Thursday. The festivities are capped off with an invitational at Stillwater on Saturday.
“It is always nice to get W against a section foe,” Patchin said after the win over Chisago. “I thought we played fairly well considering we hadn’t hit in four days.”
Rangers 7, Chisago 0
SINGLES: Dusty Boyer def. Kyle Hogie 6-0, 6-0; Spencer Conrad def. James Taylor 6-1, 6-0; Sammy Steiner def. Jim Ward 6-1, 6-0; Jeff Isaacson def. Kelgar Starr 6-1, 6-0.
DOUBLES: Josh Magistad/Ben Mullen def. Jake Spehar/Jeremy Patterson 6-1, 6-2; Randy Schroeder/Paul Hill def. Branden Mueller/Adam Tilly 6-2, 6-0; Andrew Rupar/Tony Wilcox def. Andrew Jolinen/Jon Lein 7-5, 6-2.
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