Tennis team hits tough stretch

MEDFORD BOYS TENNIS

The last stretch of dual meets was a tough one for Medford’s boys tennis team, who dropped all four of them this past week to finish with an overall record of 5-8-2.

The Raiders made some lineup moves and had some success with them Tuesday in a 4-3 non-conference loss at D.C. Everest. The Raiders took two of three doubles matches in the dual and got a big win from Dante Axon in singles play in the dual.

Axon’s win was a three-setter in flight three that was decided in a tiebreaker. Everest’s Cooper Engen took the first set 6-1, Axon came back with a 6-2 win in set two and then the two players battled to a 6-6 tie in the third. The tiebreaker was tight too, but Axon pulled it out 8-6 to win the set 7-6 and the match.

Medford won another three-setter at number-two doubles. Brett Lundy and Conner Klingbeil improved to 7-2 together with a 6-1, 1-6, 6-1 win over Ethan Hochberger and Ben Winkels.

Seniors Brayden Machon and Quinton Tlusty teamed up for the second time this season at number-one doubles and got their first win 6-0, 6-1 over Everest’s Aaron Pozorski and Jonah Vesper.

With Tlusty moving to doubles, Brayden Balciar bumped up to numberone singles. Everest’s Colin Belton defeated him 6-2, 6-0. Ted Kitchell defeated Saskatoon Damm 6-3, 6-2 in flight two and Ethan Giese swept Alex Wilson in flight four 6-0, 6-0.

Andrue Dettman and Max Hoffman were 6-0, 6-0 winners over Medford’s Nathan Willman and Mason Reimann at number-three doubles.

Medford’s regular season ends today, Thursday, at the Great Northern Conference tournament in Antigo. Play is set to start at 9 a.m. There is no suspense for the champion as Rhinelander enters the tournament with a 32-point lead over second- place Antigo in the standings. The Hodags compiled 104 points while going 8-0 in the duals. Antigo holds a 72-58 lead over Medford for third place.

The WIAA Division 2 Eau Claire Regis subsectional is set for Tuesday at 9 a.m. The Raiders and host Ramblers will be joined by Altoona, Antigo, Ashland, Lakeland, Newman Catholic and Stevens Point Pacelli. Flight one semifinalists and finalists in all other flights will return to Regis May 26 for the sectional, where the week’s top scoring team, flight one semifinalists and flight two champions will be automatic qualifiers for WIAA state competition.

Antigo 5, Medford 2

In a rematch between teams that played to a rare 3-3 tie on May 3 when both teams were down a player, the Antigo Red Robins had the advantage Monday when both squads had full lineups, earning a 5-2 win over the visiting Raiders to complete the dual-meet portion of the Great Northern Conference schedule.

The key for Antigo was getting their number-one singles player back. Garret Husnick set the tone for the Robins with a 6-1, 6-1 win over Tlusty. Antigo’s Sam Bretl, who won a three-set match over Tlusty back on May 3, handed Balciar his first singles loss of the season in an excellent number-two match. Balciar took the first set 6-4, but Bretl came back with 6-4, 6-4 wins in the second and third sets to earn a big win.

Damm won his first set over Ezra Santiago at number-three singles 6-3 and was ahead 1-0 in the second when Santiago retired due to injury, giving Damm the win. Antigo’s Landon Nelson swept Reimann in the number-four match 6-0, 6-0.

Medford’s lone win in doubles came in the second flight, where Brett Lundy and Conner Klingbeil beat Aaron Converse and Seth Beaber for the second time this season. Those scores were 6-2, 6-2.

In flight one, the Robins’ Calvin Jensen and Nolan Bunnell were dominant in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Machon and Axon. Michael Haggerty and Cole Umland were straight-set winners over Willman and Wilson 6-1, 6-1.

Medford finished 4-3-1 in GNC duals and Antigo finished second in the standings at 5-2-1.

Hodags 6, Raiders 1

Medford got one match against conference powerhouse Rhinelander on Friday, another straight-set win for Balciar at number-two singles.

Balciar went to 12-0 overall at the time with a 6-0, 6-4 win over Elijah Evers, firstteam number-one doubles player in the GNC last spring. That was the only win the Raiders got in a 6-1 loss.

There were a couple of close defeats. At number-three singles, Damm saw his eight-match win streak to start the season end as John Currie nudged ahead just enough in each set to take a 7-5, 6-4 win.

The number-two doubles match was tight as well with Charlie Heck and Leo Losch outlasting Medford’s Lundy and Klingbeil 6-4, 6-4.

Luke Ring, who was Evers’ numberone doubles teammate last year, was a 6-3, 6-1 winner over Tlusty in the top singles match. Dalton Fritz took care of Reimann 6-1, 6-1.

Rhinelander’s top doubles team of Layne Roeser and Joey Belanger, both GNC champions in their flights a year ago, swept Machon and Axon 6-0, 6-0 as did the Hodags’ number-three team of Dawson Pontell and Eli Lundt against Willman and Wilson.

Rhinelander finished 8-0 in GNC duals.

Altoona 5, Medford 2

On Thursday, the visiting Altoona Railroaders won two close matches in number-one flights and that was the difference in their 5-2 non-conference win over Medford.

For the second straight meet, the Raiders’ wins came from Balciar and Damm in singles play. Balciar won a good number- two match with Ryan Hays 6-3, 7-5 to stay unbeaten at the time, while Damm also remained undefeated at numberthree singles with a 6-4, 6-0 win over Brandon Spies.

In flight one, seniors Tlusty and Dan Harris waged a tight first-set battle that went to a tiebreaker, which Harris won 7-3 to take the set 7-6. Harris carried that momentum into the second set, which he won 6-2 to take the match.

Tommaso Iacucci swept Reimann 6-0, 6-0 at numberfour singles.

In the flight-one doubles match, Altoona’s Xai Her and Tyler Goodwin took the first set against Machon and Axon 6-3, but the Raiders came back with their own 6-3 win in the second set, forcing a 10-point tiebreaker to determine the winner. Her and Goodwin won it 10-6 to hand Machon and Axon their first loss of the season after five wins.

Matteo Caserta and Manuel Aguilar took a competitive number-two match over Lundy and Klingbeil 6-2, 6-4. That was the first match Lundy and Klingbeil lost while playing together, also after a 5-0 start. Brenden Bauman and Braxton Long were 6-1, 6-0 winners over Willman and Wilson.