Ruesch 3rd in singles play; Raiders finish sixth in final GNC standings

GNC TENNIS TOURNAMENT

Likely to be one of Medford’s leading players 2023, sophomore Audrey Ruesch had a strong finish to the 2022 regular season, earning third place and honorable mention at number-three singles during Thursday’s Great Northern Conference girls tennis championships hosted by Lakeland.

The meet was held five days later than originally scheduled, but that turned out to be a wise choice as the league’s eight teams enjoyed picture-perfect late September weather for Thursday’s meet.

The Rhinelander Hodags and Stevens Point Pacelli Cardinals tied for the meet championship with 24 points each, one ahead of Lakeland in the tightest girls GNC meet ever held. But with their 76 dual-meet points, Rhinelander secured yet another overall championship with 100 points for the season, five more than Lakeland eight more than Pacelli. It’s the Hodags’ fourth GNC title in five years and 11th in 14 seasons.

Medford scored seven team points while earning four match wins during the tournament. The Raiders were sixth in the tournament standings and sixth in the overall final standings with 55 points, behind Newman Catholic (69 points) and Columbus Catholic (68 points).

Antigo and Phillips did not score in the tournament and finished seventh and eighth overall with 10 and eight points, respectively.

Ruesch went 2-1 in her flight to earn her third-place finish. She drew the fifth seed in the flight, but she got off to a great start by earning one of the day’s bigger upsets when she knocked off fourth-seeded Shayla Coppenger of Rhinelander. Coppenger beat Ruesch 6-3, 6-4 during Rhinelander’s 7-0 win over Medford back on Aug. 29.

Coppenger got the first set on Thursday 6-3, but this time, Ruesch was able to hang in there after falling behind 3-0 in the second set and turn things around. She won that set 6-4 to force a 10-point, third-set tiebreaker. Coppenger got to match point at 9-7, but Ruesch got the next two points to tie it and eventually outlasted Coppenger 12-10 to win the set and match.

The win sent Ruesch to the semifinals against top-seeded Alaina Sbonik of Pacelli, who Ruesch defeated by default on Sept. 6. This time Sbonik took care of business, winning 6-3, 6-1. She went on to defeat third-seeded Destiny Lo of Newman Catholic 6-4, 6-4 in the flight’s title match.

Ruesch went to the third-place to face second-seeded Phoebe Wirtz of Lakeland. Wirtz won their Sept. 12 matchup 6-4, 6-0, but Ruesch got her revenge by, again, outlasting her opponent in a long threeset match 4-6, 6-2, 10-4.

Between the duals and Thursday’s meet, Ruesch went 5-5 in GNC matches this season, all in flight-three singles.

Medford also got first-round wins from its number-two and number-three doubles teams Thursday.

In flight two, seniors Eryka Seidl and Alyssa Brandner drew the fourth seed and downed fifth-seeded Anna Vandeweerd and Hailey Warren of Antigo 6-1, 6-4 in their quarterfinal match. That sent them to the semifinals against top-seeded Hailey Curtis and Cassidy Cleveland of Lakeland, who won that match 6-0, 6-1 to beat Seidl and Brandner for the second time this year. They went on to win the championship 6-2, 6-1 over second-seeded Paige Oleinik and Kayla Tessman of Rhinelander.

Seidl and Brandner went to the thirdplace match, where third-seeded Anabelle Arnold and Julie Milbauer of Pacelli had just enough to win a three-set match 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. Pacelli’s team swept Seidl and Brandner 6-2, 6-0 earlier in the fall.

Seidl and Brandner also finished 5-5 overall in GNC matches.

In flight three, senior Chloe Werner and junior Madison Clarkson picked up a quarterfinal win as the third seed, beating sixth seeded Saige Stein and Carli Foytik of Phillips 6-2, 6-2. Second-seeded Charley Cleveland and Ali Timmerman of Lakeland were next in the semifinals. In another good three-set match, the TBirds’ team prevailed 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 to advance to the final, which they won over top-seeded Shannon Lepak and Lucy Gwidt of Pacelli 7-6 (3), 6-3.

Rhinelander’s fourth-seeded team of Evelyn Sawyer and Brooke Sisel beat Werner and Clarkson 6-2, 6-3 in the thirdplace match.

Werner and Clarkson were 4-0 in league matches coming into the tournament and finished 5-2 in GNC matches.

Medford’s number-one doubles team of Myah Smith and Masaeda Krug drew the fifth seed and was defeated 6-2, 6-2 in the first round by fourth-seeded Amelia Jacoby and Julia Storch of Pacelli.

In singles play, Sarah Barton got some revenge by beating Medford’s fourthseeded Morgan Huegli in the first round of flight-one play 6-1, 7-5. Huegli won their first matchup 6-4, 6-1 on Sept. 12. Third-seeded Lauren Loesl of Pacelli beat Medford’s sixth-seeded Makayla Motte 6-0, 6-2 in the opening round in flight two. Fourth-seeded Maggie Callaghan was a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Medford’s fifth-seeded Christine Czeshinski in the first round in flight four. Callaghan also won a threeset match over Czeshinski on Sept. 8.