A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
A hometown newspaper with a local office, local owners & lots of local news
Cloquet senior Cade Bender returns a serve against Superior Tuesday, in a match that was delayed and then moved from Cloquet High School to Pinehurst Park, which had one fewer rainshower Thursday.
Cloquet sophomore Sam Brenner plays against a Superior opponent at the Churchill Elementary School tennis courts Thursday, April 18. Brenner won the match.
The Cloquet-Esko-Carlton boys tennis team dropped an early season match with Duluth East Tuesday afternoon 7-0 at Cloquet High School.
The Greyhounds, a dominant local power on the tennis circuit, proved their worth as they swept the Lumberjacks, handing them their second loss of the season. The Lumberjacks fell to Cambridge-Isanti in their first meet of the season before defeating Superior 6-1 at home.
"It's been a tough early season," said head coach Derek Johnson, explaining that it's tough to play tennis in a gym. "When the weather is bad, we don't really practice in the gym because it's so much different playing tennis on the hardcourts, so we really can't practice too much.
"Teams like Duluth East, Virginia and some of the [Iron] Range schools are able to use the indoor courts, but we don't have that luxury," Johnson added. "We rented some time in Duluth but it's expensive and we don't get much time to do anything except play some games between our teammates."
The rain, snow and cold weather cancellations have forced the Lumberjacks into a very busy schedule. They have five matches this week and five-plus next week, which includes a tournament at Winona.
Tuesday's match with Duluth East saw E.J. Hietala defeat Peter Tomhave 6-2 and 6-3. David Holliday topped Dennis Genereau 6-2, 6-1, while Lucas Goetzman won over Cal Pertler 6-0 and 6-1. In the last singles match it was Dane Patten beating Travis Berg 6-1 and 6-3.
The Lumberjacks didn't fare any better in doubles as Nolan Humphreys and Michael Sutherland defeated Mason Langenbrunner and Kade Bender, 6-0, 6-4. Reece Patten and Ty Kruger topped Andy Acers and Eli Benson 6-0, 6-2.
In the last doubles match, Vinny Berarducci and Tristan Bombardieri took down Johnathan Muhvich and Adam Blesener, 6-3, 6-1.
Cloquet-Esko-Carlton finishes this week with matches against Aitkin,
Virginia and Grand Rapids. They will face Ashland on Saturday.
