The Luverne Cardinal boys’ tennis team opened its 2022 season with a 3-0 record and earned the team championship at the St. James tournament Saturday.
Luverne defeated New Ulm 4-3, Winona Cotter 7-0 and St. James 5-2.
The three Cardinal singles players won all nine matches during the day.
“After not having practice for most of the week (due to weather), I was quite happy with the performances,” said Luverne head coach Lucas Larson.
“Our singles players all did awesome. They continue to show why they are some of the best players in our corner of the state.”
Luverne, which opened the season as the eighth-ranked team in Minnesota Class A boys’ tennis, was scheduled to host Madison, South Dakota, on Tuesday, April 12, and will face Sioux Falls Lincoln at home on Monday.
Luverne 4, New Ulm 3
LHS won a close contest in its first match of the season. The Cardinals defeated the New Ulm Eagles 4-3 in the opening match of the St. James tournament Saturday.
The Cardinals swept the singles matches in the contest.
At No. 1 singles, Pierce Cunningham defeated New Ulm’s Ben Brownfield 6-2, 6-1. Griffen Jarchow defeated Thomas Schwartz 6-2, 6-1 at No. 2 singles and Blake Frahm downed Rylen O’Neil 6-0, 6-0 at third singles.
In doubles play, the Cardinals’ Ethan Nath and Logan Ommen defeated the Eagles’ Nathaniel Janssen and Keenan Davis 7-6, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 2 doubles, Maverick Johnson and Sabastian Smith defeated Luverne’s Kyle Ferguson and Jase Arp 6-0, 6-2.
Luke Bosch and Spencer Kracht of Luverne lost to Joey Kotten and Mitch Schotzko at No. 3 doubles, 6-0, 6-0.
New Ulm’s No. 4 doubles team of Dylen Carreon and Marcarious Amaoh defeated Luverne’s Ross Bergman and Levi Thielbar 6-0, 6-1.
Luverne 7, Winona Cotter 0
The Cardinals had little trouble with Winona Cotter in the second match of the St. James tournament Saturday.
LHS swept the Ramblers 7-0.
At No. 1 singles, Cunningham defeated Jon Besek 6-0, 6-2. At No. 2 singles, Jarchow bested Hamilton Brewer 6-2, 6-2. Frahm defeated Logan Granseth 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 singles.
In doubles play, Nath and Ommen came out on top of Ema Stankova and Mateo Vila 6-2, 6-4 at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 2 doubles, Ferguson and Arp defeated Goktug Ozkan and Joseph Row 6-0, 4-6, 10-7 in an exciting match.
Bosch and Kracht bested Spencer Briggs and Barrett Schmidt 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 doubles.
At No. 4 doubles, Hunter Gaffaney and Bergman defeated Iren Oliveras and Minh Nguyen 6-4, 6-1.
Luverne 5, St. James 2
Luverne defeated the host St. James Saints 5-2 to win the tournament championship Saturday.
Playing in their third match of the day, the trio of senior Cardinal singles players swept all three of their contests.
Cunningham, currently ranked 10th individually in Class A, defeated Preston Wegner 6-2, 6-1 at No. 1 singles.
At No. 2 singles, Jarchow swept Andrei Rivera 6-0, 6-0, and Frahm defeated Christian Pineda 6-4, 6-1 at No. 3 singles.
The Cardinals and Saints split the four doubles matches in the final contest.
Luverne won at No. 1 doubles when Ommen and Nath bested Payton Brown and Vince Brown 6-4, 6-2.
At No. 2 doubles, Luverne’s Ferguson and Arp defeated Zech Ciske and Devon Olson 4-6, 6-4, 6-4.
St James’ Dylan Reid and Noah Sauer defeated Bosch and Kracht 6-4, 6-4 at No. 3 doubles. Luverne’s Thielbar and Gaffaney lost to Caleb Fast and Rylan Meyer 6-0, 6-3 at No. 4 doubles.