LHS team faces stiff competition at state tennis meet

The Luverne boys’ tennis team faced some stiff competition at the Minnesota Class A State Tournament last week.
The Cardinals, playing in their 12th consecutive state tournament, faced No. 1-ranked St. Paul Academy/Summit School in the quarterfinal round of the state meet Tuesday, June 7, in Minneapolis.
Luverne lost 7-0 to SPA/SS, which went on to win the team state championship over The Breck School 5-2.
With the loss, LHS moved to the consolation bracket of the team tournament to face Minnewaska Area/Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa Tuesday afternoon.
The Cardinals fell to Minnewaska Area/BBE 6-1 to complete their 2022 season. LHS ended the season with an 18-7 record.
“I was proud of how these guys played all season and they should be, too,” said Lucas Larson, LHS head coach.
“We tried our hardest and represented Luverne well,” Larson said. “They made coaching incredibly easy for me, and I thank them for that.”
 
SPA/SS 7, Luverne 0
There was little doubt as to why St. Paul Academy/Summit School was the No. 1-ranked team in Class A boys’ tennis when the Cardinals faced SPA/SS in the opening round of the state tournament the morning of June 7.
LHS senior Pierce Cunningham, playing at No. 1 singles, lost his first match of the season 6-4, 6-3 to Kai Sih.
The closest match of the meet was at No. 2 singles.
Luverne’s Griffen Jarchow won the first set 7-6 over Harry Mahmi before losing the second set 6-4 forcing a tiebreaker third set. He lost the tiebreaker 13-11.
At No. 3 singles, Blake Frahm lost to Alex Moore 7-6(2), 6-2 and Ethan Nath was defeated by Zahir Hassan 6-0, 6-0 at No. 4 singles.
In doubles play, Chance Tunnissen and Logan Ommen lost to Leo Benson and Maik Nguyen 6-0, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 2 doubles, Kyle Ferguson and Jase Arp were defeated 6-1, 6-2 by Jacob Colton and Baasit Mahmood.
Luke Bosch and Spencer Kracht lost 6-0, 6-0 to Henry Choi and Allan Wang at No. 3 doubles.
 
Minnewaska Area/BBE 6, Luverne 1
The Cardinals faced Minnewaska Area/Belgrade-Brooten-Elrosa in the consolation round of the state tournament June 7 in Minneapolis.
Minnewaska Area/BBE had lost to Rock Ridge of Virginia 4-3 earlier in the day in the quarterfinal round.
The Cardinals lost to Minnewaska Area/BBE 6-1.
Luverne’s lone win against the Lakers and in state team tournament overall came at the No. 2 singles match.
Jarchow defeated Gannon Walsh 6-3, 7-9 (5) and 10-7.
At No. 1 singles, Cunningham lost to Tate Reichmann, the No. 4-ranked singles player in Class A, 6-1, 6-0.
Both the No. 3 and No. 4 singles matches went to an extra set to determine the winner, but LHS lost both matches.
At No. 3 singles, Frahm lost to Ethan Quelle 6-3, 5-7, 10-6 and Nath was defeated 6-3, 5-7, 10-8 at No. 4 singles.
Tunnissen and Ommen fell to Damon Uhde and Nik VanDyke 6-0, 7-5 at No. 1 doubles.
At No. 2 doubles, Ferguson and Arp lost to Connor Quelle and Tenzin Dahl 6-1, 6-4.
Bosch and Kracht, playing at No. 3 doubles, were defeated 6-2, 6-0 by Noah Palmer and Alec Larson.