Boys tennis coach Hokan Bengtson is entering his 16th year at the helm of the high school tennis program. This year, he has 25 ninth-through-12th graders and around 15 middle school players.
Bengtson’s JV coach from last year (Rob Olson) took a teaching job in Wayzata over the summer and so Nate Bucher has been moved up from middle school coach to fill Olson’s spot. Alyssa Stevens — a physical education teacher in the middle school — has joined Bengtson’s staff and will be handling the middle schoolers.
At the end of last year’s season, Bengtson and his staff vote on naming captains for the following season and thus, Tyler Lindquist, CJ Howard and Branden Roemer are his choices.
“Tyler has already played 67 varsity matches heading into this season, so he is a proven player,” said Bengtson. “He was a leader on the football and basketball teams this year and has really come into his own as a vocal leader. He is an encourager who plays with a lot of energy.”
Tyler says he likes challenges and being a team leader gives him another new area to focus his talents on.
“I want to try and set good examples for the younger guys every time I hit the court,” he said.
“ CJ has played 70 varsity matches and is a decorated doubles player, having played #1 doubles for three seasons,” Bengtson said. He is a servant, usually the first one to the courts and one of the last ones to leave. He loves the team and works hard to build his skills and improve.”
Howard likes to goof around during slow times and at practices, but when the match begins, he zeroes in on his task.
“I think our team is really gonna do well this year and surprise a lot of teams,” he said.
“Branden had the best offseason of the seniors as far as improving his skills,” the coach said. “He has played 72 varsity matches and is ready to finish his high school career really well. He worked on his game in St. Cloud, Becker and Daytona as well as playing often with guys from our team.”
Roemer hopes his off-season training leads to a spot as a #1 or #2 singles player.
“My best part of my game I think is my serve,” he said. “If that is on, the rest of my game is on.”
Becker’s biggest foe year-in and year-out has been St. Cloud Tech. 2017 will be no different.
“We really measure ourselves against St. Cloud Tech,” said Bengtson. “They are extremely well coached and are the reigning 8AA champions for the past five years - and usually it isn’t even that close.”
Bengtson says this year, his team is really focused on getting better every day and play the teams that are on our schedule.
“Our Athletic Director, Dave Niemi has done a super job of getting us a really tough schedule,” said Bengtson. “We try to scrimmage or schedule as many teams in the top 10 of class A or AA as we can. This year we will have some excellent tests as usual.”
Bengtson’s coaching style has long been lauded by other coaches and he stresses his goal is not just to make the student a better athlete, but a better person.
“I love the opportunity to work with these young men every day,” he said. “I get to see them grow and deal with adversity on the court - which we always relate to life.”
“Our goal is to win tennis matches, but my purpose is to develop young men who care about each other and compete every day. I will know if I am successful when I watch these guys become husbands, fathers, and leaders in their sphere of influence. It is such a blessing to see players come back to practice or matches and talk with them about life.”
The boys began their season with a home invite April 1 where they hosted Buffalo, Brainerd and Delano.
