Erik Tungland and Dawson Brown of the Becker boys tennis team battled their hearts out in section play this week and advanced to state to play at the Baseline Tennis Center at the University of Minnesota Thursday and Friday.
Team Sections
Tuesday is when the Section 8AA tournament began and Becker faced Bemidji at 1 p.m. in St. Cloud. Head Coach Hokan Bengtson said Bemidji was a “tough team” having recently upset the #1 seeded northern team Moorhead, 4-0.
“Our team was ready to play and really showed their mental toughness,” said Bengtson.
Becker defeated Bemidji 7-0, even though many of the matches were much closer than the scores indicated.
When that match finished, the Bulldogs traveled to Sartell High School to play in the section championship vs. St. Cloud Tech. “They are a very veteran team and extremely well coached,” said Bengtson. “We battled well with them at many spots but didn’t win any of the matches.”
St. Cloud Tech will head to the state tournament Tuesday at Baseline Tennis Center.
“Tech is a great team and they deserved to win the match,” said the head coach. “Their players are excellent and they showed it.”
Becker finished the season with a team record of 18-3, tied for their best overall finish ever (2012).
“This team has been through a lot of adversity this year and I was so proud of the way that they handled it and continued to grow,” said Bengtson.
Individual Sections
In singles, Becker’s Branden Roemer lost his first match to the eventual champion from Moorhead.
“He played well, but was just over matched,” said Bengtson. “I was really impressed with his development and growth this year as a player and competitor.”
In doubles, Brown and Tungland won a tough, first round match despite not playing very well against a top-notch Brainerd team. In the second round, Brown and Tungland played the #1 team from St. Cloud Tech and took the only two games of the day from them — but in the end, Tech’s dynamic duo overpowered Becker’s.
That loss pushed Brown/Tungland to the third place match against another Tech duo that defeated Becker last week at Subsections.
“I was really impressed with the grit and determination that my guys showed,” said Bengtson. “It was 80 degrees and they were on their third match of the day in a must win situation.” Brown/Tungland found a way to win in straight sets. That victory gave Becker’s twosome a chance to play in a true second match versus the #1 seeded team from the North, Bemidji.
Brown/Tungland jumped out to a big, 5-1 lead, but Bemidji stormed back to tie the first set at 5-5 before Brown and Tungland were able to take the first set 7-5.
In the second set, Brown/Tungland continued to execute their game plan and won 6-1 to clinch a return trip to the state doubles tournament.
“It was an awesome day of tennis,” said Bengtson. “Erik and Dawson had to dig deep, playing nine sets for a total of 82 games in one day. They proved that their mental toughness and desire to win was enough.”
Brown and Tungland will play Benjamin Sajevic and Joseph Shubert of Woodbury at 10 a.m. Thursday morning.
