The Becker boys tennis team had a full week, competing at home Friday, on the road in Elk River Saturday, back home Monday against Foley, then a road match against Minneapolis Southwest Tuesday and against Pine City Thursday.

 

Thursday, the Bulldogs traveled to Pine City and won by three points behind wins from all four singles players and the #1 doubles team.

 

Jackson Lefebvre cruised to a straight set win at #1 singles over Brandt Berube, 6-0, 6-0. Brandon Roemer demolished John Blake at #2 singles, 6-2, 6-1, Jacob Lukkarila easily handled Andrew Clementson at #3 singles, 6-1, 6-1 and Brady Gruenhagen knocked off Parker Sell at #4 singles, 3-6, 6-4, 6-1.

 

The duo of CJ Howard and Tyler Lindquist beat Luke Steel and Aaron Brown at #1 doubles by a score of 6-1, 6-2. At #2 doubles, Lucas Dertinger and Johnny Crocker lost to Jonah Bergstrom and Jared Kotek, 4-6, 6-7 (10-12). Jordan Bonsante and Andrew Schneider went three sets with Dusty Bergstrom and Zach Brotz at #3 doubles, but lost 0-6, 6-2, 4-6.

 

Tuesday, the Bulldogs hit the road to play Minneapolis SW and struggled against the Lakers, falling 6-1.

 

Roemer was moved up to #1 singles and he battled hard but lost to Pierre Cazaban, 7-5, 2-6, 6-6 (5-10). At #2 singles, Crocker lost to Will Pazak, 2-6, 0-6. Schneider played at #3 singles and lost to Luke Peterson, 1-6, 4-6. Gruenhagen lost a tight match to Justin Benebe, 2-6, 6-1 (10-12) at #4 singles.

 

Lefebvre and Lindquist paired up at #1 doubles and lost to Jonathan Perzel and Sam Lomans, 6-7 (5-7_, 6-3 (13-15). Howard and Lukkarila were the only Becker players to capture a win as they beat Will Whistler and Will Berstka at #2 doubles by a score of 6-3, 6-1. Bonsante and Dertinger played at #3 doubles, but wer defeated by Strom Keehan and Carson Marr, 2-6, 4-6.

 

Adam Ritsche and Matt Bollin won at No. 2 doubles to secure the Granite Ridge Conference win for Foley Monday night on the road.

 

The Falcons improved to 3-0 in the conference and 6-0 overall.

 

Tyler Lindquist won 6-0, 6-0 at No. 3 singles and Brady Gruenhagen won 6-1, 6-1 at No. 4 singles for Becker.

 

Zach Kantor won 6-0, 6-1 at No. 1 singles and Logan Scott won 6-3, 6-4 at No. 2 singles for Foley.

 

“We had another great match tonight, unfortunately we came out on the wrong end of a 4-3 score,” said Bengtson.  “Give credit to Foley, they played loose and confident.

 

Elk River Tournament Moundsview 6, Becker 1

The Bulldogs’ first match of last Saturday’s tournament was against defending state champion Mounds View.  

 

“They are a great team and really showed that with their power and consistency,” said Bengtson.  “We played well, but were no match for them.  Their coach does a really great job of getting his guys ready to compete at a high level each and every year.”

 

Brady Gruenhagen was the only Bulldog to win his match as he beat Alchil Chandra, 6-3, 6-2.

 

Becker’s second match of the tournament was against the state runners-up from 2015 — the Elk River Elks.  

 

“They are really well coached and have an amazing program that we try to model ourselves after,” said Bengtson.  “We played some really great tennis at many different positions - especially #1 doubles.”

 

CJ Howard and Jacob Lukkarila played very poised and really gave the fans an incredible match to watch as they pulled out a tight, 7-5 victory in the third set.  

 

Becker also had their #3 doubles team of Quernemoen and Popp that started to make some great strides toward maturity and aggressiveness as a team as they won their match, 7-5, 6-0.

 

Becker got wins from Jackson Lefebvre at #1 singles and from Isaac Popp and Caleb Quernemoen at #3 doubles in a loss to the Eagles in their third match of the Elk River tournament.

 

“Our final match of the day was against Apple Valley. They are a solid team that we really competed well with,” said Bengtson.  “They were a veteran group that showed a lot of toughness as they won some really close points at #2 doubles to seal the decisive win.”

 

This was a great matchup, as Becker and Thief River Falls showcased their skills on Becker’s home court last Friday night.

 

“They we strong all the way through the lineup,” said Bengtson.  “We had some amazing matches and #1 singles was a really  impressive match.”

 

Lefebvre was just edged by the Ethan Johnson of TRF in a really tight third set.  

 

Becker’s #2 doubles team of Andrew Schneider and Lucas Dertinger rose to the occasion and showed mental toughness as they beat Carter Onkka and Michael Magnussion by a 6-3, 6-4 score.  

 

“Lucas and Andrew just kept battling and it came out as a ‘W’ for them,” said Bengtson.

 

The boys hosted Duluth East Friday (full report on match in next week’s Citizen-Tribune), then travel to Aitkin Tuesday before returning home Thursday against Mound Westonka.

 

Saturday, they host a GRC meet on their home courts.