New Richmond tennis team rolls past Osceola in final MBC dual

• Nick Bradish

Nick Bradish made quick work of his opponent in the dual match against Osceola last Tuesday, winning the one singles match 6-0, 6-0.

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A 6-1 win over Osceola last Tuesday gave the New Richmond boys tennis team a 4-3 final dual meet record in the Middle Border Conference this season.

The Tigers started the MBC season with three wins, before suffering losses to Amery, Baldwin-Woodville and Eau Claire Regis, so this win was a welcomed achievement. The Tigers rolled through the singles matches, winning all four matches in two sets.

Osceola had its best players in the doubles lineup and this was where the real battles were waged. Osceola seniors Brent Bundgaard and Asher Elmquist scored a 6-2, 6-1 win in the one doubles match over New Richmond’s Charlie Kleiner and Isaiah Hobbs.

The two doubles match was a marathon. New Richmond’s Ben Johnston and Jordy Kvam struggled in losing the opening set 6-4. They reversed the score in the second set, winning 6-4. In the third set the Tigers were facing a set point, down 5-4 and facing a 15-40 score. They managed to battle back and win the final three games for the 7-5 victory.

In the three doubles match, New Richmond’s Lars Poppy and Adrian Harvieux put together a quality performance for a 6-4, 6-4 win.

The singles wins for the Tigers were logged by Nick Bradish, Pat Holland, Jack Hop and Dustin Reed.

Avenging B-W loss

New Richmond and Baldwin-Woodville never got to play in the rain-shortened NR quad meet on May 5, so they elected to make up the match last Thursday. Both teams did a major rehashing of their normal lineups from the conference dual match. This time the Tigers were able to score a win, 5-3.

The Tigers scored three wins on the singles side. Bradish won 6-0, 6-1 at one singles, Reed 6-2, 7-5 at three doubles and Poppy 6-2, 6-4 in four doubles. Poppy battled back from a 4-1 deficit to get the win in his second set.

Four doubles matches were played and three of them went to three sets. The Tigers earned wins at two and four doubles. Johnston and Kvam got another win at two doubles. They bounced back from a rough first set to win the final sets 6-2 and 10-6 in the third set super tie-breaker.

Boyd Stacken and Vitaliy Gutsal scored a win in the four doubles match. They rolled through the first set 6-1, but lost the second 7-5. They prevailed in the third set 10-3.

Tomah tournament

The Tigers travelled to Tomah on Saturday, where they got in duals against Marshfield, Tomah and Viroqua. The Tigers put in a strong day, beating Tomah and Viroqua while losing to a potent Marshfield team. New Richmond lost to Marshfield 5-2, then defeated Tomah 6-0 and Viroqua 4-3.

The Tigers scored at least one win at every flight during the tournament. The majority of the success was provided by the singles players. Bradish swept his three matches, not giving up a set in any match.

Hobbs lost to a strong opponent but came back with good wins against Viroqua and Tomah in the two singles flight.

“Isaiah’s unforced errors were way down and he worked hard in every point,” Montello said.

Hop also lost to Marshfield, but rolled past his other opponents in the three singles flight. Reed scored four singles wins against Marshfield and Viroqua and was part of the Tigers’ three doubles win against Tomah.

The Tigers were able to record one doubles win at each flight, with all three wins coming against Tomah.

Montello said this was a good chance to prepare for Tuesday’s Middle Border Conference meet. The Tigers finish their regular season on Thursday with their traditional finale against Hudson. This year the Tigers host the match.

Next Monday the Tigers begin the WIAA tournament trail by playing in the Division 1 Eau Claire Memorial Subsectional Tournament. The players who advance will take part in the Marshfield Division 1 Sectional Tournament next Wednesday.

Tags: sports, tigers, tennis, prep