The Crookston Pirate Boy’s Tennis team only has three players with varsity experience returning to play this season and they showed good improvement from a 7-0 loss to Alexandria and a 7-0 loss to Monticello in matches played on a cool and windy day in Alexandria.
CROOKSTON VS ALEXANDRIA
In the first match of the season and the first since 2019, the Pirates ran into a good and deep Alexandria Cardinals team. The most competitive match came at first singles with Jack Garmen losing in the second set 7-6 and 7-4 in the tie-breaker. Crookston only has three with varsity experience in the lineup and several players that are in their first year of playing tennis. “Jack Garmen, Eric Coauette, and Mason Owens were the only players to have varsity experience,” said Pirate Coach Cody Brekken. Combine that without a senior on the team and the Pirates knew the first matches would be tough. “It was good to get the first match in and it didn’t go the way we wanted, but it was nice to get outside and get the first match in,” said Coach Brekken. “Alex is tough from top to bottom and they are a big school and are deeper than we are at this point. It was nice to see our players hustling and working hard and learning the game as we go.”
| CROOKSTON-0 | Alexandria-7 | Win | Score | |
| 1st Sin | Jack Garmen | Jacob Parington | Alex | 6-2, 7-6 (7-4) |
| 2nd | Eric Coauette | Gannon Lueke | Alex | 6-0, 6-1 |
| 3rd | Mason Owens | Landon Schable | Alex | 6-0, 6-2 |
| 4th | Reggie Winjum | Aaron Jost | Alex | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 1st Dubs | Evan Christiansen Tim Brule |
Dieter Mulder Andrew Wegner |
Alex | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 2nd | Xander Kuchan Kaleb Armstrong |
Owen Olsen Dylan Olsen |
Alex | 6-1, 6-0 |
| 3rd | Zach Johnson Ethan Erdman |
Tyler Jabus Ryan Maveson |
Alex | 6-1, 6-1 |
| Exh. | Isaac Thomforde Nate Kelly |
Brennan Parker Brennan Latimer |
Alex | 6-2, 6-3 |
CROOKSTON VS MONTICELLO
Crookston showed a lot of improvement from the first match to the second match, a 7-0 loss to the Monticello Magic, which is coached by Crookston High School graduate Katy Westrom.
Crookston won 25 games in the seven varsity matches, which was seven better than the first match. Jack Garmen had a competitive match at first singles, and the three doubles teams all had competitive matches. “Monticello might have been a little tougher at the top of their line up, but we showed a lot of improvement. The guys were hustling and working hard and showed a lot of improvement,” said Coach Brekken. “It was nice to get outside and see what we need to work on. I have a list of about 25 things I jotted down that we will need to work on and it was nice to get these matches in to show the guys what we need to work on before our next matches, which will be section matches.”
Crookston drops to 0-2 in duals and will host Thief River Falls and Detroit Lakes on Thursday.
| CROOKSTON-0 | Monticello-7 | Win | Score | |
| 1st Sin | Jack Garmen | Tyler Roussbung | Mont | 6-3, 6-1 |
| 2nd | Eric Coauette | Henry Sawatzke | Mont | 6-0, 6-0 |
| 3rd | Mason Owens | Wyatt Kadelbach | Mont | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 4th | Reggie Winjum | Ryan Schyma | Mont | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 1st Dubs | Evan Christensen Tim Brule |
Dylan Roiger Johnny May |
Mont | 6-0, 6-4 |
| 2nd | Xander Kuchan Kaleb Armstrong |
Jackson Bianchi Brandon Fyle |
Mont | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 3rd | Zach Johnson Ethan Erdman |
Jacob Roden Daniel Housaubath |
Mont | 6-4, 6-3 |
| Exh. | Isaac Thomforde Nathan Kelly |
Zane Pemberton Caleb Kalenbach |
Mont | 6-4, 6-3 |
