The Crookston Pirate Boys Tennis team received the third seed in the Section 8A Boys Tennis tournament and beat the #6 seed Detroit Lakes 5-2 at Horizon School courts in Moorhead before beating #2 seed New London-Spicer 4-3 in the semi-finals at Courts Plus in Fargo, North Dakota to advance to the Section 8A Championship on Tuesday morning.
It was a cold and windy morning at the Moorhead Horizon School tennis courts with wind chill readings in the 30’s. It didn’t affect the Pirates as they got off to a great start with Grant Funk winning his second singles match in impressive fashion 6-0, 6-0 to get the Pirates off to a 1-0 lead.
The next match completed was the first doubles team of Jack Everett and Hudson Rick as they won the first set 6-1 and won a more competitive second set 6-4 to win the match and give the Pirates a 2-0 lead.
Crookston’s Sam Widseth kept the winning streak going as he won his fourth singles match 6-4, 6-1 to give the Pirates a 3-0 lead.
Gunnar Groven continued the Pirates’ winning ways as he won the third singles match with a convincing 6-3, 6-2 victory and the win solidified a Pirate team victory with a 4-0 lead.
The second doubles team of Colton Osborn and Alex Zammert won a hard-fought three-set match. They lost the first set 7-5, but bounced back to win the next two sets 6-4, 6-4 to give the Pirates a 5-0 lead.
The third doubles team of Sawyer Anderson and Jacob Halvorson lost a hard-fought three-setter. They won the first set 7-6 before the Lakers duo bounced back to win the next two sets 6-2, 6-4 to win the match.
Detroit Lakes finished the match win a win at first singles match in another three-setter. Reggie Winjum lost the first set 6-4, before dominating the second set on his way to the win 6-1. It forced a third-set tie-breaker, and since the match was decided, they played up to 10. DL was able to win the third set 10-6, but Crookston won the match 5-2.
Crookston improves to 11-8 on the year and will take on New London-Spicer in the semi-finals this afternoon. New London-Spicer beat Perham 7-0 in their first round match. Detroit Lakes’ team season ends with a 5-14 record.
| Crookston-5 | Detroit Lakes-2 | Win | Score | |
| 1st Singles | Reggie Winjum | Nick Buboltz | DL | 6-4, 1-6, 10-6 |
| 2nd | Grant Funk | Max Mercil | Crox | 6-0, 6-0 |
| 3rd | Gunnar Groven | Jude Houglum | Crox | 6-3, 6-2 |
| 4th | Sam Widseth | Tristan Bristlin | Crox | 6-4. 6-1 |
| 1st Doubles | Jack Everett Hudson Rick | Damarion Moss Aiden Askelson | Crox | 6-1, 6-4 |
| 2nd | Colton Osborn Alex Zammert | Reece Winter Max Splonskowski | Crox | 5-7, 6-4. 6-4 |
| 3rd | Sawyer Anderson Jacob Halvorson | Owen Lipton Beau Carlson | DL | 6-7, 6-2, 6-4 |
Semi-final vs New London-Spicer
Crookston came up with a big 4-3 victory over New London-Spicer in the semi-finals Monday afternoon. Crookston won three singles matches and the third doubles match to win the match as they continue to show off their team depth.
The singles matches finished first. New London-Spicer’s Jowell Gamez is one of the top players in the section, and he showed why by winning the first singles match 6-1, 6-1. Crookston dominated the rest of the singles matches. Grant Funk shut out his opponent for the second straight match, winning 6-0, 6-0. He has outscored his opponent 24-0 in his two playoff matches.
Gunnar Groven continues to play solid tennis, cruising to a 6-2, 6-1 victory.
At fourth singles, Crookston’s Sam Widseth beat his opponent 6-3, 6-0. Widseth has the best winning percentage of all the Pirates this season. He won again, and Crookston had a 3-1 lead early in the match.
The doubles matches were still going, and it wasn’t a good start for the third doubles team of Sawyer Anderson and Teagen Lubinski. The duo didn’t let the slow start hurt them as they bounced back to win the next set in impressive fashion 6-1 to force a third set. Crookston’s duo continued their solid play as they won the third set 6-3 to win their match and giving the Pirates a 4-1 lead to assure them of playing in the Section 8A championship on Thursday morning.
The first doubles team of Jack Everett and Hudson Rick lost a heart-breaker first set 7-6 and 7-4 in the tie-breaker. The Pirates won the next set 6-3 to force a third set. Since the team match was already decided, they didn’t play a full set and New London-Spicer won the third set 10-2.
The second doubles team of Colton Osborn and Alex Zammert lost 6-4, 6-0 and Crookston won the match 4-3 to advance to the Section 8A championship Tuesday morning.
Crookston improves to 12-8 on the year and will play Minnewaska Area in the Section 8A Championship at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday at Fargo Courts Plus.
| Crookston-4 | NLS -3 | Win | Score | |
| 1st Singles | Reggie Winjum | Jowell Gamez | NLS | 6-1, 6-1 |
| 2nd | Grant Funk | Jameson Dragt | Crox | 6-0, 6-0 |
| 3rd | Gunnar Groven | Coleman Davis | Crox | 6-2, 6-1 |
| 4th | Sam Widseth | Jovial Martinez | Crox | 6-3, 6-0 |
| 1st Doubles | Jack Everett Hudson Rick | Henry Vetch Owen Lee | NLS | 7-6 (7-4), 3-6, 10-2 |
| 2nd | Colton Osborn Alex Zammert | Vaughn Hanson Isaac Palmer | NLS | 6-4, 6-0 |
| 3rd | Sawyer Anderson Jacob Halvorson | Ethan Wenke Liam Hanson | Crox | 3-6, 6-1, 6-3 |
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