FEE/WARDNER AND THE GARMEN BROTHERS ADVANCE TO THE SECTION 8A TENNIS SEMI’S

The Crookston Pirate Boys Tennis team’s doubles teams (Blake Fee/Logan Wardner and Nick Garmen/Jack Garmen) advanced to the Section 8A Individual tennis tournament semi-finals after winning their matches today in Detroit Lakes.  

DOUBLES-
Fee and Wardner were the top seed and received a first-round bye.  In the quarter-finals, Fee and Wardner struggled in the first set and lost 7-5.  They bounced back and won the second set 6-0 to force a third set.  In the third set, the East Grand Forks duo took a 1-0 lead before Wardner and Fee won the next six games for a to win the set 6-1 and the match.  “You could almost see the nervous energy with those two at the start of the match and they started slow, but East Grand Forks played a heckuva game,” said Pirate Coach Cody Brekken. “Blake and Logan figured things out and really finished strong and had their serves going and they made some nice shots.”
Nick and Jack Garmen won their first round match over a duo from Detroit Lakes 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the quarterfinals.  In the quarterfinals, the Garmen brothers dominated the match and made quick work of a Fergus Falls duo in a 6-2, 6-0 victory to advance to the semi-finals. “Jack and Nick came out and started a little slow, but got warmed up and started playing some very good tennis,” said Coach Brekken. “In the second match they were able to come up with some big points and Nick and Jack really played well today.”

Fee and Wardner will play the Garmen’s in the semi-finals on Thursday for the right to play in the championship.  Whoever loses will still have a shot at state, if they win their third-place match and a true second.  “It is good to see those two get this far and it is too bad they didn’t get the 2 and 4 seed,” said Coach Brekken. “They were talking about it previously and on the way home and it will be fun.  I am excited to watch the match and see how it ends up.”

SINGLES-
Mason LaPlante ran into the #3 seed, Ben Kern of East Grand Forks, in the first round and lost 6-0, 6-0 and was eliminated.  “Mason had a tough draw with the defending section champion and had a good start,” said Coach Brekken. “Kern picked up his game the rest of the way and won the match, but I am proud of how hard Mason played.”
Tanner Janorschke played a match that was almost three hours in length with a three-set loss in his first-round match.  Tanner lost the first set 6-3 and bounced back to win the second set 7-6 and 7-5 in the tie-breaker to force a third set.  The third set was a battle and went back-and-forth, but Detroit Lakes’ Braeden Wimmer came away with a 6-4 victory to win the match.  “Tanner came out and played tough today.  He hit everything back and put pressure on his opponent and had a long match,” said Coach Brekken. “Tanner never quit, had nice drop shots and made it a battle until the end.  He couldn’t have played any better and competed until the end.”

Overall, it was a good day for the Pirates. “The kids are playing well right now,” said Coach Brekken. “I am excited to see what happens on Thursday.”
The semi-final and championship matches have been moved from Wednesday to Thursday because of the forecast of rain on Wednesday.