Warriors beat the Eagles, rain
Boys' tennis
From a high of 81 degrees Thursday the temperature tumbled into the 40s Friday .
So the Brainerd Warriors decided to start their tennis meet against the St. Cloud Apollo Eagles one hour earlier. The earlier tart didn't make the cold and wind easier to tolerate but it did enable Brainerd to beat the rain and the Eagles 6-1.
Brainerd No. 1 doubles player Corey Kuglin warmed up before Friday's match against St. Cloud Apollo. Kuglin and partner Nate Henningson lost 6-3, 3-6, 6-1. Brainerd Dispatch/Steve Kohls » Purchase reprints of this photo.
"It was one of those days where at 2:30 it was nice, at 3:00 it dropped about 10-15 degrees and the wind picked up," Warriors coach Bruce Thompson said. "It was a tough day for kids to get warmed up. You can't get into a groove in a match situation and feeling like you're warmed up and ready to play. That's tough, but that's spring sports.
"I'm really surprised we got it in. At 2:30 I'm thinking yeah, we'll get it in. We're doing introductions and it started to rain, and I'm wondering if we're going to get it in but it held off. You have to hand it to both teams. They played in some tough conditions."
Brainerd swept the singles matches as Devin Larson won at No. 1, Morgan Salo at No. 2, Jordan Shiltz at No. 3 and Jordan Goos at No. 4. Larson improved to 6-1, Salo and Shiltz are 5-2 and Goos 7-0.
Warriors 6, Apollo 1
The key: Brainerd swept the singles matches.
Conference: Brd 5-1, SCA 1-5
Overall: Brd 6-1, SCA 1-5
Next: Brainerd at Moorhead Invite 9 a.m. Saturday
The Warriors' only loss was at No. 1 doubles where Apollo's Kevin McGuire-Ian Johnson beat Corey Kuglin-Nate Henningson 6-3, 3-6, 6-1.
"They moved their top two singles guys and put them at No. 1 doubles," Thompson said. "Our guys played a better second set, but struggled and Apollo won in three. We did some things well. We didn't close as well as we should."
The other two Warrior victories were by the pairs of Michael Ruen-Jared Anderson at No. 2 and Garth Askegaard-Chris Rud at No. 3. Henningson and Kuglin are 5-2, Ruen is 5-1, Anderson and Rud are 7-0 and Askegaard is 6-1.
The victory was Brainerd's sixth straight since a season-opening 4-3 loss to Alexandria April 9.
"It was a tough opener because we had guys who had hit outside a couple days, some guys hit outside one day, and we just got guys back from a choir trip," Thompson said. "Neither team was very prepared. They were maybe a little bit more prepared than we were. Right out of the box when you play a contender in Alexandria, which is now leading the CLC, that's a tough opener. We'll see them again next Thursday."
Brainerd 6, Apollo 1
Singles
No. 1: Devin Larson (B) def. Thomas Pollreis 6-0, 6-0
No. 2: Morgan Salo (B) def. Jens Kleinakampoker 6-1, 6-1
No. 3: Jordan Shiltz (B) def. Patrick Nguyen 6-0, 6-1
No. 4: Jordan Goos (B) def. Michael Bauman 6-0, 6-2
Doubles
No. 1: Kevin McGuire-Ian Johnson (SCA) def. Corey Kuglin-Nate Henningson 6-3, 3-6, 6-1
No. 2: Michael Ruen-Jared Anderson (B) def. Zach Magowan-Mitch Krieger 6-0, 6-1
No. 3: Garth Askegaard-Chris Rud (B) def. Cully Boue-Tom Anderson 6-1, 6-0
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or at 855-5861.