Finally able to start, tennis team aims high

MEDFORD BOYS TENNIS PREVIEW

The Medford Raiders boys tennis team was the last team to finally get its 2021 season started, but early signs indicate the wait might be well worth it.

Anchored by four returning letter winners from the 2019 season and a group of newcomers that appears to be more advanced than any head coach Jake Bucki has had in his nine seasons, the Raiders have high hopes for the spring season, which will go by quickly with just four weeks of regular-season play and the WIAA’s sectional week already starting on June 7.

The season got off to an encouraging 4-0 start on Friday and Saturday with a Great Northern Conference win and three victories at the Baldwin-Woodville Quad. The Raiders posted a combined 27-1 record in those duals before losing 6-1 at perennial GNC power Rhinelander Tuesday. Medford hosts the other GNC pre-season favorite, Antigo, Friday at 4:30 p.m. in a pivotal early-season dual.

Under the WIAA’s revised calendar for this year, the first official practice didn’t happen until Monday, May 3, which Bucki said left the team overanxious to get started after not having competed at all in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic.

In 2019, the Raiders tied for fourth place in the WIAA Division 2 sectional tournament and placed third in the Great Northern Conference.

“We talked about having the opportunity again to play and appreciating it, just like we talked about in the fall with the girls,” Bucki said Friday. “We’re appreciating the opportunity to play again. They’re excited. We had some contact days. Last week, there was no contact the week before practice starts, but they had captains’ practices and a bunch of them were out here playing. That’s what you hope for. That they have that appreciation and love for the game. They do. This season’s going to fly by.”

Medford’s 2021 roster currently stands at 14 players with a solid mixture of representation from each class.

The most experienced players are seniors Logan Searles, Kevin Damm and Tahtankka Damm and junior Quinton Tlusty.

Searles and Tlusty opened in the top two singles spots. Searles was the flightfour sectional champion as a sophomore, posting a 17-3 record in the flight, and makes the move up to number-one to start this season. Tlusty saw all of his action as a freshman playing doubles. He finished on Medford’s number-one team with then-senior Riley Kleist.

For both, Bucki said their success will hinge on their ability to play aggressively, which is something both acquired in doubles play earlier in their prep careers.

“With Logan, we’re just trying to get him confidence in his ground stroke and using it more,” Bucki said. “He has it. Off the ball machine he can hit it. It’s just getting himself to do it in a match. If you think about it, the last time he competed in a match he was at four singles. There, if you get a ball in five times you’re going to win the point. He has the aggressive style and will get to the net. “Quinton is the same way,” Bucki added. “They both have the doubles background. They played doubles their freshman year. Quinton still has that aggressive mindset of coming forward, which is good.”

Kevin and Tahtankka Damm have been paired as Medford’s number-one doubles team to start the year. Two years ago, Tahtankka settled into a number-two doubles role with then-junior Luis Silva and they went 6-6 together. Kevin ended the 2019 season on the number-three team with then-junior Cooper Wild and they went 5-5 together.

Senior Ethan Swiantek, who did play a varsity doubles match with Kevin Damm in 2019, and freshman Adam Swedlund round out the projected singles lineup. Swiantek started in flight three, but Bucki said they could be interchangeable depending on that day’s lineup.

“They played a set (May 5) to try to figure out who was going to be where,” Bucki said. “Of course it went to a tiebreaker, 7-5 in the tiebreak. Watching them play, I could play either one of these guys at three and four and be just fine.”

The neat thing about this year’s team is the newcomers filling in the rest of the doubles spots and how quickly they’ve picked up the game. Juniors Colbe Bull and Brayden Machon are multi-sport athletes who have fit right in.

Sophomores Saskatoon Damm and Dante Axon get their first varsity experience over the weekend and freshman Brayden Balciar is also getting immediate varsity time.

Freshmen Ashton Wehe, Alex Wilson and Nathan Willman round out the roster.

“As far as inexperienced players, I’ve never been this excited before,” Bucki said. “Usually you don’t know what you’re going to get. With these guys you can just tell they have the tennis skill set. I know Adam has spent a lot of time on the court and Brayden has spent a lot of time on the court. Our doubles have been super aggressive. That’s what I want.”

In the GNC, getting to the top of the pack means getting past Rhinelander and Antigo, who have been fixtures at the top since the league formed in 2010. Rhinelander has won the last six GNC titles and eight of 10. Antigo won the other two in 2010 and 2013.

Bucki said Rhinelander may have the top player in senior Jacob Weddle, who won the Player of the Year award in 2019. The Hodags lost a lot of talent over the past two springs, but the program is always deep. Antigo had a lot of young talent two years ago, which should make them a threat. Stevens Point Pacelli and Lakeland round out what will be a five-team conference this year. Newman Catholic does not have a team this year. Lakeland only brought two players to Friday’s dual meet in Medford. Bucki said Pacelli had some nice young players in 2019.

The only other non-conference meet remaining on the current schedule is a May home dual with Eau Claire Regis.

Though the post-season is still a month away, Bucki is curious to see if Medford may have a chance to make a run. As currently posted by the WIAA, the Regis subsectional does feature Antigo, who might be tough to beat. Top players from that subsectional will see the top players from the West Salem subsectional in the Altoona sectional, which is slated to be played at the Menards Tennis Center in Eau Claire.

“I’m confident in pretty much every flight,” Bucki said. “Not that we’re going to win every single one of them, but we’re going to compete in everything.”