MEDFORD BOYS TENNIS - Tennis team downs Red Robins 5-2 for season’s first victory

MEDFORD BOYS TENNIS

MATT FREY

SPORTS EDITOR

Tiebreaking situations have not always been the Medford Raiders’ strength this spring on the tennis courts, but they won a couple of them Tuesday to seal their 5-2 Great Northern Conference win over Antigo.

The win was Medford’s first of the year after eight dual-meet losses. The Raiders are 1-1 in the GNC with three dual meets still to play. Antigo fell to 1-3 in league play.

The Red Robins aren’t carrying a full roster this season and forfeited all three doubles matches Tuesday. That meant Medford needed just one singles win to take the dual.

Conner Klingbeil got that win fairly quickly, taking the number-two match in straight sets over Michael Hagerty. Klingbeil took the first set 6-2, but Hagerty pushed him in the second set, forging a 6-6 tie. But in the tiebreaker, Klingbeil took control quickly and won it 7-2 to take the set 7-6 and the match.

Klingbeil is 6-0 this season in singles matches.

In flight one, Brayden Balciar and Antigo’s Nolan Bunnell continued their rivalry that started last year when Balciar went 3-1 in four competitive matches.

This time, Bunnell got the early edge winning the first set 7-6. He took the tiebreaker 7-3. But Balciar evened things with a dominant 6-1 win in set two. In the decisive third set, Balciar held off Bunnell 7-5 to improve his singles record this year to 4-3.

The matches in the third and fourth flights also went the distance.

At number-three, Antigo’s Garrett Tomczyk outlasted Raider Cale Schulz 2-6, 6-2, 6-1. At number-four, Evan Lundgren and Medford’s Jude Stark played until it nearly got dark. Stark took the first set 7-5, while Lundgren evened things in set two 6-2. The final game went back-and-forth between deuce, ad-in and ad-out points for seemingly an eternity before Lundgren finally closed out the match with a 7-5 win.

Forfeit wins in doubles went to Mason Reimann and Parker Hill in flight one, Keagan Gehrke and Caleb Egle in flight two and Christian Preuss and Blaine Searles in flight three.

Medford is scheduled to play at Altoona Friday with GNC foes Lakeland and Ashland also slated to attend the quad. Wausau East visits Medford for non-conference play Monday, then the Raiders host GNC favorite Rhinelander Tuesday at 5 p.m. Medford will make up a twicepostponed meet at Stevens Point Pacelli on May 9.

Regis 5, Medford 2

Balciar’s comeback win at number-one singles was the highlight of Thursday’s home meet, which Eau Claire Regis won 5-2.

After three straight weather postponements, the Raiders finally got back into competition and got wins from Balciar and Klingbeil atop the singles portion of the lineup.

Balciar improved his singles record to 3-3 with his three-set win over Tony Wesner. Wesner took a lengthy first set 7-5 as the two battled through several deuce points and long rallies. Some points featured hard volleying at the net. On others, the top were content to trade ground strokes from the baselines waiting for the other to make the mistake.

Balciar came back to win the second set 7-5. They went to a 10-point tiebreaker to decide the match and Balciar dominated that 10-3.

Klingbeil took care of business in much quicker fashion. He swept Rambler Eli Smith in the number-two match 6-2, 6-3 to remain unbeaten in the flight at 5-0.

From there, some absences forced a lot of shuffling to Medford’s lineup and the Ramblers took advantage.

John Kohel was pushed at times in the number-three singles match by Stark, but Kohel pulled away from the Medford senior 6-2, 6-1. Carter Sisko defeated Medford’s Cole Zenner in flight four 6-1, 6-0.

Ty Gehling and Andrew Berschback swept Schulz and Hill 6-1, 6-1 in the flightone doubles match. Schulz and Hill were playing together for the first time this spring. Preuss and Ethan Kollmansberger were swept 6-0, 6-0 by the Regis team of Nash Cullinan and Jack Schroeder in flight two. Trevor Kern and Noah Lober beat Medford’s Isaac Barnhart and Reuben Barnhart 6-0, 6-0 in flight three.

Medford’s Meredith Richter tries to improve her position late in her 1,600-meter run Friday at West Allis Hale’s Night Distance meet. Richter took fifth in 5:12.76, just missing her school record. SUBMITTED PHOTO

Christian Preuss follows through on a serve during number-two doubles play Thursday against Regis. MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS