MHS wins WDA title in Hammond | News, Sports, Jobs

Robert Brewer / MDN Minot’s Josh Hegstad serves one in Thursday’s semi-final doubles match against Bismarck Century at Hammond Park. The Magicians won that game 5-0, then defeated Bismarck Legacy 4-1 in the final to win the WDA West Region tournament for the first time since 2012.

For the first time in nine years, the Minot Magicians men’s tennis team can call themselves champions of the WDA West Region tournament.

On Thursday, seed Minot took to his home turf in Hammond Park with a WDA title on the line. After a first-round pass, faced fourth-seeded Bismarck Century in the semi-finals. In a 3-2 format, the Mages made a clean sweep, winning all five games.

In the best singles matches, Zach Diehl won 6-1, 6-4 over Century’s Jared Pitcher. In second place, Hunter Rice was challenged in a straight set victory over Beau Zander, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4. In slot # 3, Colby Opp handled straight-set business over Brody Clarke, 6-4, 6-2.

In doubles, the Mages have not lost a set. Aidan Diehl and Grayson Schaeffer formed Minot’s No.1 squad and took a 6-0, 6-1 victory over Travis Metzger and Taylor Puliiafico of Century. Then in second place, Josh Hegstad and Brayden McLean won 6-3, 6-3 against Sri Kandoorv and Eric Bender.

Then in the championship game against second seed Bismarck Legacy, Minot won that game 4-1. The Magicians only lost in this first place showdown as Zach Diehl fell to Anthony Janes in straight sets 2-6, 6-7 (3).

In second place, Minot’s Rice took the 6-3, 6-2 victory over Joe Kalb. Meanwhile, Opp put on a dominant display in their win over Legacy’s Caleb Johnson, not losing a single game 6-0, 6-0 in the No.3 singles match.

In doubles, Aidan Diehl and Schaeffer took another straight set victory for Minot, beating Legacy’s Jay Moylan and Brayden Ruff 6-4, 6-3. In the No.2 doubles match, McLean and Hegstad were tested, but ultimately defeated Gage Martell and Drew Beasley 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.

According to Minot head coach Scott DeLorme, he believes the four non-conference losses in September gave his club a boost in focus ahead of the WDA tournament. In addition, DeLorme expressed his enthusiasm for the difficulty with which the whole club competed throughout the day.

“I thought we had really learned some good lessons from this experience”, DeLorme told the Minot Daily News. “From those games you could see the guys go up a notch in training, and that kept them very motivated to improve their overall skills. The boys really set a goal early on to win the region and to their credit, they put in hard work and effort throughout the year. In both games, we went down early and fought in several places. This team bought into the team aspect of tennis and that was crucial today. “

With the team regional doubles game now over, the WDA singles and doubles individual matches will be held at Minot in Hammond Park on Friday and Saturday. The first individual match of the day will start on Friday at 10 a.m.