With a senior-dominated lineup, Mike Baumgartner expected the Park Rapids boys tennis team to put a competitive team on the courts.
Despite posting a 1-10 record in dual meets, the Panthers were competitive by being shut out only once while snapping a 27-match losing streak.
The Panthers opened the season with a pair of 6-1 losses to Grand Rapids and Bemidji before tying for sixth place at the Park Rapids Invitational with 9 points. Foley claimed the team title with 42 points.
A 4-3 win over East Grand Forks snapped a 27-match losing streak dating back to a 4-3 win over Wadena-Deer Creek in 2012.
Park Rapids followed with losses to Crookston (6-1), Detroit Lakes (5-2), Bemidji (6-1) and Thief River Falls (7-0) before ending the regular season on a competitive note with a 4-3 loss to Detroit Lakes, a 4-3 loss to East Grand Forks and a 6-1 loss to Crookston.
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For the Section 8A tournament, the Panthers received the No. 5 seed and ended the season with a 4-3 loss to No. 4 East Grand Forks. Crookston, the No. 1 seed, defeated No. 2 Thief River Falls in the section title match and ended up placing fourth at the state Class A tournament. Crookston ended the season rated No. 6 while Thief River Falls was rated No. 8 in the final state Class A poll.
For the season, the Panthers went 0-14 at No. 1 singles, 2-12 at No. 2 singles, 5-9 at No. 3 singles, 4-10 at No. 4 singles, 4-10 at No. 1 doubles, 2-12 at No. 2 doubles and 10-4 at No. 3 doubles.
“I thought we’d do a little better,” said Park Rapids head coach Mike Baumgartner. “We had East Grand Forks and Detroit Lakes on the ropes a couple times. It was kind of frustrating because I wanted the kids to win more, but they did their best.”
Leading the Panthers this season were seniors Ben Baumgartner, Alex Boyd, Jeff Dickinson, Jackson Kimball, Nick Lopez and Jaden Olson; juniors Bobby Bruce, Marcus Hoyer and Marcus McKeever; and sophomores Nolan Booge, Logan Johnson and Nick Porozinski. Lopez was named the team’s Most Valuable Player, Baumgartner was named the Most Improved Player and Boyd received the team’s Spirit Award.
Dickinson and Lopez posted a 4-5 record at No. 1 doubles and were the No. 7 seed in doubles for the section tournament. Dickinson also went 1-3 in singles while Lopez compiled a 0-3 record at No. 1 singles and a 4-6 overall record at No. 1 doubles.
Kimball and Olson played No. 2 doubles most of the season, posting a 2-7 record at that position and earning the No. 9 seed in doubles for the section tournament. Both finished with a 2-12 overall record in doubles.
Baumgartner and Boyd went 5-2 at No. 3 doubles. Baumgartner was the No. 3 seed in singles at the section tournament and finished with a 3-2 record in singles and a 5-3 record in doubles. Boyd went 7-8 in doubles.
Bruce played No. 1 singles most of the season, going 0-9 while going 2-2 at the other singles positions. Bruce was the No. 7 seed in singles for the section tournament.
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Johnson posted a 0-9 record at No. 2 singles while going 3-1 at No. 3 doubles.
McKeever compiled a 1-3 record at No. 3 singles, a 2-0 record at No. 4 singles and a 1-2 record in doubles.
Porozinski went 1-4 in singles and 0-1 at No. 2 doubles while Hoyer went 0-2 in singles and 1-0 at No. 3 doubles.
Sophomore Zach Nelson and eighth grader Ashton Clark played in one match apiece.
“I thought we had a nice season. We were able to practice every day and the kids worked hard and got better,” said Baumgartner. These kids like playing tennis and had a lot of fun. We only won one match, but I’d say the season was a success.”
Looking ahead to next season, the Panthers have to replace all six doubles players. However, 14 varsity and junior varsity players will return as the Panthers look to close the gap on the top teams in the section.
“We’re going to miss the seniors. Five of them started playing tennis as sixth graders and stuck with it,” said Baumgartner. “We lose six kids, so it could be tough to compete in our section next year. We’ll return some experience and hopefully we can gain some more kids and continue to improve.”
