MINNEAPOLIS — The Rock Ridge boys tennis team earned fourth place in their sixth-straight state tournament this week.
As the No. 3 seed in Class A, Rock Ridge beat Minnewaska 7-0 on Tuesday, June 2. On Wednesday, they lost to St. Paul Academy. This was only their second team loss of the season, coming after a loss against Sartell in May.
The Wolverines lost a close 4-3 match to Cotter Wednesday afternoon. Rock Ridge swept the three doubles matches, but lost the four flights of singles.
At second singles, junior Gage Benz lost a third set tiebreak. Sophomore Grant Dimberio took both sets into tiebreaks at third singles, ultimately losing both.
At third doubles, junior Kaden Aguilar and freshman Ben Simetkosky prevailed in a third set tiebreak after winning the first set 6-3 and losing the second set in a tiebreak.
Last year, the team was the runner-up in the tournament, and this fall, the girls team was the state champion.
Individual results
Rock Ridge had three entries in the individual tournament Thursday and Friday. Doubles team of senior Wyatt Frederick and junior Hayden Gonzales were the No. 5 seed. After defeating a Litchfield team 6-1, 6-2, their run ended with a three-set loss to a pair from Rochester Lourdes.
Senior duo Colton Bialke and Aidan Sandnas were unseeded and lost in the first round. They won their second match against a pair from Minnewaska in straight sets. They won their next two matches, beating pairs from Minnewaska and Holy Family Catholic High School. In the consolation championship, they fell in straight sets to a Litchfield team.
Singles entry Gage Benz lost in the first round to the third seed from North Branch. Benz beat senior Jett Cornelious of Thief River Falls 3-6, 2-6 in the consolation bracket. Cornelious fell in his first match to Breck's Ace Frank. This was Cornelious’s second individual state appearance. Benz’s run ended with a loss to Hudson Zimmerman of Schaeffer Academy early Friday morning.
Senior Ethan Lavan of Cloquet also competed in singles. Lavan beat his first opponent Braden Foley of Hill Murray School 6-1, 6-0. He fell in his second match to first seed Evan Ritter of Rochester Lourdes in three sets.
This was Lavan's second loss to Ritter in a state tournament. He previously lost to Ritter in 2024 in another three-set match. This was his fourth-straight state appearance.
Rounding out the Northland entries was the Crookston doubles team of senior Reggie Winjum and junior Grant Frank. The duo fell in the first round 4-6, 2-6 to a team from Breck. They won their second match against a duo from Totino Grace in a third-set tiebreak, after winning the first set in a tiebreak and dropping the second set. Their tournament ended with a defeat by a Litchfield duo.
