Forest Lake still alive as a team, multiple Rangers in contention for state
The Forest Lake boys tennis team jump-started its siege of the Section 7AA title in hopes of earning Class AA state berths – kicking off the team and individual tournaments on Thursday, May 16, and Saturday, May 18, respectively. According to head coach Mark Daniels, multiple Rangers have a shot at earning a trip to the big and final stage, including seniors Frank Kerkow, Braden Anderson, and junior Malachi McKinnon, who saw state action as a freshman.
“I think Kerkow definitely has a road there, and it will be exciting to see what McKinnon and Anderson can do as well – we’re looking forward to those matches,” Daniels said.
Kerkow headlined his squad on the opening day of the individual tournament, recording back-to-back wins after earning a bye in the first round. The top singles player wound up defeating his opponent from Blaine in three sets by a 2-1 score (4-6, 6-0, 6-0) after dropping the opening set, which Daniels hinted was just a case of the jitters.
“He played really well. I thought he was a little tight in his first match. He dropped the first set and then came back and won two straight,” Daniels said. “He’s been playing real strong.”
In his second match, Kerkow defeated a familiar opponent in Logan Lunseth from Blaine, who beat the Rangers’ number two singles player Anderson once this season.
“He gave Frank a tough match, but [Kerkow] managed to play well enough to win to move on to the semifinals,” Daniels said.
Kerkow’s 2-1 win over Lunseth set up a matchup in the semifinals with another opponent from Blaine, which is scheduled for Thursday, May 23, at Elk River High School.
Sophomore Owen Dzurik had his season cut short, as the rising singles player lost in the opening round of the individual tournament, falling 0-2 to Otto Netteberg of St. Francis.
A powerful doubles duo in Anderson and McKinnon have been in sync up to this point, picking up two consecutive wins over an Andover duo (2-0) and a pair from Blaine (2-1) after receiving a first round bye. That allowed the pair a semifinals matchup with a doubles unit from Cambridge-Isanti. Anderson and McKinnon will face off against the Bluejackets on Thursday, May 23, at Elk River High School.
“Their games complement each other,” Daniels said. “Braden’s got a big strong serve, and you have Malachi who’s very quick and is just a real strong player all-around. They just work well together, and I think with Malachi’s personality, it really pushes Braden to play his best game. He brings his confidence up and they play great tennis beside each other overall.”
Doubles team sophomore Declan Johnson and senior Liam Georges – who is a foreign exchange student from Belgium – picked up a first round win as partners over a Chisago Lakes duo in two sets (7-5, 6-1), before getting knocked out of contention in the second round to an Elk River duo by a 0-2 score.
“They gave Elk River a good match. I think there were some opportunities in that match that they could have taken advantage of to push that match a little deeper...He’s one of the better hustling players we have on our team; he just hustles for everything, and it’s going to be sad to see him go,” Daniels said.
As for Decland’s future in the next couple years, he said, “He has what I call a very disruptive forehand – he can rip the ball and unload on it – it’s a real outstanding weapon. I’m looking forward to that developing even further, as well as consistency going into next year.”
The No. 6-seeded Rangers also picked up a convincing first round 7-0 sweep over Grand Rapids on Thursday, May 16 in team play. With the win, the boys prepared to duel with the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets on Wednesday, May 22, in a contest that was not completed by press time. A win would set the Rangers up with a semifinals matchup on Tuesday, May 28, against the winner of a contest between No. 2 seed Blaine and No. 10 seed Chisago Lakes.
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