Grand Forks Red River boys tennis regains an old label -- the favorite to win state

Aug. 23—GRAND FORKS — For almost two decades, the outcome of the North Dakota boys tennis season was inevitable.

It always ended with Grand Forks Red River winning the state championship.

The Roughriders won 17-straight state championships between 1998 and 2014. Their longest title drought in a 28-year stretch (1989-2016) was one season.

That suddenly changed. Since Red River's last title in 2016, it's been Fargo South and Grand Forks Central trading championships. The Bruins won in 2017 and 2019. The Knights won in 2018, 2020 and 2021.

Entering this season, it has now been six years since Red River's last title. No player on this year's roster was eligible to play high school tennis the last time Red River won state.

But they'll get a taste of what it was like for those old Roughrider teams.

Red River is once again the big favorite.

The Roughriders finished runner-up to rival Central last season, losing 3-2 in the final and missing the crown by a single match. They return six of the seven players who competed in the state final, losing only No. 7 singles player, Mason Barrett.

"We're returning six of our top seven, so we should be very solid from top to bottom," Red River coach Josh Lunak said. "I think (being a favorite) is something they're used to, whether it's tennis or another sport. A lot of them are athletes, who are probably used to that in other sports. I think they'll handle it just fine."

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Red River returns state doubles champions Espen Schneider and Saylor Kuenzel. Schneider, a junior, could be the top singles player in the state.

"Espen doesn't miss," Lunak said. "He's consistent. He keeps the ball in play. His compete level is really high. He's a tough out.

"Saylor has a big forehand. He's got some touch. He can put the ball in the corners. He has a heavy ball."

Red River also brings back junior Kellen Johnson, who finished sixth place at state singles last season.

"Kellen has every shot," Lunak said. "His ceiling is pretty high."

Senior Carson Skarperud, junior Luc Bydal and sophomore Asher Green also played in last year's state final — an experience that could help the Roughriders this season.

"They know what it takes to get through those two weekends and how grueling they are mentally and physically," Lunak said of EDC and state. "They gained that experience last year. I think that's huge for us."

The Knights, who have won back-to-back titles, lost a few big pieces from their lineup. Two-time defending state singles champion Logan Sandberg graduated and has moved on to college tennis at Concordia Moorhead. Ryder McDonald, who finished fourth in state singles as a freshman last season, transferred to Shattuck-St. Mary's Prep School to play hockey.

Central returns three players who competed at state last season — sophomore Cole Wilber, junior Evan Panzer and junior A.J. Spicer.

Wilber and Panzer teamed to finish third at state doubles. Freshman Logan Nielsen also has varsity experience.

"We're going to be very strong with those two top guys," Central coach Max Weisser said. "Cole and Evan have really had a lot of success. They've put some time in and they've gotten better and bigger. After that, we're going to be very competitive. We definitely have a lot of hard-working guys who have improved their games from last year to this year."

Weisser said the lower spots in the varsity lineup are up for grabs.

"This year is as much opportunity as we've had for those spots in the last five years," Weisser said. "The last few years, our turnover was so spaced out. We'd lose one or two guys a year and we were so deep for so many years. This year, I'm excited to see who is going to step up, step forward and take those varsity spots."