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2002 South Central Minnesota Boys' Tennis

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This is just speculation on the area's boys' tennis teams for this year--but still, we're going to do it anyway.  Big unknowns are player improvements, coaching staff changes, foreign exchange and transfer students, etc.  But anyway, here's what we think...

Best chance for postseason play -- Class A -- Waseca -- everyone's back and they were very good last season
Class AA -- Mankato West -- they lost alot but still have a strong 1-2 punch and decent depth

Most improved this season -- Class A -- St. James -- deeper than they first appear, should be strong by the end of the year
Class AA -- Mankato East -- were very down last year but a very young team will keep getting better

Click on teams to see changes, losses, and additions for this season

Teams we believe will be stronger:  Waseca    New Ulm     Mankato East 

Teams we believe will be weaker: Mankato West     Fairmont

Team we believe will be about the same: St. James     St. Peter     Martin County West     Blue Earth Area  Worthington

Other area teams (no profiles)

Shakopee (Stronger)     Pine City (Stronger)     Litchfield (Stronger)     New Prague (Stronger)

Redwood Valley (Same)    Owatonna (Same)     Albert Lea (Same)     Winona (Same)

New London-Spicer (Weaker)     Blue Earth (Weaker)     Prior Lake (Weaker)

Waseca lost none of their top 10 players and last year's experience will greatly help their talented singles lineup of Sam Conway--Tyler Kolpin--Andrew Somers--Spencer Broughten. It is our guess that Waseca will pass Blue Earth Area for the Southern Conference title, though New Ulm and St. James could easily get in their way. Their doubles is above average for the area. With early success, Waseca could be dominating later in the year.

Steady Eddy -- Tyler Kolpin (just gets the ball back - people hate to play him because of it -- wins against heavy hitters)
Newcomer --
Important Cog -- Andrew Somers (the entire singles lineup at Waseca can win nearly all their matches, but many times, Andrew's may be the decider between winning and losing)

New Ulm lost just 2 of their top 10 players -- these being Will Moeller and Michael Larson, the #2/#3 doubles team. Expect improvement from an above average singles lineup that includes 3 players who have played #1 for them in the last 3 years. Their main shortcoming will most likely be a true #1--someone who can effectively compete with Conway of Waseca, Malwitz of Blue Earth, and Brauer of Mankato West. Still, whoever is at #1 should be able to have better than a .500 record.  An exciting 2002 is ahead for the Eagles. John Hildebrandt remains a strong #1 for the Eagles, although not yet ready to compete with Jesse Brauer of Mankato West or Sam Conway of Waseca. Additions this year to the team include Scott Hofmeister and sophomore Joel Runck who figure to be playing at doubles positions.

Steady Eddy -- Matt Olsen (had the most wins for Eagles last season and was strong at both #3 and #4 singles)
Newcomer -- Joel Runck (has one of the more potent backhands in the area)
Important Cog -- #2 & #3 doubles (Eagles should be very strong at singles but doubles will decide how far they go)

Mankato East lost #1 singles and foreign exchange student Manuel Rebollo as well as #1 doubles player Dylan Ryan and #2 doubles and foreign exchange student Marco Vega. Otherwise, all of its players return plus will receive significant improvement from their 7th and 8th grade team as well as from an 8th grade New Ulm player who should step right in and play for them. You can expect significant improvement from the bottom of East's singles lineup as well as an overall strengthening of their doubles lineup.

Steady Eddy -- Cole Schumacher (had the most wins on the team last year -- hangs in their against everyone)
Newcomer -- Jonathan Lee (moved from New Ulm last year where he was undefeated in seventh/eighth grade singles)
Important Cog -- #2 doubles -- Art Van Dynhoven & Chris Goettl (a win here takes alot of pressure off the rest of the team)

Mankato West lost a significant number of players including 6 of their top 11, with the biggest losses being #3 singles Peter Lindberg (who now plays for Bethany College) and the 24-2 #1 doubles duo of Wyatt Partridge and Dan Schaffler. West retains #1 Jesse Brauer and #2 Colin McGuire, the best one-two combination in the area (with Malwitz-Duden of Blue Earth Area being a close second). Large freshman and sophomore classes should make this team stronger at the end of the season than at the beginning. West will still be a strong force in area tennis but with the addition of Eden Prairie and Minnetonka, will have a tough time repeating as section champions.

Steady Eddy -- Jesse Brauer (on varsity since the seventh grade--state qualifer three years in a row)
Newcomer -- Sam McCullough (making the jump from seventh/eighth grade up to low singles or mid-doubles)
Important Cog -- Ross Moody (if he can win 2/3rds of his matches, the team will have a shot at the top of the Big 9)

Fairmont lost 5 of their top 6 players including #1 and #2, Nick Larson and Greg Hamman (who now plays in college for St. Mary's in Winona. Wade Rosen, a junior, Jake Granheim and Scott Shaffer, sophomores, and Andy Melchert, a freshman, will have to take the big leap from #3 and #4 singles to #1.

St. James lost #1/#2 singles player Mike Warner, who is playing for Minnesota State University: Mankato. They also lost #2 doubles player Lewis Kuhlman and #1/#2 singles player Ben Zellman. Otherwise, a strong 8 players will return including #2 sophomre Zach Nordby and Ryan Brandts. Brandts, who made a very strong showing in the sectional individuals, nearly upsetting Fairmont's #1 player Nick Larsen, could get stronger and be a great #2 singles player for Les Zellman's team. A strong doubles lineup will keep St. James in alot of matches.

Steady Eddy -- Ryan Brandts (keeps the ball in play, forces mistakes. Not a true #1 but a very capable #2 singles)
Newcomer --
Important Cog -- Zach Nordby (when prepared, he can hit with anyone but can also be a bit erratic. Zach may have the fastest serve in the area)

St. Peter lost 4 of their top 10 including their biggest loss--state-qualifier Johann Liljengren at #1 singles. Matt Lucas and Peter Tanis figure to battle it out for the number 1 singles position. Finding the right combination of doubles partners may be the key for the Saints.

Steady Eddy --
Newcomer -- Justin Peterson (eighth grader with lots of talent)
Important Cog -- Peter Tanis at #1 or #2 (must win 2/3rds of his matches for St. Peter to have a shot at SCC)

Martin County West did their best last year in doubles--where they will lose the most. Many younger kids received experience at singles but whether losing alot there will help them in the future is unknown.

Blue Earth Area lost 4 of their top 10 and figures to be weakest at the #3 and #4 singles spots--as they have been this year.  Josh Malwitz and Blake Duden are a tough #1/#2 for any area team. Eighth grader Joe Kuchenmeister keeps improving and adding to his game. The rest of the team is very young and figures to get better as the year goes on.

Important Cog -- Joe Kuchenmeister (Malwitz and Duden are near locks -- it's up to Joe to win to put pressure on the opponents to find 4 wins in the other 4 matces)

Worthington moved its lineup around quite a bit last year, but it's a good bet that Ben Kohler will be #1 for them this year. They do lose seniors Eric Winters, Kade Ewert, Alex De Alencar, and Justin Lupkes--who all played singles and doubles this year.  Winters will be the biggest loss--as he played quite a bit of #1 singles this year.