BKMS boys tennis earns state trip

Brooke Kern

Swift County Monitor-News

Benson / Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg boys tennis punched its ticket to the 2023 Minnesota Class A Team Tournament

After opening the season 0-4, the Benson/KMS boys team has really bounced back, finishing the regular season 12-4 after beating Luverne and Pipestone Thursday, May 18.

“It was really tough at the beginning of the year,” senior Hunter LeClair told the West Central Tribune in an interview. “But we ended up pulling ‘er off. It’s pretty exciting.”

As the top seed in Section 3A, Benson/KMS cruised past No. 8 Luverne 7-0 Monday, May 22 then beat No. 4 Lac qui Parle / Dawson-Boyd 7-0 in the semifinals Tuesday, May 23 before earning a 4-3 win over No. 3 Montevideo in the championship Tuesday, in Redwood Falls.

“It’s like a dream. I never thought this would be a possibility,” junior Blake Brehmer told WCT in an interview after the finals Tuesday.

The Class A state team tournament goes from June 6-7 at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

Hunter LeClair and the doubles duo of Blake Brehmer and Max Young also advanced to the semifinals in Section 3A individual play, which started Thursday, May 25. The individual tournament resumes Tuesday, May 30, in Redwood Falls. Due to early Memorial Day deadlines, those results will be published in next week’s Swift County Monitor News.

Benson/KMS 7

Luverne 0

Benson/KMS blanked Luverne in the final triangular of the regular season Thursday, May 18, in Luverne. The Fighting Braves earned five match wins and two forfeits.

Blake Brehmer and Max Young both gave up two games each in straight set wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles while Hunter LeClair gave up four to win 6-3, 6-1 over Luverne’s No. 1 Ethan Nath.

Isaac Carlson and Harold Habben claimed the No. 1 doubles win after posting a 6-3, 6-3 win. Jon Ilstrup and Brandon Sondag won at No. 2 doubles with a 6-1, 6-3 win.

Benson/KMS 6

Pipestone 1

Benson/KMS took advantage of a limited Pipestone roster to win 6-1 in the finale Thursday, May 18, in Pipestone.

Hunter LeClair, Blake Brehmer and Alex Carlson won the top three singles spots while Pipestone earned a win at No. 4 singles over usual doubles player Jonathon Ilstrup.

Section 3A

Benson/KMS 7

Luverne 0

Top-seeded Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg won five matches in straight sets and recorded two forfeit victories to blank No. 8 Luverne in the Section 3A quarterfinals Monday, May 22, in Benson.

“We were a little bitter from last year,” Benson/KMS coach Coleton Anderson admitted in an interview with the West Central Tribune.

Luverne beat Benson/KMS in the Section 3A championship in 2022.

“We had the opportunity to take it to them in the first round of sections,” Anderson added.

Hunter LeClair earned a 6-4, 6-2 win over Ethan Nath at No. 1 singles while Blake Brehmer gave up five games in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Parker Carbonneau at the No. 2 spot. Max Young didn’t give up a single game in a win over Ross Bergman at No. 3 singles, and Alex Carlson at No. 4 singles and the No. 3 duo of Joey Wilcox and Carson Petrak both earned forfeit wins.

Harold Habben and Isaac Carlson defeated Caleb Kracht and Zander Carbonneau 6-0, 6-2 at the top doubles spot while Logan Schauer and Jonathon Ilstrup blanked their No. 2 doubles opponents without giving up a single game.

Benson/KMS 7

LQPV/D-B 0

In the Section 3A semifinals, Benson/KMS left no doubt in a 7-0 win over No. 4 LQPV/D-B Tuesday, May 23, in Redwood Falls.

Hunter LeClair won his 13th match in a row after a 6-3, 6-2 win over Jackson Buer at No. 1 singles, and Blake Brehmer gave up four games in a 6-2, 6-2 win over Gavin Stulz at the No. 2 singles spot.

Max Young earned a win at No. 3 singles. He pulled off the first set 6-0 then fell in the second set 3-6 before earning the win with a 6-1 third set victory.

Alex Carlson sealed the win for Benson/KMS with a 6-2, 6-2 win at fourth singles.

Benson/KMS swept doubles as well. The duo of Harold Habben and Isaac Carlson gave up just four games at No. 1 while the No. 3 duo of Brandon Sondag and Carson Petrak dropped just six games.

Jonathan Ilstrup and Logan Schauer won their first No. 2 doubles set by a score of 6-2, but struggled in the second set, narrowly pulling off a 7-5 straight sets win.

Benson/KMS 4

Montevideo 3

After winning 11 matches in a row with its same line up, Benson/KMS made no changes prior to the start of the Section 3A championship against No. 3 Montevideo Tuesday, in Redwood Falls.

“We started our schedule tough to get ready for this situation here,” said Benson/KMS head coach Cole Anderson in an interview with the West Central Tribune. “It all pays off in the end.”

Montevideo put its top two singles players at the top doubles spot, but it didn’t pay off as Benson/KMS won 4-3 by sweeping all the singles matches.

“They moved their one and two singles players to doubles, so it made (the singles matches) not as tough,” LeClair said.

“I was kind of surprised they switched their lineup after such a close matchup last time,” LeClair said in an interview with the West Central Tribune. “I was telling my singles buddies that if the four of us win, we got this. It’s up to us four. If we all win our matches, we all go to state.”

All four players won without surrendering a set.

“Our singles have played very well for us all year and that worked for us well,” Anderson added. “There’s no reason to change it now.”

LeClair beat Andrew Soden 6-1, 6-1 at the top spot. Blake Brehmer clinched a 6-4, 6-1 at the two singles spot.

Max Young gave up one game in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Talan Brock at three singles, and Alex Carlson shut down Nick Kluver at four singles to win 6-0, 6-0.

Brooke Kern

Swift County Monitor-News

Benson / Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg boys tennis punched its ticket to the 2023 Minnesota Class A Team Tournament

After opening the season 0-4, the Benson/KMS boys team has really bounced back, finishing the regular season 12-4 after beating Luverne and Pipestone Thursday, May 18.

“It was really tough at the beginning of the year,” senior Hunter LeClair told the West Central Tribune in an interview. “But we ended up pulling ‘er off. It’s pretty exciting.”

As the top seed in Section 3A, Benson/KMS cruised past No. 8 Luverne 7-0 Monday, May 22 then beat No. 4 Lac qui Parle / Dawson-Boyd 7-0 in the semifinals Tuesday, May 23 before earning a 4-3 win over No. 3 Montevideo in the championship Tuesday, in Redwood Falls.

“It’s like a dream. I never thought this would be a possibility,” junior Blake Brehmer told WCT in an interview after the finals Tuesday.

The Class A state team tournament goes from June 6-7 at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

Hunter LeClair and the doubles duo of Blake Brehmer and Max Young also advanced to the semifinals in Section 3A individual play, which started Thursday, May 25. The individual tournament resumes Tuesday, May 30, in Redwood Falls. Due to early Memorial Day deadlines, those results will be published in next week’s Swift County Monitor News.

Benson/KMS 7

Luverne 0

Benson/KMS blanked Luverne in the final triangular of the regular season Thursday, May 18, in Luverne. The Fighting Braves earned five match wins and two forfeits.

Blake Brehmer and Max Young both gave up two games each in straight set wins at No. 2 and No. 3 singles while Hunter LeClair gave up four to win 6-3, 6-1 over Luverne’s No. 1 Ethan Nath.

Isaac Carlson and Harold Habben claimed the No. 1 doubles win after posting a 6-3, 6-3 win. Jon Ilstrup and Brandon Sondag won at No. 2 doubles with a 6-1, 6-3 win.

Benson/KMS 6

Pipestone 1

Benson/KMS took advantage of a limited Pipestone roster to win 6-1 in the finale Thursday, May 18, in Pipestone.

Hunter LeClair, Blake Brehmer and Alex Carlson won the top three singles spots while Pipestone earned a win at No. 4 singles over usual doubles player Jonathon Ilstrup.

Section 3A

Benson/KMS 7

Luverne 0

Top-seeded Benson/Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg won five matches in straight sets and recorded two forfeit victories to blank No. 8 Luverne in the Section 3A quarterfinals Monday, May 22, in Benson.

“We were a little bitter from last year,” Benson/KMS coach Coleton Anderson admitted in an interview with the West Central Tribune.

Luverne beat Benson/KMS in the Section 3A championship in 2022.

“We had the opportunity to take it to them in the first round of sections,” Anderson added.

Hunter LeClair earned a 6-4, 6-2 win over Ethan Nath at No. 1 singles while Blake Brehmer gave up five games in a 6-3, 6-2 win over Parker Carbonneau at the No. 2 spot. Max Young didn’t give up a single game in a win over Ross Bergman at No. 3 singles, and Alex Carlson at No. 4 singles and the No. 3 duo of Joey Wilcox and Carson Petrak both earned forfeit wins.

Harold Habben and Isaac Carlson defeated Caleb Kracht and Zander Carbonneau 6-0, 6-2 at the top doubles spot while Logan Schauer and Jonathon Ilstrup blanked their No. 2 doubles opponents without giving up a single game.

Benson/KMS 7

LQPV/D-B 0

In the Section 3A semifinals, Benson/KMS left no doubt in a 7-0 win over No. 4 LQPV/D-B Tuesday, May 23, in Redwood Falls.

Hunter LeClair won his 13th match in a row after a 6-3, 6-2 win over Jackson Buer at No. 1 singles, and Blake Brehmer gave up four games in a 6-2, 6-2 win over Gavin Stulz at the No. 2 singles spot.

Max Young earned a win at No. 3 singles. He pulled off the first set 6-0 then fell in the second set 3-6 before earning the win with a 6-1 third set victory.

Alex Carlson sealed the win for Benson/KMS with a 6-2, 6-2 win at fourth singles.

Benson/KMS swept doubles as well. The duo of Harold Habben and Isaac Carlson gave up just four games at No. 1 while the No. 3 duo of Brandon Sondag and Carson Petrak dropped just six games.

Jonathan Ilstrup and Logan Schauer won their first No. 2 doubles set by a score of 6-2, but struggled in the second set, narrowly pulling off a 7-5 straight sets win.

Benson/KMS 4

Montevideo 3

After winning 11 matches in a row with its same line up, Benson/KMS made no changes prior to the start of the Section 3A championship against No. 3 Montevideo Tuesday, in Redwood Falls.

“We started our schedule tough to get ready for this situation here,” said Benson/KMS head coach Cole Anderson in an interview with the West Central Tribune. “It all pays off in the end.”

Montevideo put its top two singles players at the top doubles spot, but it didn’t pay off as Benson/KMS won 4-3 by sweeping all the singles matches.

“They moved their one and two singles players to doubles, so it made (the singles matches) not as tough,” LeClair said.

“I was kind of surprised they switched their lineup after such a close matchup last time,” LeClair said in an interview with the West Central Tribune. “I was telling my singles buddies that if the four of us win, we got this. It’s up to us four. If we all win our matches, we all go to state.”

All four players won without surrendering a set.

“Our singles have played very well for us all year and that worked for us well,” Anderson added. “There’s no reason to change it now.”

LeClair beat Andrew Soden 6-1, 6-1 at the top spot. Blake Brehmer clinched a 6-4, 6-1 at the two singles spot.

Max Young gave up one game in a 6-1, 6-0 win over Talan Brock at three singles, and Alex Carlson shut down Nick Kluver at four singles to win 6-0, 6-0.

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