State Tennis: Flathead, Glacier in Helena; Bigfork heads to Great Falls
For prep netters, this is the final chance for glory.
State tennis action kicks off today for Classes AA and B-C with AA play converging on Helena while B-C unfolds in Great Falls. For the Flathead Valley, Glacier, Flathead and Bigfork have several opportunities to bring home hardware.
The Glacier Wolfpack is sending six competitors to Helena.
In singles play, Hunter Blalack and Spencer Johnson represent the Glacier boys while Holland Blalack and Sam Stern are the lone doubles pair.
Hopes are high for Hunter Blalack, who is peaking at the right time. Making his fourth consecutive state tournament appearance, Blalack won the Western AA divisional title, pacing Glacier to its fifth consecutive divisional team title.
The senior defeated Missoula Big Sky’s Colin Bahin, 7-6 (3), 6-2 in the divisional final, the same opponent who ousted Blalack from the state tournament in 2014.
Blalack will face opening-round opponent Colin Fretwell of Bozeman.
Johnson kicks off the tournament with last year’s Class AA state champion Noah Strizich of Helena Capital.
Doubles partners Holland Blalack and Stern, face Jacob Bernhardt and Kyle Korb, of Great Falls C.M. Russell, in the first round. The Glacier duo took down Bernhardt with Ian DeBoo, 6-1, 6-3, in the first weekend of the season, but they have not seen the Bernhardt-Korb combination, which finished second at the Northern divisional.
Kali Mathison and Amber Hamblin represent the Wolfpack in the girls bracket. The doubles pair is coming off a third-place finish at divisionals. While Hamblin makes her state tournament debut, Mathison is making her third appearance to the final tournament of the season. They’ll face McKaul Ori and Sierra McGinnis of Butte.
Flathead qualified two boys and two girls for singles competition.
The Braves’ Tristan Dills and Daniel Olszewski are making their first trip to state after finishing third and fourth, respectively at the Northern AA divisional. The teammates squared off in the consolation final, where Dills won, 8-4.
“They were both jubilant about getting to state. It didn’t seem like the match was a big deal,” Flathead coach Rick Berreth said. “This is kind of new for them. I don’t think they’re feeling a lot of pressure. They’re here to play some tennis and do the best they can.”
With the third-place finish Dills will open the tournament with Helena’s Layne Ryerson, the Class AA runner-up in 2014.
Olszewski will take on Fergus Pollard of Billings West.
The Bravettes qualified Jenna Jensen and Ellie Berreth to the girls bracket, though Jensen will be occupied with her academics, skipping the meet for International Baccalaureate exams at Flathead High School.
Berreth, who lost to divisional champion Abigail Davidson in the semifinals, stormed back to the consolation championship. She won, taking third place by defeating Lucia Barbeito of C.M. Russell, 6-1, 6-2.
“I think every time she goes out, she improves,” Berreth said of his niece. “She looks at it like any game she wins within the set is a good accomplishment, and those things build. Once you win a few points, you win a few games and then you’re in a battle. That’s the kind of approach we’re taking.”
Berreth will challenge Olivia Panarella of Missoula Hellgate.
The AA tournament ends on Friday
In the Class B-C state tournament, Bigfork has 15 netters vying for a medal in Great Falls.
“We get a lot of good competition within the team,” Bigfork boys head coach Paul Sullivan Jr. said. “It’s ideal to be able to pair them up against each other and still get great matches. It takes some pressure off of relying on the match schedule since we can mix up practice with matches.”
The Vikings’ top seed in singles is Kyle Thomson. Just two years into his tennis career, Thomson is making his second straight trip to state where he’ll await the winner of Darby’s Blake Keller and Troy’s CJ Beard.
“Kyle is a phenomenal athlete, and I wish he had him for four years,” Sullivan Jr. said. “His natural ability has carried him along way. I’m really excited to see what he can do.”
Thomson is joined by teammates Alex Buenz, Michael Bedford and Mack Paine in the bracket.
In boys doubles, Adam Jordt and Isaac Martel are the top seed for the Vikings and are joined by partners George Gibson and Ben Russell.
The Valkyries qualified seven to the girls bracket.
Kalia Wicklund, who beat teammate Lana Berg for the Western B divisional title, is the top seed from the West
“It’s nice to have good tennis players on the same team,” Valkyries coach Mike Bonner said of the all-Bigfork divisional final. “It was a good match. It was probably one of the better singles matches I’ve seen all year, and hopefully they feel confident heading into state.”
Wicklund and Berg are joined by teammate and Karlee Park in singles.
The Valkyries have two pairs of doubles in the state tournament. Western B divisional champions Brooke Bonner and Alauna Weilacher and partners Jaime Berg Sophie Hasselmeier.