Robert Brewer/MDN Minot High’s Brayden McLean, seen here in a doubles match during the WDA West Regional Tournament, helped the Magicians varsity tennis team win its first region tournament championship in nine years.

This past season saw the Minot High boys tennis team finish the year with an undefeated conference record, along with the program’s first WDA West Regional Tournament championship since 2012.

After that team accomplishment at Hammond Park on Sept. 30, Minot High brothers Zach and Aidan Diehl won the regional tournament championship in doubles play on their home court two days later. Older brother Zach, a senior, wraps up his high school tennis career as a six-time letter winner, a four-time all-conference performer, and an all-state selection twice.

At the statewide level, Minot won two of its three team matches in Grand Forks earlier this month and came away with a fifth-place overall finish. Individually, six Magi players qualified to compete in either singles or doubles play. Of that group of six, the Diehl brothers advanced the farthest in the tournament as they qualified for the state semifinal round in doubles action.

Meanwhile, Minot boys tennis head coach Scott DeLorme spoke highly of the contributions the Diehl brothers have made to the program. “It’s hard to say enough good things about these guys,” DeLorme tells The Minot Daily News. “Zach wanted to play with Aidan and they made a heck of a run this year. They didn’t drop a doubles match together until the state semifinal. When they look back in a couple years, they’ll realize how special this season was for them and the many different things they accomplished together both individually and for their team.”

Reflecting on a strong season for the tennis program, DeLorme credits his club’s success to the tremendous depth on his roster. He is also a believer that having a blend of multi-sport athletes, as well as tennis-specific athletes, helped to create a unit of composed and highly-skilled players who excel in a competitive atmosphere.

“Our multi-sport athletes go year-round and they have been in big situations before, the moment doesn’t get too big for them,” DeLorme states. “Our tennis specific players have really devoted themselves to getting better over the last couple of years to get their games to a high level. We have three to five guys in almost every grade that we see as possibly helping us in the future, so the competition amongst themselves is also key. The players continue to push themselves to get better.”

While the overall season was a success, the Minot tennis coach admits taking fifth at state leaves the club with plenty of room to improve heading into 2022. That being the case, DeLorme believes his remaining players will be highly motivated in the offseason to make the adjustments necessary to yield a better result at state next year.

“I think we feel really good about going 2-1 at the state tournament for fifth place, but it also leaves a sour taste in our mouths. We had a great season, but we have been in that consolation championship match the last couple of years. Our boys want to get out of the first round of the state tournament and I think they are going to continue to push themselves to achieve that goal hopefully next year,” the Minot tennis mentor adds.

Looking ahead to next season, Minot will lose the older Diehl brother and fellow senior Colby Opp to graduation. DeLorme acknowledges there will be big shoes to fill for the returning players, but remains confident that younger players will be fully capable of keeping the Magicians in contention for a higher placing at state next fall.

“Zach and Colby did so many things for us, not only on the court, but off the court as they were exceptional role models for our younger kids. I hope the younger ones saw the time and commitment it took from them to accomplish what they did,” the Minot coach continues. “All of our varsity kids accepted the junior varsity and JV2 players as part of their own and hopefully these successes drive them to another level by the start of next year.”