Mike Kraft/MDN Minot High’s Connor Ressler goes up for a serve during a doubles match against Bismarck High at Hammond Park on Friday, Aug. 22, as part of the Minot Round Robin. Ressler and teammate Henrik Evanoff went 2-0 at No.1 doubles.

Teams across the West Region got their first look at both their competition as well as their own squads as the boys tennis season got under way with the dual portion of the Minot Round Robin Tournament at Hammond Park on Friday, Aug. 22.

Minot High posted a pair of sweeps against Bismarck High and Bismarck Century, but also found itself on the opposite end of a sweep to West Region favorite Mandan to finish the day 2-1. The Round Robin followed a 3-2 format, with three singles matches and two doubles matches for each dual.

The Magicians fielded the same lineup for their contests with the Demons and Patriots. Nolan Moore (No. 1), Oliver Thompson (No. 2) and Tyson Barden (No. 3) represented Minot’s three singles players, while Connor Ressler and Henrique Evanoff paired for No. 1 doubles and Aiden Bye and Calvin Olson played at No. 2 doubles. Moore cruised to a pair of 6-2, 6-1 victories over Bismarck’s Reed Romsaas and Century’s Cullen Satrom. Thompson knocked off Bismarck’s Quinn Kiesar, 6-2, 6-0, and Century’s Conner Michaela, 6-3, 6-4. Barden defeated Grayson Grinaker of Bismarck, 6-2, 6-3, and Century’s Camden Laywen, 6-2, 6-4.

“I was really impressed with how we competed,” Minot High coach Scott DeLorme said. “Five of the seven guys, this was their first ever varsity match and I thought they really competed. The effort was good all day.”

Bye and Olson completed a clean sweep of Bismarck’s Wanner brothers, 6-0, 6-0, before defeating Century’s Jacob Gross and Mason Wajenndorf, 6-1, 6-1. Ressler and Evanoff made quick work of Bismarck’s Max Chouinard and Quinn Roberson, 6-2, 6-1, before being tested by Century’s top doubles pair of Max Hayden Parent and Teddy Andrist, 6-4, 6-4.

“They were very close to what we were expecting,” DeLorme said. “We saw a lot of good. We saw a lot of bad and the most important thing is we definitely saw some things we can work on and things that are simple fixes that we can see a decent size of improvement in a short period of time.”

Ressler and Evanoff moved over to No. 2 and No. 3 singles, respectively, against Mandan, while Thompson played No. 1 singles. Moore and Barden teamed up for No. 1 doubles and Bye paired up with Calvin Olson at No. 2 doubles. The Braves swept all five matches in straight sets. Evanoff came the closest to forcing a third set against Eli Kleinknecht, but ultimately fell 6-2, 7-5.

“From a strategy point, there’s improvements on the doubles side,” DeLorme said. “There were multiple balls we probably should have ended points. We gave the other team another chance, which we can’t do and it came back to cost us throughout the day in multiple doubles matches.”

Minot North went 1-2 on the day, defeated Williston 3-2, before falling to Bismarck Century, 3-2, and Bismarck Legacy, 5-0. The Sentinels played a number of close matches, many coming in doubles. Colon Griffith and Lucas Griffith edged out Williston’s Rhett Carns and Carter Anfinson in three sets, 3-6, 6-2, 15-13, for the deciding victory in the contest. Peyton Opp and Carter Fry also won narrowly in No. 2 doubles against Brennan Delorme and Torsten Thomas, 6-1, 2-6, 10-7.

The close matches against Century came in the singles competition, with the Patriots winning both instances. Ryan Mullally topped Colton Callahan, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in No. 1 singles, and Cullen Satrom snuck by Lucas Griffith, 6-4, 3-6, 10-6.

The closest match for the Sentinels against Legacy came at No. 1 doubles, with Declain Hosek and Braxton Spooner defeating Colton Griffith and Parker Vigestad, 6-4, 4-6, 10-7.

The tournament concludes on Saturday, Aug. 23, with the individual portion of the competition, taking place at both Hammond Park and Cameron Indoor Tennis Center beginning at 8 a.m.