Storm suspends WHS/St. James tennis outing; golfers shoot in Jackson

By Doug Wolter

May 12, 2022 at 6:10 PM

THE GLOBE

The boys high school tennis meet in Worthington Thursday afternoon was abruptly abandoned before 5:30 p.m. as sirens sounded the alarm for a severe thunderstorm coming in from the east.

St. James Area held a 3-2 lead, but two matches were still undecided -- fourth singles and second doubles. It will be picked up from there, weather and schedule permitting, on another date.

Also Thursday, Worthington and Pipestone Area met in Jackson with Jackson County Central in golf.

Boys tennis

St. James at Worthington (susp.)

Alec Langerud looked very sharp for the Trojans at No. 1 singles, winning a 6-2, 6-2 decision over the Saints’ Preston Wagner. WHS also won at No. 3 doubles, where Matthew Becker and Evan Hansberger prevailed 7-5, 6-1 over Christian Pineda and Dylan Reid.

St. James put it in the books at No. 2 singles where Andrei Rivera outlasted Ian Barber 6-2, 7-6 (8), at No. 3 singles where Brennan Kern topped Ezra Bennett 6-0, 6-0, and at No. 1 doubles as Vince Brown and Payton Brown beat Quentin Burns and Tyson Henkels 6-4, 6-4.

Despite losing, Barber performed admirably, recovering from a 5-2 second-set deficit to pull into a 5-5 tie.

For Langerud, who had lost eight matches in a row, his win over Wagner -- his first since the spring season opener -- was a huge shot in the arm. The day was very windy, but Langerud handled the wind like a pro.

“I’ve been on a losing streak for a while, and I was starting to lose some confidence,” Langerud said. “Especially because it was so windy, everything kind of added up, ending the losing streak and battling through the conditions.”

Wagner, a left-hander, struggled throughout the match with his serving toss. Langerud, however, whose toss is not as high, had no trouble with his serve. He was also consistently sharp with his ground strokes, using touch and accuracy to maintain control.

“I noticed he had a real high toss. I noticed the high toss, that the wind was gonna push it,” said Langerud. “I shortened it up today, especially. I just went with it. I was hitting it as hard as I can, and it just went in.

“Mr. Marquardt (Worthington’s head coach) said I seem to do well in bad conditions,” Langerud remarked later.

His first match win this year, against a New Ulm opponent, was in cold weather that hovered around 18 degrees.

Golf

Worthington, PA at JCC

JACKSON -- Lilly Mahlberg carded a 51 for the Worthington girls. Sam Brinkman of Jackson County Central was boys medalist with a 39, and Braxton Thompson of Pipestone Area had a 40.

Tyler Jaycox and Spenser Nickel both had 44s for the WHS boys. JCC won the team event with a 178 total, as Worthington had 185 and Pipestone Area 192.

Maci Farmer led the JCC girls with a 53. Worthington’s Tarren Spartz, Madison Beckmann, Kendall Nixon and Pipestone Area’s Vivian Brockberg all shot 55.

By Doug Wolter

Doug Wolter joined the Worthington Globe in December of 1983 as a sports reporter. He later became sports editor, and then news editor and managing editor. In 2006 he moved to Mankato with his wife, Sandy, and served as an editor at the Mankato Free Press. In 2013 he and Sandy returned to Worthington to take up the job of sports editor at The Globe, and they have been in Worthington since.

Doug can be reached at dwolter@dglobe.com.