by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls will be sending both of its doubles teams to the Class A State Tournament.
Two days after it suffered a heart-breaking 4-3 loss to Minnewaska Area in the team section championship, the Thief River Falls tennis team qualified the doubles team of Jack Onkka and Dylan Hahn, and the team of Rhett Janisch and JJ Cornelius for the doubles portion of the individual state tournament with top-two finishes Thursday at the Section 8A Individual Tournament hosted at Minnewaska Area High School in Glenwood.
Both doubles teams reached the semifinal round with dominating performances Tuesday afternoon. Originally schedueld for Wednesday, the semifinals and championship round matches were pushed to Thursday due to inclement weather.
The Prowlers were able to partially avenge the section championship loss to the Lakers with both doubles teams beating opponents from Minnewaska Area in Thursday morning’s semifinals. Top-seeded Hahn and Onkka defeated fourth seeded Damon Uhde/Nik VanDyke of Minnewaska, 6-3, 6-0, while second-seeded Janisch and Cornelius defeated sixth-seeded Ethan Quelle/Connor Quelle, Osakis, 6-4, 6-3.
Hahn and Onkka claimed the championship match over Janisch and Cornelius 6-1, 6-1. There was no true second match as the team of Quelle and Quelle defeated the team of Uhde and VanDyk 6-2, 6-4.
Section 8A Individual
Singles
■ Isaiah Villarreal, 1-1, def. Josh Peterson, Perham, 6-4, 4-6, 6-2; def. by Tate Reichmann, Minnewaska, 6-0, 6-1.
■ Justin Funk, 0-1, def. by Carson Knutson, East Grand Forks, 6-1, 6-1.
Doubles
■ Dylan Hahn/Jack Onkka, 4-0, first place, def. Josh Soto/Joe Brouwer, New London-Spicer, 6-0, 6-3; def. Evan Christensen/Isaac Thomforde, Crookston, 6-0, 6-3; def. Damon Uhde/Nik VanDyke, Minnewaska, 6-3, 6-0; def. Rhett Janisch/JJ Cornelius, Thief River Falls, 6-1, 6-1.
■ Rhett Janisch/JJ Cornelius, 3-1, second place, def. Tyler Tier/Micah Moore, Osakis, 6-0, 6-2; def. Jack Barney/Ethan Spors, New London-Spicer, 6-3, 6-0; def. Ethan Quelle/Connor Quelle, Osakis, 6-4, 6-3; def. by Dylan Hahn/Jack Onkka, Thief River Falls, 6-1, 6-1.