2019 Fisherman’s Picnic Tennis Tournament – Women’s Open Doubles Finalists, from left, are champions Savanna and Kim Crowell (Savage, MN), and runners-up Rachael Renneisen (Burnsville, MN) and Lee Bergstrom (Grand Marais). Photos courtesy of John Muus
The 44th Annual Fisherman’s Picnic Tennis Tournament was held Aug. 2-4, 2019 at the Cook County Tennis Courts in Grand Marais. Fifty-two competitors made up 82 entries for 11 different events. Once again, competitors came from all over, Thunder Bay (ON), Arizona, and many parts of Minnesota to compete in this tournament and enjoy beautiful Cook County. The competition was as strong as it’s ever been with a number of college tennis players, past and present, competing.
Some doubles matches began on Friday, with players and spectators having to deal with some hot and humid weather. A welcome reception was held at the tennis courts on Friday evening (7 p.m.) for all tournament participants and friends. The welcome reception was sponsored by the Voyageur Brewery, which provided delicious appetizers and beverages to sample along with some yummy appetizers from Dockside. Thanks go to Charley Darley, Marie Reed and the Cook County Tennis Association for organizing this reception.
Savanna Crowell gets ready to deliver a hard serve. The Division 1 tennis player joined her mother, Kim, to win the women’s open doubles finals.
Saturday, the busiest day of the tournament, began with torrential rains in Grand Marais. Matches began shortly before noon, four hours later than originally scheduled. Most of the matches on Saturday had to be modified in order to complete all of them, including consolation matches.
After discussing the situation with a couple other veteran tournament players, like Charley Darley, tournament directors John Muus and Mark Summers decided to go with a format that included starting each set at 2-2, two games apiece, use no-add scoring, and continue playing a match tie-break (10 points) to decide the match if both competitors won a set. This worked very well for getting everything back on schedule by the end of the day.
The Open semifinal events were able to play the regular six-game sets (2) with regular scoring and a match tiebreak, if necessary, later Saturday afternoon. The finals for seven events and a consolation championship were held on Sunday morning and early afternoon. Everyone enjoyed the competition, players and spectators alike, and the great social aspect of this event.
The results of the 2019 Fisherman’s Picnic Tennis Tournament are as follows.
The Men’s Open Singles event included eight participants. In the quarterfinals, Dominic Warzecha (Hibbing) defeated August Krahn (Eagan) 6-2, 6-2, Pete Summers (Grand Marais) defeated Jon Reed (Maple Grove) 6-3, 6-3, Jonathan Gould (Minneapolis) defeated Joe Hodgson (Minneapolis) 6-2, 6-2, and Titus Christianson (Fergus Falls) defeated Rumeal Setts (Saint Paul) 6-4, 6-3.
In the semifinals, Pete Summers defeated Dominic Warzecha 6-3, 6-0 and Titus Christianson defeated Jonathan Gould 6-2, 6-3. Titus Christianson won the championship by defeating Pete Summers 6-0, 6-0. Rumeal Setts won the consolation championship.
We had two players entered in the Women’s Open Singles. Elizabeth Larson (Eden Prairie) won the championship by defeating Leeann Ryder (Thunder Bay, ON) in a close match 7-5, 3-6, 1-0 (tiebreaker).
The Men’s Open Doubles was the largest event with 22 participants (11 teams). In the first round, Mark and Pete Summers (Grand Marais) defeated Joe Hodgson (Minneapolis) and Luke Kroening (New Hope) 7-5, 6-4, Robert Reed (Grand Marais) and Jon Reed (Maple Grove) defeated Peter and August Krahn (Eagan) 6-3, 6-1 and Randy Crowell (Minneapolis) and Wyatt Crowell (Savage) defeated Al Logrono (Mountain Iron) and Will Pardillo (Columbia Heights) 7-5, 7-6 (3).
The other teams received first round byes. In the quarterfinals, Mark and Pete Summers won because their opponents withdrew due to the weather situation. In other quarterfinal matches, Robert and Jon Reed defeated Terence Bogerding (Monticello) and Andrew MacArthur (Plymouth) 6-3, 7-5, Jason Horychuk (Thunder Bay, ON) and Alan Humphreys (Thunder Bay, ON) defeated Will and John Heidtke (Rosemount) 6-2, 6-4 and Randy and Wyatt Crowell defeated Ethan and Owen Heidtke (Rosemount) 6-2, 6-2. In the semifinals, Robert and Jon Reed moved on because Mark Summers couldn’t play because of an injury, and Randy and Wyatt Crowell defeated Jason Horychuk and Alan Humphreys 6-4, 7-5.
The father/son team of Randy and Wyatt Crowell won the championship by defeating another father/son team, Robert and Jon Reed, 6-1, 6-0. Al Logrono and Will Pardillo won the consolation championship by defeating Joe Hodgson and Luke Kroening 6-0, 6-4.
The Mixed Open Doubles event included eight participants (4 teams). In the semifinals, Robert Beckford (Thunder Bay, ON) and Leeann Ryder (Thunder Bay, ON) defeated Jonathan Gould (Minneapolis) and Elizabeth Larson (Eden Prairie) 6-4, 6-3 and Wyatt and Savanna Crowell defeated Jason Horychuk (Thunder Bay, ON) and Rachael Renneisen (Burnsville) 6-4, 6-3. The brother/ sister team of Wyatt and Savanna Crowell won the championship by defeating Robert Beckford and Leeann Ryder 6-1, 6-3. Jonathan Gould and Liz Larson won the consolation championship by defeating Jason Horychuk and Rachael Renneisen 6-2, 6-1.
The Women’s Open Doubles event also included eight participants (4 teams). In the semifinals, the mother/daughter team of Kim and Savanna Crowell (Savage) defeated Elizabeth Larson (Eden Prairie) and Leeann Ryder (Thunder Bay, ON) 7-5, 6-4 and Lee Bergstrom (Grand Marais) and Rachael Renneisen (Burnsville) defeated Dolly Niemi (Thunder Bay, ON) and Deborah Rosnow (Thunder Bay, ON) 7-5, 6-4. Kim and Savanna Crowell won the championship by defeating Lee Bergstrom and Rachael Renneisen 6-4, 6-4. Elizabeth Larson and Leeann Ryder won the consolation championship by defeating Dolly Niemi and Deborah Rosnow 6-4, 6-4.
The Men’s 50 Singles event included five participants. In the only quarterfinal match, Andrew MacArthur (Plymouth) defeated Ron Filstrup (Saint Paul) 6-1, 6-0. In the semifinals, Robert Beckford (Thunder Bay, ON) defeated Terence Borgerding (Monticello) 7-6 (4), 6-3 and Alan Humphreys (Thunder Bay, ON) defeated Andrew MacArthur 6-2, Retired-injury.
Robert Beckford won the championship by defeating Alan Humphreys 6-4, 6-2. Terence Borgerding won the consolation championship by defeating Ron Filstrup 6-2, 6-2.
The Men’s 60 Doubles included four participants (2 teams). John Muus (Grand Marais) and Carl Johnson (Green Valley, AZ) defeated Dick Swanson (Grand Marais) and Bill Doucette (Grand Marais) 6-3, 6-3, for the championship.
The NTRP Men’s 3.5 Singles event included three participants who played a round-robin against each other. Vedran Djackovic (Duluth) won the championship by defeating Tim Warzecha (Hibbing) 6-3, 6-4 and Joe Dwyer (Hibbing) 7-5, 6-7 (5), 11-9 (tiebreaker). Joe Dwyer was runner-up, defeating Tim Warzecha 6-3, 6-3.
The NTRP Women’s 3.5 Singles event included three participants who also played a roundrobin match against each other. Eva Kangas (Grand Rapids) won the championship defeating Deborah Rosnow (Thunder Bay, ON) 6-2, 6-3 and Dolly Niemi (Thunder Bay, ON) 6-4, 6-2. Dolly Niemi was runner up, defeating Deborah Rosnow 6-4, 6-3.
The NTRP Combined Men’s 7.0 Doubles event included six participants (3 teams) who also played a round-robin match against each other. Joe Dwyer (Hibbing) and Kaleb Stoffel (Mountain Iron) won the championship by defeating Jason and Aleksandr Horychuk (Thunder Bay, ON) 5-7, 6-3, 10-7 (tiebreak) and Rick Kangas (Grand Rapids) and Tim Warzecha (Hibbing) 6-3, 7-5. The father/ son team of Jason and Aleksandr Horychuk were runners-up, defeating Rick Kangas and Tim Warzecha 7-5, 6-3.
The NTRP Combined Mixed 7.0 Doubles event included 12 participants (6 teams). In two quarterfinal matches, Rowena Logrono (Mountain Iron) and Kaleb Stoffel (Mountain Iron) defeated Jennifer Plahuta (Grand Marais) and Bill Doucette (Grand Marais) 6-1, 6-1 and Kim Crowell (Savage) and Randy Crowell (Minneapolis) defeated Florina and Tudor Nisioiu (Thunder Bay, ON) 6-2, 6-3.
In the semifinals, Kim and Randy Crowell defeated Rowena Logrono and Kaleb Stoffel 6-4, 6-2 and Eva Kangas (Grand Rapids) and Dominic Warzecha (Hibbing) defeated Dolly Niemi (Thunder Bay, ON) and John Muus (Grand Marais) 6-4, 6-3. Kim and Randy Crowell won the championship by defeating Eva Kangas and Dominic Warzecha 6-1, 2-6, 10-8 (tiebreak). Florina and Tudor Nisioiu won the consolation championship because Niemi and Muus had to withdraw from the final consolation match.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the tournament and looks forward to coming back next year!
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