Sophomore Lars Scannell (middle) was all smiles after he won the Section 7A Individual Tennis Tournament held in Virginia on May 21. Scannell will play in the state tennis tournament on June 6-7. Lars is the first Viking boy to win the Section 7A singles crown from Cook County.
Four members of the Cook County High School boys’ varsity tennis team traveled to Virginia, on May 21, 2013 to participate in the Section 7A Individual Tennis Tournament. Sophomore Lars Scannell and freshman Pete Summers competed in the singles division and senior Justin Goldstein and sophomore Jamie Wick in the doubles division. All of the participants were ranked at a coaches meeting, held before the competition started.
Rankings were based on head-tohead results and records during the season. The Cook County players, except for Lars Scannell, didn’t have favorable rankings because they didn’t play very many teams this season, due to weather cancellations. Despite this, all of the Vikings played pretty well and were very competitive in their matches.
In the first round of competition, Lars Scannell defeated Kevin Fratzke (Mora), 6-0,6-2. Pete Summers lost to Chad Heitala (Eveleth-Gilbert), 6-3,6-3 and Jamie Wick and Justin Goldstein lost a close match to Miles Everson and Matt Erchul (Eveleth- Gilbert), 6-4,6-4. In the quarterfinals, Scannell defeated Max Bartell (Duluth Marshall), 6-1,6-2.
In the semifinal match, on May 22, Scannell survived a very tough match against senior Lyle Nyberg (Aitkin), winning 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-3. Lars showed a lot of grit and determination during this match, not only because he was playing a tough opponent who was playing very well but because Lars injured himself, straining a lower back muscle, during the match, making it difficult for him to continue playing. Coach Muus iced the injured area during the changeovers and Lars was able to fight through the pain. Lars was noticeably looser during the final match, playing well and being patient as he defeated Jack Dodd (Duluth Marshall) for the section singles championship, 6-2,6-3.
This is the third straight year, in three years of varsity tennis at CCHS, that a Cook County tennis player has qualified for the Minnesota Class A Individual State Tennis Tournament. David Bergstrom, a CCHS graduate who qualified the past two years is now playing Division 1 tennis for the University of North Dakota. This says a lot for our Cook County tennis programs!
Scannell will be playing in the state tennis tournament on June 6-7, at the Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center in Minneapolis. Good luck, Lars!
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