Prep report: Lavan claims Section 7A individual tennis crown

Cloquet freshman Ethan Lavan started as the top seed and finished as the champion in the Section 7A individual bracket at Longview Tennis Club in Duluth on Thursday. After seeing off Sam Swenson of Hermantown in the semifinals, 6-4, 7-6, Lavan proved his mettle against Kasey Lamppa of Rock Ridge, 6-4, 6-1.

Swenson battled through a “true second-place” match for the second spot at the state tournament, knocking off Lamppa 6-2, 7-5.

The doubles tournament was dominated by the Iron Range, as Jared Delich and Jake Bradach of the Section 7A team champions, Rock Ridge, rolled 6-2, 6-1 in the championship final over Drew Anderson and Cooper Hendrickson of Hibbing.

The boys state tennis tournament runs June 6-9 in Minneapolis.

All three Douglas County schools will have multiple representatives at next week’s WIAA Wisconsin state track meet after qualifying entries through section meets on Thursday.

In Division 1 at D.C. Everest in Schofield, Wisconsin, a freshman, Josephine Hanson, hopped into the field for state with a second-place finish in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 2 inches.

Senior Mckenzi Branley nabbed the third and final qualifying spot in long jump, marking 17-7 ¼.

Sophomore distance runner Tayler McMeekin will make her bid at state in the 1,600 meters after she finished runner-up in 5 minutes, 16.13 seconds.

The Superior boys will be represented by senior sprinter Darrel James, who clocked an 11.01 to take second in the section in the 100 meters. James qualified to go to state last season but was injured and could not compete.

At the sectional level, Division 1 participants must secure a top-three finish to make state automatically, while Division 2 and 3 sectionals qualify the top four automatically.

• Ian Kalin will represent the Northwestern boys at state after he finished third in the pole vault in Division 2 at Arcadia, Wisconsin. He was one of three athletes to top out at 13 feet, but the only one of the three to clear that level on his first try, netting him the tiebreaker.

Tigers junior Jenna Hursh held on for a fourth place in the 800.

• Solon Springs/Northwood’s Isaac Dickenson confidently ran into the state track meet by sweeping both boys distance runs in the Division 3 sectional meet in Cameron, Wisconsin.

The sophomore ran a 10:04.51 to win the 3,200 after clocking a 4:32.95 to take the 1,600.

Cade Lisson (400) and Dylan Taggart (800) notched fourth-place finishes to earn a spot at the finals June 2-3 in La Crosse, giving Solon Springs/Northwood more entries in this year’s field than the previous three seasons of the program combined.

Northwood/Solon Springs junior Kaden Corlett had a double and two RBIs in a 12-9 win over Duluth Denfeld Thursday at Wade Stadium.

In addition to Corlett, Alex Slivensky, Jared Schultz and Isaiah Ahlberg each had two RBIs.

Schultz allowed three hits and two runs over two innings to get the win for NSS.

Caleb Kilroy went 2-for-4 with two triples and three RBIs for Denfeld.

Rock Ridge pitcher Dylan Hedley allowed three hits and two runs over seven innings to lead the Wolverines to a 12-2 win over Pine City Thursday.

Hedley also hit a triple and had three RBIs in an important win for Rock Ridge. The victory over a Section 7AA opponent likely secured the second seed in the section tournament that starts Tuesday.

Sawyer Hallin was 2-for-2 with an RBI in the win for Rock Ridge.

South Ridge’s Austin Josephson was 4-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs in a 9-7 win over Cherry Thursday.

Catcher Tony Lisic picked up a pair of hits and three RBIs in the win and Cam Pretasky was 3-for-3 with a double.

Cherry’s Noah Sundquist was 3-for-4 with two RBIs and was one of four Tigers to hit a home run. Noah Asuma, Isaiah Asuma and Mason Heitzman hit the other home runs for Cherry.

South Ridge’s Cam Pretasky allowed one hit over five innings and struck out seven in a 12-0 win over Hinckley-Finlayson Thursday.

Carter Anderson was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs, while Cam Pretasky had a double and two RBIs for South Ridge.

Esko senior Cale Haugen allowed three hits over seven innings and struck out 15 in a 3-0 win over Perham, the 10th-ranked Class AA team in Minnesota.

Finn Furcht was 2-for-3 with an RBI and Ty Christensen had two hits, an RBI and a run scored for Esko.

Esko’s Finn Furcht allowed just two hits and two runs over five innings while striking out 11, but the Eskomos lost to Wadena-Deer Creek 2-0 in their first loss of the season. Isaac Hamann held Esko to just one hit and struck out five batters over seven innings in the win.

Cale Haugen doubled for the Eskomos’ only hit.

Cherry’s Noah Sundquist had a home run, a double and four RBIs in a 6-2 win over Barnum Thursday.

Sundquist also allowed four hits and two runs over seven innings and had 14 strikeouts in the win. Noah Asuma had two hits and three runs scored for the Tigers.

Owen Peterson had a hit and an RBI and Caleb Hautajarvi hit a double and scored a run for Barnum.

Duluth East’s Bjorn Lind was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs in the Greyhounds' 10-4 win over Totino-Grace Thursday.

Lind was just as sharp on the mound, allowing four hits and two runs over five innings.

Dylan Cole had three hits, including a double, and two RBIs, while Tim Hudoba had two hits and two RBIs.

Northwestern senior Luke Sedin hit a home run and had two RBIs in a 15-1 win over Amery in the opening round of the WIAA Division 3 tournament Tuesday.

Sedin also allowed two hits and one run over five innings and struck out 12 for the Tigers.

Cole Lahti had a pair of doubles and three RBIs and Boden Teal had three hits. Northwestern will play St. Croix Central in the regional final Tuesday in Iron River. The Panthers topped Somerset 5-0 to advance.

The Duluth Marshall boys finished second in the Section 7A golf tournament held on Wednesday and Thursday at Virginia Golf Course.

Walker-Hackensack-Akeley took first place and with it the team qualifying spot for state, but Lane Koski finished second among individuals not on the winning team and earned a place at the state meet on June 13-14 at Bunker Hills in Coon Rapids.

Pine River-Backus and Northeast Range/Ely took the top two places in the girls meet.

Bailey Coole scored four goals and Grace Karakas three as the Wolfpack edged their nearest rivals in a game at Public Schools Stadium on Thursday night.