Individual state tennis: Memorial's Beckermann reaches Round of 16 in Division 1 singles

The Leader-Telegram, Eau Claire, Wis.
·2 min read

Jun. 17—Ethan Beckermann took full advantage of home-court advantage on Thursday.

The Eau Claire Memorial singles player won his first two matches at the WIAA Division 1 boys tennis individual state tournament in Eau Claire, advancing to the Round of 16.

Beckermann took down a seeded player in Whitefish Bay's Tyler Schneider in the first round. He dispatched the No. 15 seed in three sets, 6-1, 6-7, 10-8.

He followed with another three-set victory in the second round, rallying past Marquette's 3-6, 6-0, 10-4.

Beckermann will face his toughest test yet in the Round of 16. The Old Abe squares off with the tournament's No. 2 seed, Elijah Zifferblatt of West De Pere, at 9 a.m. on Friday.

Fellow Old Abe Evan Birkholz fell in the first round of the singles tournament, dropping a 6-0, 6-1 match to Middleton's Koji Heineman.

Chippewa Falls senior Sean Martin reached the second round of the tournament, defeating Oak Creek's Nil Massaneda in straight sets in his opening match. He later fell to the No. 3 seed, Noah Viste of Wauwatosa East, 6-1, 6-1.

Menomonie's Jace Gilbertson dropped his first match against Middleton's Jonathan Kim, 6-0, 6-1.

In the doubles bracket, Eau Claire Memorial's Ryan Hayes and Tommy Peterson fell to Stoughton's Max Dugan and Hayden Schreier 6-1, 6-2 in the first round. Menomonie's Dom Hendrickson and Cole Witucki suffered defeat to Oshkosh West's Patrick Gannon and John Koth 6-4, 7-6 (2) in their opening match.

The Division 1 tournament is being held at the Menard YMCA Tennis Center and continues through Saturday.

Division 2

Two locals doubles teams advanced to the second round by winning their opening matches in Kohler.

Regis' Jack Merrick and Anderson Lowry swept Medford's Tahtankka Damm and Kevin Damm in straight sets in the opening round, 6-1, 6-1.

Altoona's Ty Rondestvedt and Dan Harris will join them in the second round on Friday after sweeping Brown Deer's Levi Kolb and Tony Truong 6-3, 6-1 on Thursday.

The Rails' No. 2 doubles team of Jack Ives and Ryan Chmelik fell to a Monroe duo in the first round.

In singles, Regis' Alex Erickson dropped an opening-round match to Plymouth's Owen Plate, 7-5, 6-1.