Broncos, Tigercats battle in tennis

The LRS Broncos tennis team went head-to-head with the LaCrosse-Washtucna Tigercats tennis team on Saturday, April 21 in LaCrosse. The Broncos and Tigercats had to battle not only against each other, but also against the drastic increase in temperature.

The Broncos boys team won 5-0 versus the Tigercats because the Tigercats forfeited in No. 2 boys doubles and had to double back with athletes to compete in the No. 1 boys doubles, resulting as a technical loss.

The Broncos girls won 4-1 with a technical forfeit by the Tigercats during the No. 1 girls doubles match because athletes had to double back to play.

The matches began with the No. 1 boys singles on one court and the No. 1 girl’s singles on the neighboring court. The boy’s No. 1 singles players were LRS athlete Zach Swanger and Tigercat athlete, Justin Wargo.

Swanger and Wargo played close, aggressive matches, complete with excellent sportsmanship and respect for the opponent. Swanger eventually defeated Wargo 6-0, 6-3.

The girl’s No. 1 singles players matched up perfectly and spent two and a half hours battling for the win in the extreme heat. Nozomi Mayamoto and Lura Potter both had medical issues during the event and the game was stopped to allow the girls to rest.

During one of the 10-minute breaks in the singles game, LRS athlete Taylor Templin demonstrated true support to his teammate. Mayamoto became weak during the match and the coaches believed it was because of dehydration.

Mayamoto was in a darker color shirt, and Templin gave her his white shirt to help reduce sun exposure.

“Taylor literally gave the shirt off his back,” said assistant coach Lorrie Swanger. “He has shown true dedication to his team in the last month.”

Templin broke his leg about a month ago and is now spending the end of his high school athletic career on crutches. Since the incident occurred, Templin has never missed a practice or a game and is continually out supporting his teammates.

The girls continued to play through the No. 1 boys singles and the No. 2 boys singles games. Mayamoto eventually came away with the win over Potter, 6-3, 5-7, 6-4.

The No. 2 boys singles and the No. 2 girls singles went quicker than the first games, and the Broncos continued to shine. LRS athlete David Ruse won against Tigercat athlete Levi Allen, 6-1, 6-2. Tigercat Jena Goude played a close match against Lindy Brown, but eventually lost the game, 6-1, 6-1.

The No. 3 boys singles players were Alex Wheeler and John Holdren. Holdren lost the game, 8-5, to the Bronco athlete. In the No. 3 girls singles, Amber McCabe earned the Tigercats only win of the day against LRS athlete Rachel Barrus, 5-8.

The No. 1 boys doubles played a pro-set match and even though Allen and Holden defeated Justin Templin and Stephen Ulrich 6-8, the Tigercats had to forfeit the win because of both athletes doubling back to play.

The No. 1 girls doubles was a showdown between LRS athletes Alanna Wheeler and Chelsey Heidenreich and LW athletes Chelsie Kneale and Anna Roberts. Wheeler and Heidenreich eventually came away with the win, 6-1, 6-2.

The No. 2 girls doubles rounded out the day and ended in a technical forfeit for LW since the girls had to double back to play. Goude and McCabe defeated the LRS team of Emily Buriak and Dezarae West, 4-8.

Both the LRS and LW teams are traveling to the Inland Empire Match in Spokane this Friday and Saturday.