Lourdes' Veldic in the running for a state singles title

Jun. 8—MINNEAPOLIS — Lourdes senior Marjan Veldic successfully got through the first two rounds of the Class A state boys individual tennis tournament on Thursday at Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center, advancing him to Friday's 8 a.m. semifinals.

Veldic, who finished third at state last year and is seeded second, will meet St. Paul Academy's Zahir Hassan in the semifinals. Hassan is seeded third and beat Veldic 7-5, 3-6, 11-9 in Thursday's Class A team tennis championship.

On Thursday, Veldic had no problem, romping in both his first-round and quarterfinal matches.

Schaeffer Academy's Asher Monson lost his first match and then won in the consolation quarterfinals.

In doubles, the Lake City combination of Ryan Heise and Jack Meincke won their first match in straight sets but then were eliminated from the tournament with a quarterfinals loss. Winona Cotter's doubles team of Jon Besek and Hamilton Brewer lost both of their matches.

In a slight upset, Mayo star freshman singles player Tej Bhagra was eliminated from the Class AA individual tournament in the second round. After scoring a straight-sets win in his first match at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center, No. 4 seed Bhagra lost 6-4, 6-1 to No. 5 seed Nolan Ranger of Edina.

Bhagra played two grueling matches on Wednesday as Mayo reached the team championship round and fell.

In doubles, the Mayo combination of Ben Erickson and Phil Wisniewski were also dropped in the quarterfinals. After winning in straight sets in the first round, the seniors lost 6-4, 7-6 (8-6 tie-breaker) to Orono's Hugh Perrill and Owen Skanse.

Century's doubles team of Prab Kaginele and Cameron Nelson lost both of their matches Thursday.

CLASS AA

—U of M's Baseline Tennis Center

(Rochester players)

Singles

First round: Tej Bhagra (Mayo) def. Kaushik Bukkuri (East Ridge) 6-4, 6-1. Quarterfinals: Nolan Ranger (Edina) def. Bhagra 6-4, 6-1.

Doubles

First round: Ben Erickson/Phil Wisniewski (Mayo) def. Owen Gilbertson/Cole Haabala (Alexandria) 6-2, 6-4; Aaron Beduhn/Brad Hagan (Wayzata) def. Prab Kaginele/Cameron Nelson (Century) 6-1, 6-0. Quarterfinals: Hugh Perrill/Owen Skanse (Orono) def. Erickson/Wisniewski 6-4, 7-6 (8-6). Consolation semifinals: Ryan Bengtson/Eli Scheideman (Becker) def. Kaginele/Nelson 6-3, 6-4.

CLASS A

(Section 1A competitors)

—At Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center

Singles

First round: Isaac Maddock (Osakis) def. Asher Monson (Schaeffer Academy) 6-4, 6-3; Marjan Veldic (Lourdes) def. Aidan Schlichting (Totino Grace) 6-2, 6-4. Quarterfinals: Veldic def. Ethan Lavan (Cloquet) 6-1, 6-0. Consolation quarterfinals: Monson def. Andrew Quetzal (Redwood Valley) 6-2, 6-2.

Doubles

First round: Ryan Heise/Jack Meincke (Lake City) def. Gary Speier/Nathan Dierberger (Providence Academy) 6-2, 6-0; Will Elias/Anders Dixon (St. Peter) def. Jon Besek/Hamilton Brewer (Winona Cotter) 6-4, 6-2. Quarterfinals: Alex Draeger/Braden Olson (Litchfield) def. Heise/Meincke 6-4, 6-1. Consolation quarterfinals: Drew Anderson/Cooper Hendrickson (Hibbing) def. Besek/Brewer 6-3, 5-7, 10-6.