Mayo's Bhagra more than lives up to his No. 1 billing

May 23—ROCHESTER — All season, Tej Bahgra has been wearing a tag that says No. 1 on it.

The Mayo sophomore has indeed continued his meteoric rise in the state tennis rankings, bumping up every season since joining the Spartans varsity as a seventh grader.

Now, he's the one. He's No. 1 and has been all season. He's the Minnesota star that everyone wants to beat.

So far, nobody has been able to do it. That includes Thursday in the Section 1, Class 2A individual semifinals and final at Mayo High School.

Austin's Cole Hebrink gave it a try first and didn't come close, Hebrink losing 6-0, 6-1 to Bhagra, who is the ultimate shot maker and the best anticipator of opponents' shots that Mayo longtime coach Jeff Demaray has ever directed.

Then came Lakeville North power server and hitter Anthony Scheglowski, a senior. This figured to be a much tighter match for Bhagra. Scheglowski entered ranked seventh in the state and with that "big" game.

But things didn't come close to working out for him, either. Scheglowski got off to a nice start, assuming a 2-1 first-set lead. But Bhagra predictably settled in after that, tracking down virtually all of Scheglowski's driven shots and finishing a onesided 6-2, 6-1 winner.

That came as no surprise, including to Scheglowski. He's come to know Bhagra's powers, having met him often through the years.

"He's just solid and makes every ball back on the court," Scheglowski said. "And he's gotten better. He doesn't just grind anymore. He hits with more pace. But the big thing about him is he's consistent. He doesn't miss."

Bhagra's section singles title was his third straight. This tennis stuff, he's got it down. That includes against big hitters like Scheglowski. To Bhagra, the bigger the better.

"That is my forte, going against big hitters," Bhagra said. "I can reabsorb and redirect shots, and play defense. But I'm trying to venture out more now and get more offense to my game, too."

As for playing with that No. 1 tag wrapped around him, Bhagra hasn't minded that, either. He's carried it with him all season and will bring it with him to the state tournament, which is June 6-7 at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center.

Bhagra's toughest match this season has been against Mahtomedi's No. 2-ranked Sam Rathmanner. He took him down 7-5, 6-1.

Now, it's time to prove himself on the biggest stage.

"Being ranked No. 1, I don't really feel that," Bhagra said. "Being No. 1 only matters if you win a state championship."

This teammates against teammates thing, the Mayo doubles teams of Daniel Meunier and Caleb Kennel, and Noah Wisniewski and Ian Li playing each other — they don't hate it.

That's what went down in Thursday's Section 1, Class 2A doubles final. In the end, it was senior Meunier and sophomore Kennel prevailing, taking the title from Wisniewski/Li 6-3, 7-5. Both teams will advance to state, which is June 6-7 at the University of Minnesota's Baseline Tennis Center.

There's been too much bonding between all four of these guys for ill feelings to take over, even with a section title on the line.

"Those are two of our closest friends out there," Meunier said of Wisniewski, a junior, and Li, a freshman. "I've known Noah for like 10 years now. It's always fun to play against friends."

It's also fun to play well against them, which Meunier/Kennel clearly did. This was a tough match to predict. Just three days before, Wisniewski and Li had been the winners when matched up in a scrimmage with Meunier/Kennel.

So this figure to be a tossup, at least until the match started and Meunier and Kennel quickly revealed that it was going to be their day.

There wasn't much missing going on between them.

"We were making a lot of our shots," Kennel said. "We got all the setups and then (the 6-foot and rangy) Daniel put a lot of shots away. I mean, everything was going well. The last time we played against them, on Monday, we missed a lot of shots."

Wisniewski said it came down to what was happening at the net. That is where Meunier and Kennel took over.

"Honestly, it was just their net game and their ability to make all the tough shots at the net," Meunier said. "And we were really struggling in the return game, trying to get the ball past them. And, I mean, both of them are really great players and great doubles players. They really shine with that stuff."

After that loss by Wisniewski and Li, there was one more match for them to play to advance to state. That came against Lakeville North's Kade Bishop and Ezra Mahoney, in the true-second place match. Wisniewski and Li had no trouble there, cruising 6-2, 6-1.

Singles

Semifinals: Tej Bhagra (Mayo) def. Cole Hebrink (Austin) 6-0, 6-1; Anthony Scheglowski (Lakeville North) def. Blake Thackeray (Mayo) 6-0, 6-0. Final: Bhagra (Mayo) def. Scheglowski (Lakeville North) 6-2, 6-1. Third place: Hebrink (Austin) def. Thackeray (Mayo) 5-7, 7-5, 6-2.

DOUBLES

Semifinals: Noah Wisniewski/Ian Li (Mayo) def. Joe Grant/Carter Borovsky (Northfield) 6-2, 6-3; Caleb Kennel/Daniel Meunier (Mayo) def. Kade Bishop/Ezra Mahoney (Lakeville North) 6-4, 6-2. Third place: Bishop/Mahoney (LN) def. Grant/Borovsky (Northfield) 6-2, 6-2. Final: Kennel/Meunier (Mayo) def. Wisniewski/Li (Mayo) 6-3, 7-5. True second: Wisniewski/Li (Mayo) def. Bishop/Mahoney (Lakeville North) 6-2, 6-1.