GRAND FORKS — The Grand Forks Red River boys, Grand Forks Central boys, East Grand Forks Senior High boys and East Grand Forks Senior High girls will soon begin the 2022 fall tennis season.
Here’s a look at the four local teams.
Coach: Luke Glasoe.
2021 record: 10-7-3, East Region runner-up, fourth-place at state.
Key returners: Sr. MF Caleb Severson, jr. D Juel De La Cruz, jr. D Connor Knutson, sr. MF Hunter Robertson, sr. MF Grant Lelm, sr. F Lukas Heydt, sr. D Nathan Christianson, sr. MF Jaden Chine, sr. MF Wyatt Hus.
Potential newcomers: Sr. GK Brady Price, jr. MF Ben Strand, sr. F Omar Hassan, sr. D Carter Leake, soph. MF Logan Lamble, soph. F Brody Andrade.
Coach Glasoe says: “This will be the most senior-heavy class I’ve ever coached at Red River. Hopefully, having a bunch of seniors with the varsity team is going to translate into being stronger physically and emotionally on the field. We’ve made the state tournament two years in a row now, and in the last two years, we’ve won the JV tournament. So, not only have our varsity guys been doing well, but these guys coming up have been pretty successful, too.”
Coach: Luke Schulz.
2021 record: 3-11-3.
Key returners: Sr. D Conner Noreen, jr. D Brody Kendall, sr. MF Brooks Anttila (2 goals, 3 assists), sr. MF Camden Kraft (1 goal, 3 assists), sr. MF Cade Lindseth.
Potential newcomers: Jr. F Ryan Alshami, jr. D Markus Lunski, sr. GK John Vandeberg, jr. GK Tatum Vanyo.
Coach Schulz says: “I think defensively, if we’re able to stay healthy, that will probably be the strength of our team. Two of our three games we played with Conner at center back, we had 0-0 draws. When he’s out there, our defense is a little better. We return pretty much everyone he was playing with, too. There are quite a few seniors on our team. A lot of them don’t have varsity experience. We have maturity in a way, but we lack a little bit of experience at the varsity level. Finding those goal-scorers will be the question.”
Coach: Robbie Grabanski.
2021 record: 1-14.
Key returners: Sr. D Cayden Clark, soph. MF Cooper Hills, sr. MF Cooper Ziegler, soph. D Grady Pynn.
Potential newcomers: Fr. D Wyatt Cordts, soph. GK Parker Nolte, fr. F Carson McDonald.
Coach Grabanski says: “Definitely, our youth stands out. We’re a young team. They’re all friends. I think they’re all growing together and learning to play together. As you can see, we have a numbers gap from our senior and junior years. We haven’t had the greatest numbers out. But you can tell our guys really enjoy playing soccer and they want to be good together. A couple of them were on the bantam hockey team that won a state title. They want to compete , they want to win and they want to have a bounce-back year.”
Coach: Jessica Bina.
2021 record: 14-2, Section 8AA semifinalist.
Key returners: Sr. MF Kara Ellis (6 goals, 8 assists), soph. F Camryn Adams (6 goals, 4 assists), sr. F/MF Grace Jordheim (2 goals, 2 assists), jr. MF Lauren Kronlund (3 goals, 4 assists), jr. MF Maggie Plante (3 goals), fr. MF Blake Schultz, jr. D Ella Thorvilson, jr. D Kylee Mattison, jr. D Mya Langerud, jr. GK Shali Anderson, fr. F/G Skyla Rustad.
Coach Bina says: “Last year, we were building to a moment to win a section title. We felt we were right at the top with Alexandria and Little Falls. Losing to Little Falls on our home field, that’s really been a driving force this summer. They really want it. That’s exciting. We’ve been really young the last few years. Now, we’re getting older and have a team of juniors and seniors.”