Bison boys tennis downs Hershey

Grant Strunk/McCook Daily Gazette McCook Bison sophomore Connor Larson hammers back a serve. Larson won the No. 1 singles match 8-0 Tuesday at the Bison Tennis Courts. The Bison won the dual with Hershey 7-2. [Click to enlarge]

The McCook High School boys tennis team handed Hershey a 7-2 loss Tuesday at the Bison Tennis Courts.

McCook's dual record improved to 7-3.

The Bison compete at the York Invitational at 11 a.m. Thursday.

"Since Hershey only had six kids, we decided to do a split squad format," said McCook tennis coach Matt Wiemers. "I played our No. 1 singles and doubles and No. 2 singles and doubles in the regular spots. I then filled the extra spots with our junior varsity players. They all responded well to the challenge and came away with a hard fought 7-2 dual win.

"I really want to thank the kids and their families for their patience. It took a while to get all 20 kids on the court to complete all the matches. And I want to thank Hershey for their willingness to play extra matches, so all 20 of our kids could some court experience.

"Our No. 1's and No. 2's all picked up wins, which will help them establish the records needed to be seeded at state in a couple of weeks. This Thursday will be a big day for them at York, as we will see some eastern teams. It is extremely important for the team to play well.

"I was pleased with our play in singles, taking five of the six matches played. The kids really stepped up to the challenge and played well. Our junior varsity squad has had a successful week on the courts. Like I said after their performance at North Platte Monday, I'm excited about our future."

McCook 7, Hershey 2

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Varsity Singles

1 Connor Larson def M. Dorr, 8-0

2 Austin Larson def R. Bogacki, 8-6

3 Cameron Foster def S. Friesell, 8-6

4 Matthew Carriker def A. Stoddard, 8-4

5 Grant Wilcox lost to W. Layton, 9-7

6 Connor Palic def J. Lafferty, 8-1

Varsity Doubles

1 Zach Baker-John Huffman def Lafferty-Layton, 8-5

2 Nate Crick-Ethan Hardin def Friesell-Stoddard, 8-2

3 Derek Beebe-Tate Stang lost to Dorr-Bogacki, 8-2

Junior Varsity Singles

Josh Stevens lost to W. Layton, 6-1

Josh Detty lost to J. Lafferty, 6-4

Jacob Ruppert lost to A. Stoddard, 6-2

Tony Conroy def S. Friesell, 6-5

Junior Varsity Doubles

Spencer Van Pelt-Marcus Golden lost to Layton-Lafferty, 6-2

Taylor Rivera-Lucas Jumps lost to Friesell-Stoddard, 6-1