BEAVER DAM - Monroe finished third at the Beaver Dam Invitational on Saturday.
"After a disappointing loss to Baraboo the night before (Friday), I didn't know how we would respond," Monroe coach Brad Saugstad said. "The boys came out ready to play and had a great day. Now we have to watch out for a letdown. It seems like after every good match, we take a step back in our next match. We need to keep this momentum going."
Carson Root and Garrett Tschanz won the No. 1 doubles bracket for the Cheesemakers, going 3-0 on the day.
The duo dominated Plymouth's Ben Bachman and Nick Eggert 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, then La Crosse Central's Connor Benson and Ryan Miles in the semifinals 6-1, 6-1. In the championship, Root and Tschanz knocked out Alex Brost and Joey Schneider of Waunakee 6-3, 6-3.
"Carson and Garrett took their record to 11-0 on the season. They were in control the whole day. These two are showing everyone that they'll be a tough team to beat," Saugstad said.
Monroe's Taylor Soddy finished in third place in the No. 1 singles, and Quinten L'Yvonnet took third in No. 2 singles.
Soddy beat Portage's Ian Jasso 6-2, 6-2 before losing to Stevens Point's Bradley Luetschwagger 7-5, 5-7, 3-10.
"Taylor had the lead and a chance to close out the match. He gave it everything he had but came up just short," Saugstad said of the semifinal loss.
In the third-place match, Soddy knocked off Waunakee's Calvin Clack 1-6, 6-1, 10-7.
L'Yvonnet defeated Onalaska's Alex Inman 6-2, 6-0 in the opener, but fell to La Crosse Central's Nick Garvin in the second round 3-6, 3-6. L'Yvonnet, a foreign exchange student from France, then beat Waunakee's Jacob Yaeger 6-1, 6-2.
"Quinten had a great day. He told me a couple of weeks ago that he was beginning to feel comfortable on the court and it showed. He played (Saturday's) wind very well," Saugstad said.
Jess Hager and Cristian Noriega won the consolation title at No. 2 singles for Monroe. The duo lost its opening round match to eventual tournament champions B.J. Sherry and Brian Chorski of La Crosse Central 6-7(6), 0-6. From there, the two rolled over their next two opponents.
"After that first match they looked like a new team. They both got very aggressive around the net and had two great wins," Saugstad said.
Monroe's No. 3 doubles tandem of Kevin Kohlstedt and Josh Riese won their first match before falling in their second two.
"They played five tiebreaks on the day, winning two of them to take fourth place," Saugstad said.
Luke Molinaro won his first match of the year in No. 4 singles, topping Beaver Dam's Eli Peterson 6-0, 6-0 in the second round. Molinaro lost both his first and third round matches to finish sixth.
"I'm very proud of Luke. He wants to win so bad and works very hard. It was great that he could help the team out and get that win," Saugstad said.
Luke Andraski lost both of his matches at No. 3 singles.
The Cheesemakers finished with 17 points, five behind second-place finisher Stevens Point. La Crosse Central won the invitational with 34 pints. Onalaska was fourth (16 points), Waunakee fifth (15 points), Madison La Follette seventh (11), Plymouth eighth (7) and host Beaver Dam (4) finished last.
"After a disappointing loss to Baraboo the night before (Friday), I didn't know how we would respond," Monroe coach Brad Saugstad said. "The boys came out ready to play and had a great day. Now we have to watch out for a letdown. It seems like after every good match, we take a step back in our next match. We need to keep this momentum going."
Carson Root and Garrett Tschanz won the No. 1 doubles bracket for the Cheesemakers, going 3-0 on the day.
The duo dominated Plymouth's Ben Bachman and Nick Eggert 6-0, 6-0 in the first round, then La Crosse Central's Connor Benson and Ryan Miles in the semifinals 6-1, 6-1. In the championship, Root and Tschanz knocked out Alex Brost and Joey Schneider of Waunakee 6-3, 6-3.
"Carson and Garrett took their record to 11-0 on the season. They were in control the whole day. These two are showing everyone that they'll be a tough team to beat," Saugstad said.
Monroe's Taylor Soddy finished in third place in the No. 1 singles, and Quinten L'Yvonnet took third in No. 2 singles.
Soddy beat Portage's Ian Jasso 6-2, 6-2 before losing to Stevens Point's Bradley Luetschwagger 7-5, 5-7, 3-10.
"Taylor had the lead and a chance to close out the match. He gave it everything he had but came up just short," Saugstad said of the semifinal loss.
In the third-place match, Soddy knocked off Waunakee's Calvin Clack 1-6, 6-1, 10-7.
L'Yvonnet defeated Onalaska's Alex Inman 6-2, 6-0 in the opener, but fell to La Crosse Central's Nick Garvin in the second round 3-6, 3-6. L'Yvonnet, a foreign exchange student from France, then beat Waunakee's Jacob Yaeger 6-1, 6-2.
"Quinten had a great day. He told me a couple of weeks ago that he was beginning to feel comfortable on the court and it showed. He played (Saturday's) wind very well," Saugstad said.
Jess Hager and Cristian Noriega won the consolation title at No. 2 singles for Monroe. The duo lost its opening round match to eventual tournament champions B.J. Sherry and Brian Chorski of La Crosse Central 6-7(6), 0-6. From there, the two rolled over their next two opponents.
"After that first match they looked like a new team. They both got very aggressive around the net and had two great wins," Saugstad said.
Monroe's No. 3 doubles tandem of Kevin Kohlstedt and Josh Riese won their first match before falling in their second two.
"They played five tiebreaks on the day, winning two of them to take fourth place," Saugstad said.
Luke Molinaro won his first match of the year in No. 4 singles, topping Beaver Dam's Eli Peterson 6-0, 6-0 in the second round. Molinaro lost both his first and third round matches to finish sixth.
"I'm very proud of Luke. He wants to win so bad and works very hard. It was great that he could help the team out and get that win," Saugstad said.
Luke Andraski lost both of his matches at No. 3 singles.
The Cheesemakers finished with 17 points, five behind second-place finisher Stevens Point. La Crosse Central won the invitational with 34 pints. Onalaska was fourth (16 points), Waunakee fifth (15 points), Madison La Follette seventh (11), Plymouth eighth (7) and host Beaver Dam (4) finished last.
