MADISON — Charlie Frehner was the lone Cheesemaker to make a run at the Badger Conference Tournament May 17-18, but he made some noise along the way.
The No. 4 singles freshman continued his recent run of impressive matches and took second, falling to Oregon senior Henry Wiedeman in a tough tiebreaker 4-6, 6-2, 7-6 (3).
“I give Charlie a lot of credit for what he did,” Monroe coach Matt Bordner said. “For a freshman to take second at the conference tournament at 4-singles is no easy task. The level of intensity on Day 2 at Nielsen is really fun to be a part of and I’m really proud of how well Charlie responded in his matches.”
Frehner, the four-seed, won both of his matches at the UW Nielsen Tennis Stadium May 17 to advance. He knocked off Sauk Prairie’s Sam Humbract 6-3, 6-3 and defeated Waunakee’s Hayden Liu 6-4, 6-0.
“He came out very steady in his first match and grinded out a ton of close points,” Bordner said. “(Against Liu) Charlie played his best match of career in my opinion. His opponent hit with great pace and location but Charlie was just so steady and forced his opponent into eventually making errors.
“It is a huge accomplishment to make it to Day 2 of the tournament, and doing so as a freshman says a lot about how hard he has worked this season. His serve has improved and he continues to learn other shots as well.”
In the semifinals in the morning of May 18, Frehner took down Monona Grove’s Henry Walsh 7-6 (2), 6-4. Earlier this season, Walsh had defeated Frehner.
“Charlie pulled off an incredible match here and was just so consistent with his opponent. His location with shots was great and he played with tremendous poise for a freshman,” Bordner said.
In the championship match, both players showed tremendous grit, Bordner said. “You could tell both guys were reaching exhaustion. Charlie just ran out of gas at the end.”
Elsewhere, the rest of Monroe’s matches ended in losses. Bo Bahler lost a heartbreaker at No. 1 singles, falling to Portage’s Cody Santas in a tiebreaker 4-6, 6-2, 10-8.
“Bo Bahler played a close match but just lost his focus and control of the match heading into that second set. It goes to show how important the points are in every match, and how important is to finish matches,” Bordner said. “The rest of the guys all played pretty decent today, but we just faced a lot of tough teams in the draw.”
In the No. 2 singles bracket, Chris Andraski lost to DeForest’s Eliot Pickhardt 6-0, 6-2. Gabe Moon, playing at No. 3 singles, lost to Oregon’s Ben Hessler 6-1, 6-3.
Monroe’s No. 1 doubles tandem of Evan Thompson and Luke Quinn fell to Waunakee 6-1, 6-0. Jon Callaway and Heath Bear, the No. 2 doubles duo for the Cheesemakers, fell 6-0, 6-1 to Milton. At No. 3 doubles, Wade Sweeney and Luis Torres lost to Oregon 6-0, 6-1.
