DHS looks to have fun at West Region
The Dickinson High boys tennis team has made do with what it had.By: Royal McGregor, The Dickinson Press
- Hunter Jerome
The Dickinson High boys tennis team has made do with what it had.
With only six players on the roster, the Midgets look toward the three-day West Region Tournament starting today as a chance to have fun.
“It’s going to be a challenge,” senior captain Hunter Jerome said. “It’s my last one, so it’s mainly to go out there and have fun.”
Jerome, who is a senior at Dickinson Trinity, is the Midgets No. 1 singles player has the confidence from his head coach Jonathan Tangen to do well at the West Region Tournament.
“Hunter has done a great job coming up from No. 4 last year and filling in our No. 1 position,” Tangen said. “It hasn’t been easy for him. He’s played a lot of hard hitting players.”
Sophomore Alex Priebe is the team’s No. 2 singles player and teams up with Jerome for No. 1 doubles. He had started to get more confident after rattling off wins against Jamestown, Valley City, Williston and Wahpeton.
“I’m a little more confident, because I won those three setters,” Priebe said. “I’m also a little bit nervous, because a lot of teams are really good.”
Tangen has been able to see Priebe transform into a solid singles and doubles player.
“Priebe as a singles player is awesome,” he said. “He’s got great ground strokes and can really whip his serve in, so he might be a great weapon as a singles player as well as a doubles player.”
When Jerome and Priebe take the court together as the No. 1 doubles team Tangen said the two complement each other very well.
“They’re great together,” Tangen said. “They communicate well. They pick each other up when they are down.”
Despite the Midgets not winning a single dual all season, Jerome believes the team has made progress since the beginning of the season and is excited to face some of the best competition in the state. He doesn’t want losses of the past to dwell on the confidence in the present.
“That’s all in the past,” Jerome said. “We played a lot of better teams right away and now as the season progressed we’ve gotten better. I think there’s a better chance, but we have to stick with it and play the best you can.”
The Midgets also have senior Kevin Schwab, sophomore Jakob Schmidt and freshmen Tyus Praus and Johnathon Griffith.
“We have to set up a good lineup with a lot of strategies to beat a few competitors that we have,” Tangen said.
Speedy Heart River travels to physical Killdeer
The Killdeer and No. 2-ranked Heart River football teams have relied on different strengths the last couple of the seasons.
The Cowboys are big, tough and physical, whereas the Cougars are small, speedy and quick.
“They are basically living up to the expectations,” Killdeer head coach Lou Dobitz said. “They are really talented. They are explosive and they have some really good lineman.”
Each team knows its opponent’s strengths and weakness as Heart River travels to Killdeer for a Class 1A, Region 4 game at 7 p.m. Friday.
Despite the Cowboys having big players on the offensive and defensive sides of the ball, Dobitz said Heart River has some pretty good size on the line.
“We know they play really well upfront,” Dobitz said. “We have some size advantage, but not completely. We’re just going have to block better than we have in the past against them.”
Leading Heart River’s offensive charge against Killdeer are senior running backs Seth Ewoniuk and Cole Hecker. Senior fullback Cole Hlebechuk and junior quarterback Tyson Kudrna are continuing to mature at their positions.
Dobitz said the keys to game are ball security, special teams and keeping the ball away from Heart River’s offense.
“We need to control the ball and we need to get first downs for that to happen,” Dobitz said. “We got to keep the ball out of their hands for a little bit of the time.”
Tags: high school tennis, dickinson midgets, heart river cougars, , sports, killdeer, cowboyshigh, school, football
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