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Eau Claire Memorial tennis players would usually be away for a long time on a Wednesday afternoon during state tournament week. Old Abesians, accustomed to state travel, usually have to make a three-hour trip to Madison to compete for equipment.
But this year, travel has been reduced. In fact, quite a bit.
Both the Division 1 State Individual Tournament and the State Team Tournament will be held in Eau Claire over the next two weeks, with individuals starting to play on Thursday morning. It meant one extra workout for the Memorial boys on Wednesday.
“It’s so nice to just sleep in my own bed and get all night rest before tomorrow,” senior Ryan Hayes said.
The Eau Claire Memorial has two single players and a singles team that competes in a single state. Evan Birkholz and Ethan Beckerman made it to the singles, while the duo of Hayes and Tommy Peterson earned a spot in the singles. The team also made it to the team, which will be played next Thursday and Friday at the YMCA Menard tennis center.
And Old Abes players aren’t the only locals who benefit from the relocation. Menomonia is represented by Jace Gilbertson in the singles and Dom Hendrickson and Cole Wituck’s team in the Twins, and Sean Martin of Chippewa Falls is also involved.
But for Memorial, they work in facilities that have become quite comfortable over the years. In fact, even if the doubles start at the Menard Tennis Center, the doubles competition will start right away at Memorial’s purple bottom home courts.
“It’s always nice to have a home field advantage,” Hayes said. “Hopefully that means more fans will come out and support.”
According to memory coach Jim Litscher, there shouldn’t be much benefit in knowing how the fields play, all the hard fields play about the same, but the added comfort and ability to be very at rest should help. Participating in the local tennis community, he also said that Eau Claire’s ability to host such an event is proud. Plant investments in the area helped make it possible.
“They needed a place with a great interior (facility),” Litscher said. “And all of our courts have been done again. We have enough fields to practice around town if they want to practice and warm up before playing their matches. And then it’s close. They don’t have to drive very far to get there so it’s nice.”
This year’s Memorial team is the youngest Litscher he has worked with in 20 years. There are only four seniors in the group and not juniors, so subclasses are tested early. And they have provided, helping the old abbey keep the long line alive. Memorial won the department title last Thursday at Eau Claire, improving Hudson by eight points to win the 14th consecutive team state tournament.
“Many of these guys have played matches in the past, so they kind of have to experience that anxiety a bit,” senior Sam Prasher told the teams ’youth. “But playing high school tennis is a completely different matter. As the season progresses, everyone has kind of improved.”
Memorial is the guarantor of the team account match, with seven seeds rising to No. 2 against Middleton. Perhaps the familiar boundaries are enough to help Old Abes.
“I think it’s awesome,” Prasher said. “Usually we get to Madison, which is also awesome because there’s such a neat stadium … but I think it’s very interesting to play at home. We have that home field advantage for all our fans. It’s a new and interesting experience.”
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