Rock Ridge boys tennis heading back to state under new head coach

Transitioning to new leadership isn’t always easy. However in their just their second season as a program, the Rock Ridge boy’s tennis team was able to seamlessly adapt to their new head coach Jace Friedlieb, and claim back-to-back Section 7A titles.

"I’ve got to give a lot of credit to the boys, and to the coach before me Jeff Mauston," Friedlieb said. "He laid out what our program is, and the expectations, and the boys came into this season knowing what those expectations and cultures and traditions were. We hit the ground running day one like nothing had ever changed."

Rock Ridge secured the team 7A title last week defeating Hermantown 6-1.

Then on Thursday four out of six Wolverines would punch their tickets to the Class A State individual tournament. Jared Delich defended his singles section title against teammate Gavin Benz in the finals, with both earning a state berth. They’ll be joined by number one doubles duo Jake Bradach and Owen Buggert.

"We do believe that we can win that first round if we play it the right way and do what we can," Friedlieb shared. "A lot of preparation in the next two weeks to keep them focused, and know that the goal is to win that first round the next meet. Then we’ll talk about the rest after that."

The Wolverines will serve up the Class A state team and individual tournaments beginning June 7th at the Baseline Tennis Center or Reed-Sweatt Family Tennis Center. Seedings and pairings have yet to be announced.