Bainer, Bergman Lead Laramie at State Tennis

The 2015 Wyoming High School State Tennis Championships produced a fifth and sixth place finish for Laramie High School.

The Lady Plainsmen ended up with 21 points and in fifth place, while the Plainsmen scored 22.5 team points, which was good enough for sixth.

LHS Tennis head coach Elizabeth Clower said there was a lot of hard work and effort turned in.

“I think everyone was a little disappointed. Our goal had been top four. However, on the boy’s side, they played seven three-setters, and we only managed to win two… and the girls had three, three-setters, and we only won one.”

The Laramie girls were led by number two singles player Lea Bergman. She came in second place after falling 6-0, 6-2 in the finals. Bergman won all three of her previous matches in straight sets.

Clower said of Bergman, “I was just so proud of how she played the whole weekend. She played with fire and a determination to win.”

At the other positions in the Lady Plainsmen line-up, number one singles saw Lucia Cho reach the semis, but had to withdraw due to injury. Ally Franc replaced Cho, but lost her two fill-in matches and that position went 2-2. The number one doubles team of Klingler and Scott was also 2-2. At number two doubles, Kirk and Longress finished the State Championships 1-2. The duo of Huang and Fadial at number three doubles reached the semifinals, but dropped their next two matches and came in at 2-2.

For the Laramie boy’s squad, Dalton Bainer at number one singles finished in third place, as he won the consolation bracket. Bainer lost a tough three-set match in the second round to the eventual state champ. Bainer battled back and won the consolation in a three set match that featured two tie-breakers. The scores of the match were 7-6 (7-4), 1-6, 7-6 (8-6).

Clower admitted that Dalton had a tough draw and was beaten by the champ.

“He lost 6-4 in the third, but it wasn’t because he faltered. It was just a great tennis match with two great players, and the Powell player just happened to come out on top.”

Matt Moran reached the semis at the number two singles position, but fell in his next two matches and wound up 2-2. The number one doubles team of Fike and Stump went 3-2 and came in fourth place. They lost a three-set match in the semis to the champs and another three-setter in the consolation final.

The number two and three doubles tandems struggled a bit. Graeff and Scott at number two went 0-2, while Ahern and Marsh at number three were 1-2.

It was the first time since 2012 that neither team had a state champion at some position.