Jays’ Watne, Harris, Monson/Fix still alive

Jamestown’s Eric Watne and Blake Harris are still alive in singles, and the same is true of Reid Monson and Nathan Fix of doubles at the West Region tennis meet in Minot.

Watne got a bye into the second round and knocked off teammate Harris, 6-1, 6-3.

Harris bounced back to win a pair of loser-out matches over Tyler Tucker of Dickinson (6-3, 6-2) and Mandan’s Kendall Vogel, 6-3, 6-3.

Harris meets Minot’s Jordan Boehm today at 9 a.m. for a spot in the state meet. Watne squares off against David Hofstad of Bismarck Century at the same time with the winner headed for state.

Andy Peterson dropped both of his matches and was eliminated.

Monson and Fix, the Blue Jays’ top doubles team and seeded third, opened with an easy 6-0, 6-2 win over Bismarck’s Ben Morgan and Hayden Muscha. They were upset by Minot’s sixth-seeded team of Hunter Oothoudt and Matt Polsfut in three sets, 3-6, 7-6 (4), 6-2. They followed with another strong performance, beating Mitch Kvigne and Chris Thomas of Minot, 6-1, 6-2.

They take on Williston’s Brook McFarlin and Rory Guenther, seeded seventh, for a trip to state at 11 a.m.

Nick Graves and Kyle Goehner went 1-2 on the day, beating Morgan and Muscha 7-6 (3), 6-1 before being eliminated by Jacob and Jon Wanner of Mandan.

The state meet is set for Oct. 2-4 in Bismarck.

Tags: jhs, bluejay, tennis, watne, harris, monson, fix