FARGO -- Grand Forks Red River has Sweet No. 16.
The Roughriders boys tennis team won its 16th straight East Region championship today in Fargo, winning three duals without dropping a set.
Red River beat Valley City 5-0 in the first round, topped Fargo Davies 5-0 in the semifinals and beat Fargo North 5-0 in the championship.
The last time Red River lost in the East Region tournament was 1995 to Fargo South.
The Roughriders went with the virtually the same lineup all day. Joey Anderson was perfect at No. 1 singles, Greg Wischer won three matches at No. 2 singles and Jake Kuhlman was unbeaten at No. 3.
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Erik Johnson and Steven Halvorson were dominant at No. 1 doubles, losing only three games in six sets. Andre Caoili, Ryan Kenyan and Mitchell Kuhlman rotated at No. 2 doubles.
The Roughriders will carry the East's No. 1 seed to the state tournament next weekend in Grand Forks, where they will try to win their 14th straight state team title.
Central qualifies
Grand Forks Central, meanwhile, qualified for state in dramatic fashion.
With the state-qualifying dual against West Fargo tied 2-2, the state tournament berth came down to a match at No. 3 singles between Central's Dallas Chambers and West Fargo's North Knewtson.
The match went into a third-set tiebreaker and Chambers pulled it out 7-5 with a large crowd watching.
"The MVP was Dallas Chambers," Central coach Max Weisser said. "He gutted out that last match. For a freshman to be able to do that, I can't be more impressed. It was very intense and he's not a kid that likes everyone watching him play."
Central beat Wahpeton 4-1 in the quarterfinals, then lost a close dual to Fargo North 4-1. Three of the five matches in the North dual went to a third set.
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"We easily could have been playing Red River in the championship," Weisser said. "They just played a little better than us today."
