Ryder Dutton got some playoff experience when he participated in the Section 2A Individual Tournament in the singles competition.

No. 4-seeded BEA was eliminated by No. 5-seeded Litchfield in the Section Team Quarterfinals on May 16. However, six Bucs tried their racquets at the Section 2A Individual Tournament last week.

Although they usually occupy BEA’s No. 1 and No. 3 singles slots, seniors Joe Frundt and Brady Lorenz teamed up to compete in the doubles bracket on Wednesday, May 22.

After they were defeated in the championship round, the pair lost a nailbiter of a true second match to finish third in the tournament.

The Bucs faced St. James’s Cohen Danhoff and Noah Sauer in the tournament’s first round, and easily moved on to round two after securing a straight-set victory over St. James, 6-1, 6-0.

Frundt and Lorenz also made quick work of their opponents in round two, defeating Holy Family Catholic’s Joe Charpentier and Philip Olson 6-2, 6-1.

The BEA players advanced to the semifinal round on Thursday, May 23, where they faced off against Litchfield’s Alex Nelson and Josh Blomburg. The Dragons had made the semifinal round after defeating Mound Westonka’s Sam Gaylord and Blake Reinbold in round two, 7-5, 6-4.

Frundt and Lorenz earned a slot in the championship match by defeating Nelson and Blomburg in straight sets, 6-2, 6-0.

The Bucs played Carter Reinbold and Charlie Paul in the final round. The Mound-Westonka duo had defeated St. Peter’s Luke Gilbertson and Quinn Dixon, 6-1, 6-0, in their semifinal match.

The Mound-Westonka duo proved formidable foes for BEA. They defeated Frundt and Lorenz 6-1, 6-1 to clinch the championship title and a ticket to the Individual State Tennis Tournament on June 4, which will be held at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center in Minneapolis.

Frundt and Lorenz then battled Gilbertson and Quinn for second place, and the teams proved to be very evenly matched.

Although the Bucs took the first set with a narrow, 7-6 win, St. Peter flipped the score, 7-6, to win the second set. Gilbertson and Quinn secured the second place title with another 7-6 victory in the tiebreaking third set.

Another BEA team, Devin Haase and Gustavo Chavero, also entered the doubles bracket at the Section Individual Tournament, where they were defeated in round one following a narrow match against St. James’s Dylan Reid and Caleb Fast, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5.

Two Bucs also competed in the tournament’s singles bracket.

Jamie Johnson, who has competed in BEA’s No. 2 singles slot for most of his senior tennis season, won his match against Alkiliez Akradi in the first round. However, the Holy Family Catholic High School freshman put up a good fight.

Johnson won the first match, 6-4, but he took the second set by a very narrow, 7-6 (5) victory.

He was then defeated by Southwest Christian High School’s Mateo Schneibel in round two, 6-0, 6-0.

BEA’s No. 4 singles player, eighth grader Ryder Dutton, was defeated by eventual champion Lincoln Dille, of Litchfield, in a tough first round match, 6-0, 6-0.

Dille was crowned champion after slamming St. James’s Andrei Rivera with a 6-1, 6-0 defeat in the final round.

Rivera lost the true second match to Mound-Westonka’s Adam Kahmeyer, 7-6, 6-3, to land in third place.