MARQUETTE — Marquette and Negaunee chalked up several victories on the run-up to the Negaunee Invitational held at the Miners’ courts on Friday.

Marquette held off Westwood 7-1 on Thursday, while Negaunee won a doubleheader on Wednesday, whitewashing Iron Mountain 8-0 before eking out a 5-3 win over Kingsford.

Here are details from those meets:

Marquette 7, Westwood 1

On Thursday at Westwood, the Sentinels didn’t miss a beat despite having several regulars out.

“I thought all our boys played super clean and well,” MSHS head coach Karl Thomsen said in an email detailing the result. “We had a few guys out … but Wyatt Ansell at No. 4 singles and Nate Wood at No. 3 doubles stepped in seamlessly.”

Ansell won 6-1, 6-2 over the Patriots’ Steve Raisanen, while Wood paired up with Kane Bush for a 6-1, 6-2 victory over Westwood’s Andrew Beckman and Deion Johnson.

“Wyatt’s return game was spot on,” Thomsen said. “He was intelligently aggressive on the returns and it set him up for some easy putaways. 

“Over at No. 3 doubles, Nate Wood was Mr. Consistent on his groundstrokes. Nate’s forehands were money and set his partner Kane Bush up to finish off the points.”

The only match to go three sets was at No. 1 singles, where Westwood’s Damien Grondz won 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 over the Sentinels’ Brady Janofski.

Negaunee 8, Iron Mountain 0

Negaunee 5, Kingsford 3

On Wednesday in Negaunee, Kingsford gave the Miners (11-0-2) an expected battle after the teams split their eight matches 4-4 at the Kingsford Invitational last Saturday.

“This was an important day for us because we had a goal or two as a team that we really wanted to accomplish,” Negaunee head coach Kyle Saari said in an email detailing the results. “There’s a lot of work to be done, but it’s another step.”

He was quite pleased with a pair of his doubles tandems — Vince Tincknell and Marshall Knapp at No. 2 lost a total of two games between their two matches, while Conner Steede and Trent Emard at No. 3 lost just three games in their pair of dustups.

“Vince and Marshall are really kind of setting the tone for us in our doubles lineup,” Saari said. “Their focus hasn’t wavered, and their games have matured so much since last year.

“Conner and Trent have really established themselves within our lineup, too. They’ve turned themselves into tennis players and they’re still eager to improve.”

And he was quite encouraged with No. 4 singles player Axl Sarasin, who chalked up a victory in his only match of the day, a 6-1, 6-1 victory over the Flivvers’ Daniel Erickson.

“Lot of respect for how Axl fought today, too,” his coach said. “As as an athlete, but moreso as a person, he’s exactly the type of person we want in our program. He played real well and continues to stack wins.”

Marquette 7, Westwood 1

Thursday at Westwood

SINGLES — No. 1, Damien Grondz (W) def. Brady Janofski 6-2, 4-6, 6-3; No. 2, Caden Laurn (M) def. Caden Balzarini 6-2, 6-3; No. 3, Dominic Camilli (M) def. Caeden Nurmi 6-2, 6-3; No. 4, Wyatt Ansell (M) def. Steve Raisanen 6-1, 6-2

DOUBLES — No. 1, Winston Leonard-Conner Henry (M) def. Xavier Grondz-AJ Pizziola 6-2, 6-0; No. 2, Bode Helman-Conner Dunn (M) def. Sean Grove-Brady Dobson 6-0, 6-1; No. 3, Kane Bush-Nate Wood (M) def. Andrew Beckman-Deion Johnson 6-1, 6-2; No. 4, Billy Krebs-Jack Tiziani (M) def. Brody Aronson-Brady Verville 6-1, 6-0

Negaunee 8, Iron Mt. 0

Wednesday at Negaunee

SINGLES — No. 1, Easton Guenette (N) def. Malakai Broersma 6-0, 6-1; No. 2, Nolan O’Dovero (N) def. Seth Greenleaf 6-0, 6-2; No. 3, Max Larson (N) def. Adam Lane 6-0, 6-0; No. 4, Axl Sarasin (N) won by default

DOUBLES — No. 1, Carson Lajimodiere-Quinn Walters (N) def. Eli Siren-Paulo Lenzi 6-2, 6-1; No. 2, Vince Tincknell-Marshall Knapp (N) def. Phil Miziniski-Kevin Sagrecci 6-0, 6-0; No. 3, Conner Steede-Trent Emard (N) def. John Marnier-Jaqai Smith 6-0, 6-1; No. 4, Wyatt Nelson-Brandon Alba (N) won by default

Negaunee 5, Kingsford 3

Wednesday at Negaunee

SINGLES — No. 1, Isaac Lebouef (K) def. Easton Guenette 7-6 (8-6), 6-3; No. 2, Evan Grymes (K) def. Nolan O’Dovero 6-3, 4-6, 6-0; No. 3, Max Larson (N) def. David Arcand 6-0, 6-0; No. 4, Axl Sarasin (N) def. Daniel Erickson 6-1, 6-1

DOUBLES — No. 1, Andy Yu-Clark Robb (K) def. Carson Lajimodiere-Quinn Walters 6-2, 6-3; No. 2, Vince Tincknell-Marshall Knapp (N) def. Alex Hemgren-Beau Bracket 6-1, 6-1; No. 3, Conner Steede-Trent Emard (N) def. Jacob Waara-Richard Waara 6-1, 6-1; No. 4, Wyatt Nelson-Brandon Alba (N) def. Tyler Berglund-Gabe Mancuso 6-1, 6-1

Story contents based on emails received from Marquette tennis Karl Thomsen and Negaunee coach Kyle Saari. Journal Sports Editor Steve Brownlee’s email address is sbrownlee@miningjournal.net.