Jeff Prondzinski clearly knows how to build a team, having coached Wayzata boys tennis to plenty of success over the years, including three of the school's five state championships. But he acknowledged plenty of trial and error in putting together the Trojans' best lineup this spring.
He landed on exactly the right formula, leaning heavily on underclassmen and team-first players. Boasting a marvelous doubles lineup, Wayzata cruised to a 5-2 victory over Rochester Mayo at Baseline Tennis Center to win its second straight Class 2A team championship.
"Our depth is as strong as I've ever had as a coach," Prondzinski said. "But I really didn't know this would happen. It takes time."
Wayzata's doubles lineup went 84-2 during the season. The No. 2 team of eighth-grader Ethan Turunen and seventh-grader Tommy Prondzinski, the coach's son, spent the season wowing observers by finishing undefeated.
"I didn't really know that two middle-school kids could play that well under pressure," Coach Prondzinski admitted.
Prondzinski said the result was fulfilling, because the Trojans won without a group of experienced veterans.
"We are very young. We only had one junior and two seniors out there," he said.
Jeff Prondzinski didn't undersell what the Trojans accomplished.
"We were prepared for moments like this," he said. "We beat the state champions from Iowa, from Wisconsin and from Illinois this year. We played a tough schedule, and we were prepared."
Class 1A: St. Paul Academy dynasty
Luke Elifson knew how good his team was. Going into the Class 1A tournament, Elifson had guided St. Paul Academy to back-to-back team championships.
Virtually everybody returned this season. The Spartans were poised for another state title, and they won it 6-1 over Breck in the finals at Reed-Sweatt Tennis Center, capping a tournament in which they lost just one set and 35 games.
With three titles in a row tucked away in tennis bags, Elifson went so far as to call his team "a dynasty."
"It told them this season that we had the opportunity for greatness," Elifson said. "This season, that meant staying composed and staying poised. We performed under the bright lights of the state tournament. We're a dynasty, because we embraced the opportunity."
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Brackets
Class 1A team | Class 2A team | Class 1A individual | Class 2A individual
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Tickets
Cost ranges from $8 to $13. Tickets must be purchased online at mshsl.org/tickets.
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Streaming
The Neighborhood Sports Network streams state tournament games. A subscription is required. Link to the streams here.
