by BEN MCLEOD

Cotter’s boys tennis team is off to a rocky start this season but there are hopeful signs on the court. Cotter lost to La Crosse Aquinas on Wednesday, April 11, but won their meetup with Tomah handily with a 5-2 final. Ian Modjeski and Rob Besek each took their singles rounds, Modjeski with 6-2 and 6-1, and Besek with a 6-1 and a hard-fought 7-5. Cotter’s dominant doubles teams swept Tomah 3-1 with the Jerry Yang-Tony Wan combination at the top as usual. “Ian Modjeski has played really well to start the season with two quality wins,” said Cotter tennis coach Jeff Besek, “and a really good match against a solid player at Lourdes, even though the score looked more lopsided than it was.”

Thursday’s match against top-ranked Class A Rochester Lourdes wasn’t a rout, but coach Besek had arrived expecting a fight. “Lourdes was really good,” Besek said. “Last year we lost 7-0 twice so 6-1 was a step up.” Cotter’s lone win on Thursday was put up by Jon Besek, the youngest member of the team, who won 5-7, 7-6, and took his last game with 11-9. “I’m hoping Jon’s win can give him confidence for future matches and everyone else a thought that even if they aren’t the favorite to win, it can still happen if they work hard,” said coach Besek.

Cotter will play Lake City on April 26.