Cole Wilber tried tennis drills a few years ago. Now he’s among the state’s best

Oct. 11— GRAND FORKS — Cole Wilber’s grandparents lived in the Riverside Park neighborhood.

Wilber always saw Terry Paukert running tennis drills for youth players during summer mornings.

In about sixth or seventh grade, he decided to attend one of these sessions.

“I really enjoyed it,” Wilber said. “I learned a lot and kept going.”

Wilber enjoyed tennis so much that he quit soccer and joined the Grand Forks Central tennis team in eighth grade.

Fast forward three years, and he’s now the East Region singles champion and the top seed heading into this weekend’s North Dakota boys state tennis tournament at Choice Health and Fitness.

“I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a kid pick up the sport so quickly,” said Central coach Max Weisser. “He’s a natural athlete who learns fast. If you watch him play, you would think he’s had countless hours of training at Choice. But he hasn’t.”

Wilber attributes his success to Central’s coaches, including Paukert.

This summer, Grand Forks renamed Riverside Courts to Paukert Tennis Complex.

“That’s how it should be,” Wilber said. “He’s made significant contributions to our program. Naming the courts after him, considering they are our home courts, is a fantastic decision.”

Wilber faced some tough competition to win the East Region singles title last weekend in Fargo.

He defeated last year’s region singles champion, Espen Schneider of Grand Forks Red River, in the semifinals 4-6, 6-2, 6-3. He then beat his teammate Evan Panzer in the final 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-4.

“One area he needed to improve on was closing out points at the net, as well as determining when to move forward,” Weisser said. “Until Saturday morning, Cole struggled with this. However, against Espen, he went to the net about 30 times and did an amazing job. This carried over to the final match with Evan, as he had excellent reads and knew when his opponent was in a defensive position.”

Wilber and Panzer have consistently delivered wins for Central, but if the team wants to secure its fourth state championship in six years, they will need a third win.

Despite Wilber’s victory over Panzer in the East Region tournament, Panzer will still play as the No. 1 for the Knights in the team state tournament because it was not considered a challenge match.

The Roughriders, undefeated at 13-0, have won 29 consecutive duals dating back to last season.

However, this year hasn’t been easy.

In the regular season, Red River narrowly defeated West Fargo Sheyenne 5-4 with a three-set victory. Last weekend in the East Region team tournament, the Roughriders edged Central 3-2 with another three-set win.

“We’re up against some tough competition,” said Red River coach Josh Lunak. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but if we succeed in the quarterfinals, we could potentially face Sheyenne in the semifinals. We’ve only played them once, and it was a tight match at 5-4.”

Red River’s success this season can be attributed to its depth.

In the East Region final, Red River secured wins at No. 3 singles and both doubles positions.

“We played well throughout the entire weekend,” Lunak said. “The tennis wasn’t perfect, but we’re making progress in the right direction. Hopefully, we can maintain that momentum.”

Red River almost qualified its entire team for the state individual tournament.

Schneider and Jadon Tang qualified in singles, while Kellen Johnson-Julian Mallory and Asher Green-Kyedehl Hutlberg qualified in doubles.

“I’m confident in our depth,” Lunak said. “Our top seven players have been extremely consistent this year, and they’ve come through with important wins. We can count on all of them.”

Event details: Thursday-Saturday at Choice Health and Fitness.

Quarterfinals matchups: GF Red River (No. 1 East) vs. Bismarck Century (No. 4 West); Mandan (No. 2 West) vs. WF Sheyenne (No. 3 East); Minot (No. 1 West) vs. Fargo Davies (No. 4 East); GF Central (No. 2 East) vs. Bismarck Legacy (No. 3 West).

Red River individual qualifiers: Espen Schneider (No. 4 East singles), Jadon Tang (No. 7 East singles), Kellen Johnson-Julian Mallory (No. 2 East doubles), Asher Green-Kyedehl Hultberg (No. 7 East doubles).

GFC individual qualifiers: Cole Wilber (No. 1 East singles), Evan Panzer (No. 2 East singles), Jason Ling-Hanson Du (No. 6 East doubles).