GRAND FORKS \u2014 The last name Spicer conjures images of hockey in Grand Forks.<\/p>\n
Rylan Spicer is a forward for Grand Forks Central. He racked up eight goals and 15 assists in the 2024-25 season. His brother, Cole, was selected by the Boston Bruins in the 2022 NHL Draft and will play for Western Michigan this season.<\/p>\n
However, tennis also runs in Rylan\u2019s blood.<\/p>\n
His grandmother, Nancy Gambucci, and her six siblings are members of the North Dakota Tennis Hall of Fame. All seven won North Dakota state championships, and they were the first to be elected to the Hall of Fame as a family.<\/p>\n
Riverside Park\u2019s tennis courts are right across the street from Rylan\u2019s house. His father ended up leaning into hockey, but he still had Rylan pick up a racket early on.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe still had me play tennis at a younger age growing up,\u201d Rylan said. \u201cI\u2019ve been playing (at Riverside\u2019s courts) since I was probably 3 years old.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rylan has a chance to add to his family\u2019s storied tennis history this weekend.<\/p>\n
Rylan and Jason Ling are the No. 1 doubles seed from the East heading into the North Dakota state tournament, which will be held at Grand Forks Choice Health and Fitness Thursday through Saturday.<\/p>\n
The entire team dual tournament will take place on Thursday, with individual singles and doubles play scheduled for Friday and Saturday.<\/p>\n
Rylan and Ling both have experience at the state tournament. Rylan qualified for state in doubles last year, while Ling placed fifth in singles.<\/p>\n
The pair has grown as the season has progressed, sporting an excellent return of serve and strong on-court chemistry.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve definitely gotten better at communication,\u201d Rylan said. \u201cJust being aware of what shots the other likes to hit, and how we play. And then we move together as more of one team instead of two separate players.\u201d<\/p>\n
Perhaps Rylan\u2019s greatest contribution in the paring has been his speed on the court.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s probably the best mover in the state, as far as getting to balls,\u201d Central head coach Tom Wynne said. \u201cStroke-wise, there\u2019s a lot of guys that have similarities as he does, but he\u2019s very quick. He uses that to his benefit, where he can just run down balls that other people would not have the chance at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spicer and Ling captured the Eastern Dakota Conference doubles title over the weekend, defeating second-seeded Arnav Panwalkar and Drew Burris from Fargo North by scores of 3-6, 6-3 and 6-4.<\/p>\n
The duo will take on the West\u2019s No. 8 seed, Mandan\u2019s Lucas DeRosier and Eli Kleinknecht, on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI still don\u2019t think (Rylan and Ling) have played their best tennis,\u201d Wynne said. \u201cI\u2019m hoping that they can even pick it up a little bit more in the state tournament.\u201d<\/p>\n
Spicer and Ling weren\u2019t the only Knights to qualify individually for state. <\/p>\n
Brady Fee and Kason Panzer earned the No. 5 seed in the East. They\u2019ll compete against No. 4 Kallon Delorme and Kane Shannon of Williston out of the West this Friday.<\/p>\n
As a team, Central earned the East\u2019s No. 2 seed. The Knights suffered a 4-1 loss to top-seeded West Fargo Sheyenne in the EDC team championship.<\/p>\n
Spicer is hoping to get another shot at Sheyenne, which is currently undefeated, at the tournament.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re obviously hoping to make it to that match against Sheyenne, I\u2019m guessing in the championships,\u201d Rylan said. \u201cWe\u2019re trying to play our best tennis that match, but Sheyenne is obviously a great team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Central will begin team play Thursday at 10 a.m. against third-seeded Minot.<\/p>\n
Red River\u2019s Mallory enters state with momentum<\/p>\n
Julian Mallory lived up to his No. 1 seeding at the EDC individual singles tournament last Saturday, battling to a three-set victory over No. 3 Brandt Aslakson of West Fargo.<\/p>\n
He\u2019ll have another No. 1 next to his name at the state tournament, kicking off individual play with a contest against No. 8 Declan Hosek of Bismarck Legacy Friday at 10 a.m.<\/p>\n
Red River head coach Josh Lunak believes he could live up to that top-seeded billing again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a very level-headed player,\u201d Lunak said. \u201cHe doesn\u2019t let things rattle him too much, and I think he\u2019s really locked in and focused, and playing really well right now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mallory placed fourth in singles at last year\u2019s state tournament. Lunak says the senior has taken a another step in his development this year. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s put in a lot of time in the offseason,\u201d Lunak said. \u201cEvery year, he\u2019s taken a jump since seventh grade, when I first had him as a player. You get better every single year, and this year he\u2019s really hitting on all cylinders.\u201d<\/p>\n
Max Mecham will also represent the Roughriders in individual singles play. He earned the No. 7 seed, which means he\u2019ll be taking on No. 2 Reed Romsaas of Bismarck in the opening round.<\/p>\n
Red River enters team play with some confidence, winning eight of its last 10 matches. Mallory, Mecham and senior Kevin Martinez, who qualified for state in doubles last year, are a few of the key contributors, though the roster has seen development across the board.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a lot of players that have really improved throughout the season,\u201d Lunak said.<\/p>\n
The third-seeded Riders will play No. 2 Bismarck Legacy Thursday at 10 a.m. in the opening round of team play.<\/p>\n
North Dakota boys tennis state tournament<\/p>\n
When: Thursday-Saturday.<\/p>\n
Where: Choice Health and Fitness.<\/p>\n
Thursday\u2019s quarterfinals: Mandan (No. 1 West) vs. Fargo North (No. 4 East); Grand Forks Central (No. 2 East) vs. Minot (No. 3 West); West Fargo Sheyenne (No. 1 East) vs. Jamestown (No. 4 West); Bismarck Legacy (No. 2 West) vs. Grand Forks Red River (No. 3 East).<\/p>\n
GF Central individual qualifiers: Jason Ling-Rylan Spicer (No. 1 East doubles); Brady Fee-Kason Panzer (No. 5 East doubles).<\/p>\n
GF Red River individual qualifiers: Julian Mallory (No. 1 East singles); Max Mecham (No. 7 East singles).<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GRAND FORKS \u2014 The last name Spicer conjures images of hockey in Grand Forks. Rylan Spicer is a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":195266,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[442],"tags":[49,48,82,593],"class_list":{"0":"post-195265","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-tennis","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-tennis"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195265","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=195265"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/195265\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/195266"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=195265"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=195265"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=195265"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}