Mahlum wins State B tennis title

Victory is sweet.

“So sweet,” according to Montana’s newest State B tennis champion, Bigfork High School senior Colter Mahlum.

He beat out Ronan’s Hunter Shima in last Thursday’s Missoula championship match, 7-6 (5), 6-1. The win also helped secure a third place spot for the Bigfork Vikings by adding 10 points to the 14 Bigfork had going into the championship.

Although the first set was a nail biting back-and-forth with a fifth game tie breaker, Mahlum said he knew he would win after he went up 5-0 in the second set.

“I knew I was winning, but I told myself I couldn’t let up because people have come back from 5-0 before,” Mahlum said.

He played five matches to gain his spot in the championship. All were against opponents Mahlum had seen in previous matches.

“He played a nearly flawless first day of the tournament,” Bigfork tennis coach Paul Sullivan said. “He really showed that he came to the tournament to play and was pretty indisputably the best player there.”

Bigfork’s Shane Parks won his first round match on Tuesday against Saint Ignatius player Troy Bontrager, 6-1, 60. Parks lost a second round match against Cut Bank’s Isaac Matt and won a third round match-up the same day.

“And that third round match he played, he really grinded it out,” Sullivan said. “He should be proud of how he played.”

In doubles play Dylan Fraley and Logan Lamm defeated a Saint Ignatius team for a spot in the quarterfinals, in which they lost to a team from Troy. It was both Fraley and Lamm’s first year playing tennis and to take a win at state was huge.

“And it got us the points we needed for third,” Sullivan said. “So that was a tremendous help.”

The Bigfork Valkyries took eighth as a team with a score of 12.

Kianna Wicklund took two wins on the first day against Fort Benton’s Kaylee Farris, 6-2, 6-1, and Darby’s Brianna Massey, 7-3, 6-1. In a quarterfinal game against Fairfield’s Linnea Zier, Wicklund fell 6-2, 6-3.

Divisional champion McKinze Shults defeated her first round opponent Megan Drury from Superior, 6-1, 6-1. Shults fell in a second round match-up against Conrad’s Emily Weisgram, 6-4, 6-0.

Sullivan said both girls battled a hard tournament and he was proud of the way they played.

“They played a smart tournament, they played a good tournament,” Sullivan said. “It just didn’t end the way we wanted.”

On the doubles side, Shelby Scoggins and Alanis Stallknecht came to play and showed their opponents up on the first day, defeating teams from Cut Bank, 7-5, 6-4, and Fort Benton, 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 in rounds one and two. In a quarterfinals match-up against Townsend’s Harley Breker and Paige Lewis, the duo fell 6-3, 6-2.

Sullivan said the pair was running on overdrive.

“It was really fun to just watch them come alive during the tournament,” Sullivan said. “And it’s, hopefully, a good preview of what we can expect to see next year.”