Staff
The Muskies’ senior boys’ singles competitors were a double delight on their home floor.
Aaron Bujold and Jeremy Shypit had the best day of any of their teammates during an exhibition badminton tournament held at Fort High on Friday to kick off the NorWOSSA season.
Bujold mowed down all opponents in posting a division-leading 5-0 record, with one result not available.
The Grade 9 participant proved he can handle playing above his junior age level by pasting Atikokan No. 1 21-5; blowing by Whitefish Bay No. 1 21-10 and Whitefish Bay No. 2 21-13; and rolling over Ignace No. 1 21-6 and Ignace No. 2 21-3.
Shypit was almost as dominant, as the Grade 12 player picked up wins over Atikokan No. 1 (21-12), Rainy River No. 1 (21-17), Whitefish Bay No. 2 (21-8), Ignace No. 1 (21-7) and Ignace No. 2 (21-11).
His only stumble came against Whitefish Bay No. 1, where he was nipped 21-18.
In junior girls’ doubles, the Fort No. 2 team of Grade 9 players Mykenzie Borger and Katelynn Jack went 2-3 with one result not available.
Borger and Jack beat Ignace No. 1 and Whitefish Bay No. 1 by identical 21-15 scores.
They were nosed out by Atikokan No. 2 and Rainy River No. 1 by matching 21-17 margins and lost 21-12 to Atikokan No. 1.
It was a far more painful day both results-wise and physically for Borger and Jack’s Fort No. 1 teammates in the division, Grade 10 players Marissa Loveday and Kassidy Fryer.
Loveday and Fryer fell 21-10 to Atikokan No. 1 and 21-13 to Rainy River No. 1 before their day came to an abrupt halt due to an unfortunate accident involving the pair.
When Loveday drew her racket back to hammer a shot in their third match, it caught Fryer square in the mouth, leading to several front teeth being dislodged and an ambulance having to be called to the scene to attend to Fryer who was out of action for the rest of the day.
In junior boys singles, Grade 11 player Jonah McCormick put up a 2-5 record for the Fort, with one result not available..
McCormick was victorious over Whitefish Bay No. 1 (21-15) and Whitefish Bay No. 2 (21-12).
He was not so fortunate in identical 21-3 losses to Atikokan No. 1 and No. 2, along with 21-8 defeats versus Igance No. 1 and No. 2 and a 21-15 loss to Rainy River No. 2.
Grade 9 rookie Leland Hoagland also represented the Fort in the division, going 1-7 on the day.
Hoagland scored a 21-10 win over Whitefish Bay No. 2, but was on the losing end of the scoreboard against Atikokan No. 1 (21-1), Atikokan No. 2 (21-7), Rainy River No. 1 (21-11), Whitefish Bay No. 1 (21-15), Ignace No. 1 (21-4), Ignace No. 2 (23-21) and Rainy River No. 2 (21-10).
A small field in the senior boys’ doubles category featured the Grade 12 Fort No. 1 team of Cam Jolicoeur and Adam Taylor go 1-2 in the event.
Jolicoeur and Taylor defeated Whitefish Bay No. 1 21-9, but lost 21-11 to Atikokan No. 1 and 21-17 to Atitkokan No. 2.
Meanwhile, the Grade 11 pairing of Bryce Gilbert and Thunder White went 0-2 for the Muskies, with one result not available.
Gilbert and White were downed 21-8 by Atikokan No. 1 and 21-13 by Atikokan No. 2.
The Fort’s lone entry in the junior boys’ doubles group was the duo of Grade 9 player Hunter Brown and Grade 10 teammate Shayton Ottertail-Crow, who came out with a 1-4 record.
Brown and Ottertail-Crow took down Rainy River No. 2 by a count of 21-18.
They could not get past Atikokan No. 1 (21-15), Atikokan No. 2 (21-13), Ignace No. 1 (21-6) or Rainy River No. 1 (21-17).
In junior girls’ singles action, Grade 10 participants Caity Visser and Sara Jackson each went 0-3 for the Fort, with one result unavailable for each.
Visser lost 21-10 to Atikokan No. 1, 21-5 to Atikokan No. 2 and 21-11 to Rainy River No. 1.
Jackson also fell to Atikokan No. 1 (21-12) and Atikokan No. 2 (21-9), while succumbing to Rainy River No. 2 (21-3).
The Muskies’ solo senior girls’ doubles team of Grade 12 players Nicole Lepine and Nicole Gage also were unable to crack the win column, going 0-4.
Lepine and Gage dropped games to Atikokan No. 1 (21-17), Atikokan No. 2 (21-12) and Ignace No. 1 (21-12) and came excruciatingly close to victory before being edged by Rainy River No. 1 (22-20).
The black-and-gold journey to Atikokan today for the NorWOSSA qualifier meet, with players needing to finish in the top three in their respective divisions to move on to the NorWOSSA championships on April 9 in Sioux Lookout.
