A strong argument can be made that 2026 was the best season ever for Lake Conference boys tennis.
Looking at the results of the State Class AA Team Tournament, Lake teams dominated with Wayzata as the champion, Edina as the runner-up and Eden Prairie as the consolation champion.
Fans are still talking about Wayzata’s 4-3 victory over Edina in the state finals. Comebacks in first and third singles by sophomore Ethan Turunen and junior Nolan Beduhn secured the victory for the Trojans.
Wayzata won all of its matches this spring and was crowned Midwest champion as the winner of a multi-state invitational tournament in Wisconsin.
In addition to their success in the team tournament, Wayzata and Edina players won medals in the State Class AA Individual Tournament.
Beduhn and senior captain Jacob Salisbury earned the state doubles title with a win over Eden Prairie’s top team of Zayden Chau and Varin Tangeti in the finals.
After beating Mounds View’s Soren Swenson in the state team tourney, Wayzata’s Turunen lost to Sorenson in a close state individual singles final.
Edina junior Santiago Sanchez had a good run in the state tourney. He made it to the final four in individual singles before withdrawing from the third-place match with an injury.
At the conclusion of the regular season, Lake Conference head coaches met to determine the all-conference team for 2026. Hats off to Salisbury from Wayzata, a four-time All-Lake player. Edina senior captains Andy Norman and Thomas Loucks repeated on the All-Lake team. During his career with the Hornets, Norman qualified to play in state individual doubles three times. He finished with an overall record of 108-17 in six varsity seasons and was all-conference three times. Loucks has earned two All-Lake awards.
While the all-conference team is dominated by juniors and seniors, take note of three freshman All-Lake selections – Tommy Prondzinski of Wayzata, Josh Latour of Edina and Connor Trivedi of Minnetonka. Maple Grove eighth-grader Oliver Letizia is the youngest player on the All-Lake team.
Both Wayzata and Edina are in good shape to return to the state tournament as contenders next season. The only full-time starters on the 2026 graduation role are Norman and Loucks. Wayzata loses three players from its top 10 and returns four of its top five players – Turunen, Tommy Prondzinski, Shreyas Iyer and Beduhn. Those graduating are Salisbury, Rishi Ranjith and Revan Pothacamury.
Eden Prairie can return its top three players from this season – Varin Tangeti, Milind Murthy and Adeesha Dharmadasa.
ALL-LAKE TEAM
Wayzata: Seniors Jacob Salisbury and Rishi Ranjith, junior Nolan Beduhn, sophomore Ethan Turunen and freshman Tommy Prondzinski.
Edina: Seniors Andy Norman and Thomas Loucks, junior Santiago Sanchez and freshman Josh Latour.
Maple Grove: Senior Salman Kassam, junior Grant Swanson and eighth-grader Oliver Letizia.
Eden Prairie: Juniors Milind Murthy and Varin Tangeti and sophomore Adeesha Dharmadasa.
Hopkins: Junior Henry Laible.
St. Michael-Albertville: Junior Gavin Gerard and sophomore Brayden Szarynski.