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Arrows move up a spot on final day of two-day state tournament at Sioux Falls

roger merriam, watertown public opinion
·2 min read
Watertown's Evan Meester hits a return shot during a second-flight doubles match in the state 2023 Class AA high school boys tennis tournament. The two-day event concluded on Friday, May 19 at Sioux Falls.
Watertown's Evan Meester hits a return shot during a second-flight doubles match in the state 2023 Class AA high school boys tennis tournament. The two-day event concluded on Friday, May 19 at Sioux Falls.

SIOUX FALLS — Justin Remmers' fourth-place finish in the fourth flight of singles topped the performances of Watertown and Aberdeen Central's teams in the state Class AA boys tennis tournament that concluded on Friday.

Watertown finished eighth with 174 points and Aberdeen Central 10th with 103 in the two-day tournament. Fourteen schools competed.

"I was proud of all the guys for their effort in the tournament and throughout the season," said Watertown head coach Ryan Zink. "Thursday was a lot of tennis as most guys played five matches. They came out today and played really well."

Watertown Results

Remmers was seeded sixth but still advanced to the semifinals before falling to No. 2 seed and eventually champion Liam Sarmiento of Sioux Falls O'Gorman. His fourth-place finish led the Arrows.

Remmers also teamed with Evan Meester to capture fifth place in the second flight of doubles.

Mark Mahowald was sixth in the second flight and Curtis Sneden (first flight) and Tyler Dingsor (fifth flight) each won consolation championships in singles.

Dingsor and Sam Karst won the consolation championship in the third flight of doubles.

Evan Meester (third flight) and Joey Meester (sixth flight) each lost in the fifth-place semifinals in singles. The No. 1 doubles team of Sneden and Mahowald also lost in the fifth-place semifinals.

"We were behind Mitchell coming into the day and ended up ahead of them, and also almost caught Rapid City Stevens," said Zink. "I thought we had a great season. We had a winning dual record of 11-7, took fourth in the Eastern South Dakota Conference tourney and eighth at state."

Mahowald and Dingsor are the team's only seniors.

"This was a great group of guys to coach. We will definitely miss Mark, who has been a varsity player since the eighth grade," said Zink. "Tyler also worked hard and made the varsity this year. We will need some younger kids to step up and be ready to make the jump to varsity next year."

Aberdeen Central's AJ Prehn (left) and Mitchell Hofer celebrate after scoring a point in a first-flight singles match during the state 2023 Class AA high school boys tennis tournament. The two-day event concluded on Friday, May 19 at Sioux Falls.
Aberdeen Central's AJ Prehn (left) and Mitchell Hofer celebrate after scoring a point in a first-flight singles match during the state 2023 Class AA high school boys tennis tournament. The two-day event concluded on Friday, May 19 at Sioux Falls.

Aberdeen Central Results

Mitchell Hofer and AJ Prehn combined to win the consolation championship in the first flight of doubles to lead the Golden Eagles at state.

Prehn (second flight), Jack Riggs (fourth flight) and Preston Kreber (fifth flight) each fell in consolation championship matches in singles. Hofer (first flight) and Hunter Miller (sixth flight) reached the fifth-place semifinals and Sekou Gogue (thrid flight) the consolation semifinals before being ousted.

Gogue and Riggs lost in the consolation finals at No. 2 doubles. Kreber and Sam Casper reached the fifth-place semifinals at No. 3 doubles.

Coach Trent Kurtz's squad will lose Gogue, Riggs, Kreber, Miller and Casper to graduation along with Jack Bain, who didn't play at state.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on Twitter @PO_Sports.

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Watertown and Aberdeen Central highlights from state AA boys tennis