Justin Remmers' second-place finish at No. 3 singles leads Watertown to fifth

SIOUX FALLS — A runner-up finish at No. 3 singles by Justin Remmers sparked Watertown High School's boys tennis team to a fifth-place finish in the two-day Eastern South Dakota Conference tournament that concluded on Tuesday.

The tourney was slated to be held at Pierre, but was moved indoors to Sioux Falls because of the forecasted weather.

Harrisburg repeated as the team champion with 333.5 points, followed by Yankton at 310.5, Brandon Valley 290.5, Mitchell 184, Watertown 172, Pierre 28.5, Huron 19, Aberdeen Central 18.5 and Brookings 12.

"I knew coming into the season that Harrisburg and Yankton were going to be at the top of the ESD and that's how it ended up," Watertown head coach Ryan Zink said. "We were close to Mitchell and Brandon Valley, who we lost close duals to during the season.

Skyler Stanton (fifth flight) and Matthew Bertsch (sixth flight) each added third-place finishes in singles for Watertown. Curtis Sneden (first flight) and Evan Meester (second flight) each took fourth. Remmers and Stanton took third at No. 2 doubles and Sneden and Meester fourth at No. 1 doubles. Sam Karst and Joey Meester won the consolation titles at No. 3 doubles.

"We started off the day with nice third-place wins from Skyler and Matthew. Justin came up short in the championship match but overall had a great tournament," said Zink. "We lost two very close doubles semifinals' matches that would have earned us a lot of points.

"Curtis, Evan and Justin played in their final ESD tournament and all played well. They will be hard to replace next year."

Mason Ligon won the consolation championship at No. 2 singles to lead Aberdeen Central. AJ Prehn (No. 1) and Gannon pederson (No. 6) each lost in the consolation championship.

Singles champions were Alexander Rallis of Harrisburg (No. 1), Harrison Krajewski of Yankton (No. 2), Cooper Rott of Harrisburg (No. 3), Luke Mueller of Yankton (No. 4), Miles Krajewski of Yankton (No. 5) and Asher Dannenbring of Mitchell (No. 6).

Rallis teamed to Maverick Ragon to win at No. 1 doubles for Harrisburg, which also won at No. 2 doubles with Brayden Rausch and Cooper Rott. Mikes Krajewski and Ethan Marsh of Yankton won at No. 3 doubles.

The state's high school tennis season concludes next week in Rapid City with the state Class A tourney set for Monday and Tuesday (May 13-14) and the Class AA tourney for Thursday and Friday (May 16-17).

Watertown and Aberdeen Central are scheduled to meet Thursday in a 10 a.m. dual at Highland Park in Watertown.

Watertown Singles

Curtis Sneden (No. 1) — def. Dah Christ Mo, Huron, 10-2; lost to Alexander Rallis, Harrisburg, 10-6; lost to Eli Woodyla, Brandon Valley, 8-4 in third-place match.

Evan Meester (No. 2) — def. Mason Ligon, Aberdeen Central, 10-1; lost to Maverick Ragon, Harrisburg, 10-1; lost to Gibsen Eszlinger, Brandon Valley, 8-4 in third-place match.

Justin Remmers (No. 3) — def. Lah Doh Soe, Huron, 10-0; def. Chris Rockne, Yankton, 10-2; lost to Cooper Rott, Harrisburg, 10-4 in championship.

Joey Meester (No. 4) — lost to Brayden Rausch, Harrisburg, 10-3; lost to Hser Wah, Huron, 8-6.

Skyler Stanton (No. 5) — def. Evan Miller, Harrisburg, 10-6; lost to Miles Krajewski, Yankton, 10-6; def. Zach Mueller, Brookings, 8-4 in the third-place match.

Matthew Bertsch (No. 6) — def. Ozil Sharma, Harrisburg, 10-8; lost to Ethan Marsh, Yankton, 10-6; def. Ryley McKeown, Brandon Valley, 8-6 in the third-place match.

Watertown Doubles

Sneden-E. Meester (No. 1) — def. AJ Prehn-Mason Ligon, Aberdeen Central, 10-5; lost to Eli Woidyla-Gibsen Eszlinger, Brandon Valley, 11-9; lost to Zac Briggs-Harrison Krajewski, Yankton, 8-4 in the third-place match.

Remmers-Stanton (No. 2) — def. Lah Doh Soe-Hser Wah, Hiron, 10-4; lost to Mattehw Mauszycki-Levi Loken, Mitchell, 10-8; def. Devin Dodson-Weston Northrup, Pierre, 8-2 in the third-place match.

J. Meester-Sam Karst (No. 3) — lost to Will Jensen-Ryley McKeown, Brandon valley, 10-2; def. Dawson Pederson-Brock Anderson, Aberdeen Central, 8-3; def. Matthew Thin-Say Poe, Huron, 8-6 in the consolation championship.

Aberdeen Central Singles

AJ Prehn (No. 1) — Won 10-7 over Devin Dodson, Pierre, in play-in match; lost to Alexander Rallis, Harrisburg, 10-2; def. Dah Christ Moo, Huron, 9-7; lost to Jager Juracek, Mitchell, 8-2 in the consolation championship.

Mason Ligon (No. 1) — lost to Evan Meester, Watertown, 10-1; def. Lucas Hight, Piere, 8-6; def. Luke Jerke, Mitchell, 9-7 in the consolation championship.

Dawson Pederson (No. 1) — Won 10-1 over Carson Kreie of Brookings in a play-in match; lost to Cooper Rott, Harrisburg, 10-7; lost to Lucas Fogarty, Brandon Valley, 9-7.

Aric Tennant (No. 1) — Won 10-7 over Xavier St. Pierre, Brookings, in a play-in match; lost to Luke Moeller, Yankton, 10-5; lost Weston Northrup, Pierre, 8-6.

Mika Dannen (No. 1) — Won 10-5 over Brady Lowery, Pierre, in a play-in match; lost to Miles Krajewski, Yankton, 10-1; lost to Evan Miller, Harrisburg, 8-0.

Gannon Pederson (No. 1) — Lost to Ryley McKeown, Brandon Valley, 10-4; def. Ler Hai Moo, Huron, 8-6; lost to Ozil Sharma, Harrisburg, 8-2 in the consolation championship.

Aberdeen Central Doubles

Prehn-Ligon (No. 1) — def. Lucas Hight-Jacob Leiferman, Pierre, 10-3 in play-in match; lost to Sneden-Meester, Watertown, 10-5; lost to Dah Christ Moo-Maner Htoo, Huron, 8-6.

Dannen-G. Pederson (No. 2) — Lost 10-7 to Stefan Nicolic-Xavier St. Pierre, Brookings, in play-in match.

D. Pederson-Brock Anderson (No. 1) — Won 10-3 over Levi Hight-Marcus Blanchette, Pierer, 10-3 in play-inmatch; lost to Miles Krajewski-Ethan Marsh, Yankton, 10-3; lost to Karst-J. Meester, Watertown, 8-3.

Prehn-Ligon (No. 1) — def. Lucas hight-Jacob Leiferman, Pierre, 10-3 in play-in match; lost to Sneden-Meester, Watertown, 10-5; lost to Dah Christ Moo-Maner Htoo, Huron, 8-6.

Follow Watertown Public Opinion sports reporter Roger Merriam on X (formerly known as Twitter) @PO_Sports or email: rmerriam@thepublicopinion.com

This article originally appeared on Watertown Public Opinion: Highlights from the two-day ESD boys tennis tournament at Sioux Falls